New York University, like most universities, does not have a dedicated digital humanities center. This means that there is not a central place where all faculty and staff interested in the digital sphere can network. Instead we work in isolated silos, with minimal exposure to those running comparable programs at the university. One interesting side benefit of the curricular project is that we have made a concerted effort to locate kindred souls and similar projects in other humanities departments and in the Information Technology Service at NYU. After the NHPRC grant ended, NYU’s Library began a humanities computing interest group that meets several times a semester to report on work, conferences and tools.
Due to security concerns, restrictions were imposed on the software that could be mounted on NYU’s servers, thus hindering our early efforts to introduce technology into the curriculum. In order to install Omeka and
11 The site, created by Lindsay Dumas and Elizabeth Banks, was presented at the 2010 National Council for Public History meeting in Portland. They continue to develop the site after graduation.
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WordPress, for example, the APH had to purchase its own commercial server space.12 While there were advantages to running our own server, including the ability to have students work with servers and install and customize programs, as well as the flexibility to mount and test many open-source systems, a key disadvantage was that we could not use NYU’s Information Technology Service to help us resolve problems and troubleshoot technical issues. Someone at the APH, initially French and later Wosh, had to be responsible for server operations such as updating software, adding and removing users and general maintenance.
In order to teach digital skills in the classroom, we also needed smarter facilities. The APH purchased a computer projector to use for its classes, orientation meetings and presentations. NYU’s wireless network enabled students to follow along on their laptops during class demonstrations, and it was only rarely that we needed to use specialized digital classrooms.
With only modest budgetary support for the digital curriculum revision, we found that most of our needs could be met by working with NYU’s Library and Information Services Technology Department.
We recognize that the new emphasis on technology means that courses need to be constantly and sometimes substantially revised each year.
Technology moves rapidly; new issues arise and new solutions appear at a fast pace. Faculty need to continually update their skills by taking courses, attending digital humanities conferences and workshops, and collaborating on new projects using different technologies. Lecturers need to rely far more on articles, blogs and websites than on textbooks, as the rapid pace of change quickly makes books obsolete, their website links broken, and references outdated.
Our faculty has realized that one of the general difficulties in teaching courses with a greater digital component is the varying levels of digital expertise that students bring to their work. Lecturers can become bogged down in explaining concepts that some students find difficult—while others grow impatient with the basic level of instruction. We have found that building some time in class for demonstrations of software or websites can make this process easier, though the most basic aspects of the course
12 In 2005, WordPress announced a hosted version of their software (http://www.wordpress.
com). In 2010, Omeka introduced beta testing of a web hosting service that offers free and low-cost hosting for Omeka databases/exhibits (http://www.omeka.net/). These options will allow students to host their own projects and blogs and continue to use these programs once they are working without cost to their institutions.
3. Teaching Digital Skills in an Archives and Public History Curriculum 93 often cause the greatest problems. In Creating Digital History, for example, there were more technical problems with the basics of finding an HTML editor and successfully mounting a bare bones website than with creating a digital exhibit. In the Historical Editing seminar, there was no readily available software that would enable students to mount their mini editions online.
Selecting appropriate software packages for classroom instruction also required considerable thought. Our goal in choosing particular software programs has been not to teach particular tools, but rather to engage students with the basic principles underlying the use of those packages.
For example, it does not matter which software program you use to edit a scanned document—rather, students need to use those programs to focus on the principles of digitization and become familiar with available options.
There are many content management systems that could work in classroom settings, but regardless of the one that is chosen, the important goal is to teach metadata standards for digital objects, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of particular systems. In order to teach a class effectively, however, instructors need to settle on software that the entire class will use.
The APH consciously selected open-source software that was available free of charge. This type of software, as opposed to commercial programs that might be obtainable through NYU’s site licenses, is something that students could easily continue using after graduation. As many of these packages have achieved widespread popularity within the archives and public history communities, graduates can also bring their knowledge concerning these packages to the smaller institutions that are most likely to implement them. Some of the software solutions we adopted are:
• Archives Toolkit (http://www.archiviststoolkit.org) is an open source content management system that provides broad integrated support for archival management. Since NYU participated in the initial development and implementation of the system, and since the NYU archives repositories have implemented it as part of their ongoing workflow, it seems natural to provide students with deep exposure to this tool. Further, the current discussions that involve merging the Archivists Toolkit with Archon suggest that the new product will become a standard package that will receive even more widespread adoption within the profession.
• Omeka (http://www.omeka.org) is an open source content management system, museum collections management and online
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exhibition system, and archival digital collection system, which was developed by the Center for History and New Media. Omeka enables the creation of large or small digital archives, as well as online exhibits using a number of different optional plugins.
The Creating Digital History course uses Omeka to manage the Greenwich Village History site, as well as individual student exhibits. Students also often use Omeka for their capstone and internship projects. Using Omeka is relatively straightforward as long as one uses the handful of themes that can be installed.
Program customization, however, requires some knowledge of PHP and CSS, something that few students have when beginning the program. It remains a challenge to introduce students to the capabilities of these scripting and web design languages in the short confines of a weekly class.
• WordPress (http://www.wordpress.org) is an open-source blogging and publishing platform that can be used to design websites, blogs and other web-based content. WordPress is used for the APH’s own website, in the Creating Digital History course for the Researching Greenwich Village History blog, and frequently employed for capstone and internship projects.
• Wikidot (http://www.wikidot.com) is free wiki software that allows the creation of collaborative websites. The Creating Digital History, Historical Editing, and History and New Media courses use this software.
• Google Documents (http://docs.google.com) is an open source and free file sharing resource that enables students to work collaboratively on texts, spreadsheets, and presentations. The Creating Digital History course used one Google Documents spreadsheet to create a group timeline and another to record copyright permissions for its digital archive. The Digital Editing course uses Google Documents to share transcriptions and annotations.
• Google Maps (http://maps.google.com) is an open source mapping platform that enables students to create custom maps or walking tours. Students in Creating Digital History used Google Maps to create a themed map of Greenwich Village.
One of the benefits of using open source software is that there is a thriving community of users who are very responsive and helpful to faculty or students having problems.
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Feedback
Students and faculty have been overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the curriculum changes. Over 85% of those surveyed felt that digital competencies were either “very important” or “most important” in determining their career prospects. More that 92% “strongly agreed” or
“somewhat agreed” with the revisions, and those with reservations wanted more not less technical training. By surveying students on each course, the APH will continue to revise the courses offered and balance the digital
training offered in each course.
Interestingly, students demanded additional technical training but also worried that there might be an overemphasis on digital material and a shortage of historical content in the curriculum. Students want to make sure that digital techniques do not overwhelm other important aspects of archives and public history education: working creatively with local communities, engaging in sophisticated outreach activities and educational programming, and participating in significant historical debates. Maintaining an appropriate balance within the confines of a 32-credit curriculum is administratively challenging and requires a high level of coordination between the program director and the faculty.
A survey of our recent graduates confirmed that digital training increasingly constitutes a necessity in the job market. Web design especially emerged as an important skill for recent graduates, and we are exploring ways to expand our offerings by collaborating with NYU’s Tisch School of Arts and Steinhardt School of Education.
Constant evaluation and adaptation is the only way to keep the APH’s curriculum current and to provide its students with both the job skills and the theoretical and intellectual training that the professions demand. Most importantly, perhaps, we have seen a cultural change in the Program whereby students now expect, and are expected, to foster a deep intellectual and practical engagement with new media. This already has generated new types of capstone projects and research papers within individual courses, and has produced an extraordinary transformation in
“tech literacy” among our graduate students.
The Archives and Public History program’s curriculum was designed to be exportable, though this idea is not without problems. Every archives or public history program lives in its own unique institutional climate, facing particular challenges. Each program depends upon a peculiar ecology that includes institutional support, faculty networks and interests, student
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expectations and geography. To be sure, the philosophical principles that informed our effort could be adopted by other programs. But program curricula will remain dependent on particular academic contexts and the availability of local resources. So, while these changes have had a beneficial impact on New York University, it will be interesting to see whether other institutions facing the same challenges will make similar decisions.