For this project there was two stages; first to digitise some of their collection of butter wrappers and the second was to create a digital story with the digitised collection.
Part 1
In my project we were in collaboration with the Butter Museum to digitise butter wrappers from their collection, for this project there were many challenges that had to be overcome. We used the principles that are needed for digital curation. We had to pay special attention to scoping our archive especially our file storage and equipment requirement. (Daniel G.Tracy, 2016)
In my project with the butter museum, we had to make sure they the file requirements. As we were working with the Butter Museum who were our external stakeholder and we had to make sure that there were multiple copies and that the files were in the correct format.
We also had to make sure that the equipment was correct for us as we were scanning butter wrappers as they were delicate pieces of parchment with varying sizes, shapes and patterns. We first tried to use the scanner in the DH suite, we sent them back to the Butter Museum and they had some issues with the scans as there was some dust on the scans. Resulting in us having to consult with the library and ask if we can possibly use some of their equipment, they were able to help us in the using on of their scanners and we were able to one of theirs. The main challenge with that scanner was that it was only A4 and could not fit all the wrappers in so we had to check the spreadsheet we made to see when size they were and would they fit into the scanner, with the scanner we were able to achieve scans that were 1200dpi.
My main role in the project was to coordinate with the Butter Museum and the library. I emailed them to see when they were available as the wrappers had to be stored at the Butter Museum and so had to come to and from campus every time to prevent damage. I had to make sure that we were all available at the same time and make sure that Domonic from the museum was available to attend with the butter wrappers. I had to organise with our group, the digital humanities department, the library and the Butter Museum. I tested equipment to make sure it was working properly and how to use it for other people in my group. I had to send emails back and forth to organise rooms, as we were doing it outside class time and had to get permission to open the rooms to people and the equipment. I had to help with the set-up equipment and the training of how to use the equipment.
In doing this project I learned many things about archiving and the creation of an archive. I found that dealing with external stakeholders was one of the main challenges as what we thought would work for them and us was not what they wanted and how to change our strategy and do what is best for all of us.
List of references
Tracy, Daniel G. “Assessing Digital Humanities Tools: Use of Scalar at a Research University.” portal: Libraries and the Academy 16, no. 1 (2016): 163-189. doi:10.1353/pla.2016.0004.
Part 2
For digital storytelling there are many theories and practices that are involved in the creation of a good digital story. (Ghost. N.D) One of them being how to correctly use tags and hashtags.
We made sure to be aware of regulations that are involved as we are using images that are not ours. We achieved this by adding a watermark from the Butter Museum. We had to also ask for any pictures that were taken during the project so we could add them to the page and use them as banners and profile picture. We had to make sure that we were not repeating any tweets that were done by the Butter Museum.
We decided to use twitter as we are using a mixture of text and images. We also choose to do a tour to the counties of Ireland with the butter wrappers. We also decided to make a few introductory tweets to show what we were doing. One other thing we did was to make sure was to schedule the tweets so that we could send them out over a number of weeks. We also made sure to interact with the butter museum on social media as it is a project with them. We also made sure to be in close contact with the Butter Museum as they were are external stakeholders and it is not just our reputation but their as well.
One thing we had to be mindful of is the use of tagging and hashtags as the one that you might what to use may have different conations associated with them and there may be different variations of the same username, so you need to know which one is the correct one for you. For example, there are multiple UCC, one is for the university and one is for the Uganda Communications Commission.
My main role was to help set up the twitter and to make sure that the username we picked worked for us and that the username did not already exist and nothing similar was used. In setting up the twitter I created the Gmail as it would be easier to pass on to other groups and to that we did not have to use our own and so that if there are other groups in the future that may want to use the twitter. I also made sure that we were using the correct usernames and hashtags as to not make any mistakes.
During the project I learned many things about storytelling through social media one of the main ideas being how you present on social media and making sure you use the correct hashtags and usernames for tagging as it can affect how you are presented.
List of references;
The Twitter page: DHbutterarchive
Ghost Author. N.D. ‘The Art of Social Media Storytelling’ https://businessofstory.com/social-media-storytelling/ .
Laura López-Bech & Rodolfo Zúñiga (2017) Digital Storytelling: putting young asylum seekers at the heart of the story, Intercultural Education, 28:2, 224-228, DOI: 10.1080/14675986.2017.1294854
Grace Arnold DH 