ENGL 668k: Digital Studies (Spring 2004)

As I was unable to be at class, I am delighted to have these delicious links to follow and to have Joseph provide his extremely thoughtful (and for me insightful) ruminations on binary implications of a narrative/database oppositional structure.

The Smithsonian website has an interesting history -- part of which I can recount as I was working at the Smithsonian at the time. Many of the SI museums began 'taking stock' of 9-11 as soon as the day after. The Postal Museum was aggressive early on the ground in NYC as the World Trade Center U.S. Post Office was mostly destroyed during the plane attacks. Staff at the Postal Museum immediately began collecting material objects and oral histories. The NYC site of the Indian Museum was also affected with the terrible ash that fell over the area. Staff there immediately began planning a healing ceremony of peace. In D.C., staff at several museums began putting their heads together to figure out a responsible museum-based response. The National Portrait Gallery and the American Art Museum which are jointly housed in the Old Patent Office Biilding (currently nearing the end of a multi-year renovation) began a public arts project spear-headed by junior staff. We took over a construction wall along the F St. side of the building and began a multi week project to paint murals commemorating the 9-11 event. This continued throughout early October and the results can still be viewed. In January 2002, an SI organization wide colloquium was held and all the various musueums reported on the projects they had undertaken. The idea for the website was first floated during this colloquium. Interestingly, to me, at least, there was quite of bit of strong opposition to the idea of dedicating energy into the putting together such a such a 'non-materialist' exhibition site. Opposition, as you see, was successfully countered -- largely by a group of staff working at the National Museum of American History. They were able to assume charge of the project in large measure because of their successful debut with an interactive site six months previously. This site, to which I've posted a link, was also the focus of intense disagreement. I was the National Portrait Gallery liasion to the project and was regularly stunned by the significant resistance mounted to the idea of spotlighting the material object collection in this online fashion. I'm sure all of you are quite familiar with the tree map concept that is used in the History Wired Site, but I thought perhaps knowing the the degree of opposition the American History 'techies' -- a predictably brilliant and energetic young group -- encountered in pulling it off would be an interesting sidebar. Enjoy!

Oops -- link information for History Wired: A Few of Our Favorite Things -- or you can click on my name and get it.

http://historywired.si.edu/index.html