Technology and the Humanities
English 415/516
Fall 2003
T&H
2003
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Eric Rabkin - English
esrabkin@umich.edu
764-2553
3243 Angell Hall
TWTh 3:10-4:00 & by appt
Victor Rosenberg - School of Information
victorr@umich.edu
764-1493
305C West Hall
W 3:10-4:00 & by appt
T&H
2003
Overview
Weeks 1 - 5: Technologies and Their Human Implications
Tuesdays: demo/discussions of technologies
Thursdays: discussions of implications
Weeks 6 - 9: Study Cases
Weeks 10- 14: Group Presentations
Assumptions
• Our Experiences With Computing
– The Frustrations of Computing
– The Open Workshop Environment
– The Diversity of Participants
• Developing Humanities Computing
– Practical Impediments to Humanities
Computing
– Theoretical Modeling of the Human World onto
a Machine
Goals for Weeks 1 - 5
Technologies and Their Human Implications
• Ideal and Real Possibilities
• Example: PowerPoint
– Multimedia slide show
– B & W Photocopied Overheads
– Distracting clip art
• Example: Xerox Copiers
– Samizdat
– Chain mail
– Atrophied ability to summarize
Goals for Weeks 6 - 9
Study Cases
Exploring the implications of technology in...
Conveying complex information
Mechanizing humanity
Designing our environment
Living with unintended consequences
Goals for Weeks 10 - 13
Group Presentations
• Ideal and Real Possibilities
• Example: Advertising Agency
– Apple’s 1984 ad introducing Macintosh
– One-page press release
– Warning labels on cigarette ads
• Example: Encyclopedia
– Encarta
– U-M Fantasy and Science Fiction Home Page
– Shoeboxes full of snapshots
Topics for Weeks 1 - 5
Technologies and Their Human Implications
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Acquiring information
Collaborating
Manipulating information
Presenting information
Creating compound documents
Topics for Weeks 6 - 9
Study Cases
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Data Graphics (Tufte)
Science Fiction (Piercy)
Design (Norman)
Unintended consequences (Joy; Dooling)
Class-selected option?
Topics for Weeks 10 - 13
Group Presentations
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Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
work: ?
1: ?
2: ?
3: ?
4: ?
5: ?
Week 1: Acquiring Information
• Internet Explorer/Netscape (World Wide Web)
– Internet & U-M IFS
– Bookmarks and Bookmark files
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Distant databases (OED, HTI, etc.)
E-lists and News groups (see http://tile.net)
Library catalogs (e.g., MIRLYN, LOC, ILL, etc.)
Personal notes (Advanced Find)
CD-ROMs & DVDs
Graphic scanning & OCR
(DeskScan & OmniPage)
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• Video & audio capture
2003
Evidence Absent from the Web
MOST OF WEB IS BEYOND SCOPE OF SEARCH SITES
A … study from the scientific journal Nature reports that the
Internet's rapid growth is outpacing the capabilities of most search
engines. The most sophisticated search engines list no more than 16
percent of all Web sites on the Internet, according to the report, and
the majority of engines cover less than 10 percent each. Northern
Light got top ranks in the report with 16 percent coverage, while
Lycos, a much more popular and well-known engine, covers just 2.5
percent. Combined, all of the major engines cover just 42 percent of
the Web. The remainder of sites are lost to users unless they know
the exact address of a Web site. The search engine companies do not
dispute the report's findings, and analysts say the situation may give
rise to a backwards leap in the distribution of information as more
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data is lost to easy public view than is made available.
2003
(Los Angeles Times 07/08/99 in EduPage 07/09/99)
Week 2: Collaborating
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Email (including editing and attaching files)
Locating e-mail addresses
Mail Groups (via web and dua)
IFS file exchange (Chooser v. ftp [Fetch for
Mac, WS_FTP for Wintel])
– Apple v IBM-compatible
– Binary v ASCII
• Annotation and editing in MS Word
• Outlining in MS Word
• Quality Evaluator
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Week 3: Manipulating Information
• General & Specialized database software (e.g.,
FileMaker/Access & ProCite/Silver Platter)
• Comparing alphanumeric data manipulation
options: Spreadsheets, Databases, & Statistical
packages
• Text manipulation (WordCruncher, SGML, HTML,
etc.)
• Advanced image manipulation (Photoshop v. MS
Office)
• Video editing
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Week 4: Presenting Information
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Streaming media
Inserting “objects” in MS Word
Drawing v. painting
Embedding v. linking
PowerPoint presentation software
Web sites
Authoring packages
Comparing presentation options: Word,
PowerPoint, Internet Explorer/Netscape,
Director/Authorware, FileMaker/Access T&H
2003
Week 5: Creating Compound
Web Documents
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Exploring model pages and sites
Design issues
Copyright issues
Scholarly character of e-publication
HTML authoring (Working With Networked
Resources)
– Microsoft Office applications
– Dreamweaver, shareware
• Flash animation & navigation
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2003
Home Pages Are For ...
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Publication of Compound Documents
Building resources through linking
Adding value
Commentaries
Live presentations
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2003
Computer Tools Inventory
A C M P
Anonymous FTP
Authorware/Director
A C M P
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* GraphicsConverter/Lview
* Internet Explorer/
*
Netscape
Conferencing software
* *
* MS Excel
CD-ROMs, DVDs, etc.
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* MS Powerpoint
Chooser/FileManager
* *
* MS Word
Dreamweaver/Homepage
* OmniPage/Deskscan
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E-lists, News groups
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* Photoshop
Fetch/RapidFiler/WS_FTP * *
* ProCite
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FileMaker/Access
* * * * WordCruncher
FinalCut Pro
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* * X.500 Mail Groups
*
A = Information Acquisition; C = Collaboration;
M = Information Manipulation; P = Information Presentation
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Any Questions ???
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2003
Exercise 1a: Exploring Sources
of Information and Software
See directions on Notes for this slide
Exercise 1b: Acquiring Specific
Information and Software
See directions on Notes for this slide
Exercise 2a: Collaborating
See directions on Notes for this slide
Exercise 2b: Using Quality
Evaluator
See directions on Notes for Quality Evaluator slide
Quality Evaluator
• Set Up: Leader generates QE packets (worksheets with a]
up to four questions for each item, b] 3- or 5-part semantic
differential, and c] comments/differentia area) and
distributes them to each member
• Inspection, Comment, Discrimination: Members
individually consider all materials, comment on them, and
distribute them as intrinsically middling, better, or worse
• Tally, Discrimination, Report: Leader tallies incoming data
and prepares feedback reports to the group and to
individuals
• Consider, Interpret, Confer: Group members review their
reports and confer with each other and/or the leader in
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deciding how to improve quality
2003
Created as a Macintosh application by John Huntley, Univ of Iowa
Exercise 3a: Building a Personal
Database
See directions on Notes for this slide
Exercise 3b: Working with
Graphics
See directions on Notes for this slide
Exercise 4: Creating a
PowerPoint Presentation
See directions on Notes for this slide
Exercise 5a: Creating a Personal
Home Page
See directions on Notes for this slide
Exercise 5b: Creating a SingleMachine Web Presentation
See directions on Notes for this slide
Exercise 5c: Working with Flash
See directions on Notes for this slide
When Is a Book Out of Print?
Wall Street Journal, August 16, 1999
A New High-Tech Battleground: Publishing Out-of-Print Books
By MATTHEW ROSE Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET
JOURNAL
NEW YORK -- New technology that allows books to be stored in
computer databases and printed on demand has created a publishing
conundrum: When is a book actually out of print?
The issue is of far more than philosophical interest to authors and
their publishers, who now are clashing over what has been a relatively
straightforward matter. When all copies of a book have been sold and no
more are to be printed, standard book contracts call for publishers to give
rights to the work back to the author after six months. Now, with ondemand printing, by which publishers can create printed copies of any
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stored work, books might never technically go out of print.
2003
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