Clayton's Project Reflections

Considering the rough road that we had this semester, I am very pleased with how this assignment has turned out.  I am certain that the success of the project is due in large part to the group that we had assembled for it.  All of the group members live in the Nashville area, so it was quite easy for us to get together to work on it.  In addition, the vast majority of what we do as DE students is online, and it is nice to have a respite from being tied to the computer to get anything done.

It made sense to divide up the responsibilities of the assignment among the group members for both the project proposal and for the implementation of the project itself.  The delegation of tasks made it easier for us to work independently, and then put the pieces together.   Admittedly, this worked much better for the project and less so on the proposal.  No matter the circumstances, it is difficult for five people to write one paper because we all have our particular styles of writing and putting the parts together does not always line up.  I believe, however, that we managed the challenge pretty well with our proposal.  The assignment of tasks for the project itself was very effective and allowed each group member to focus on one area and become a relative expert.  Although, one downside of this method is that I do not feel that I learned much about those parts that I did not work on, such as the metadata portion.

Our project certainly started off on the right foot, in that, Joon already had the images that were to comprise the digital library.  It would have taken longer to start from scratch.  Truly, throughout the project, our group seemed blessed with good fortune.  Each step went as smoothly as it could have.  The question as to which content management software platform to use and where to host the site were the only real difficulties that we faced.  Once we learned that Omeka was easy to use and provided free server space, the decision was a no-brainer.  Indeed, as the group member that uploaded the image files and such, I can say that Omeka was easy to use.  The only issue that I had with Omeka, as mentioned in our presentation, was the limited number of themes that could be used for the site.  Granted, this was likely due to the fact that we were using the free version.  There are probably more themes available to site administrators if they are willing to pay for them.

All in all, the experience was a good one.  I am glad that we were able to do a project that provided some hands-on training in digital librarianship, rather than the same-old-same-old research paper option.  Again, my stellar group contributed to the positive experience and made it all the more enjoyable.

Jami's Final Thoughts...

I can’t say that I learned anything particularly new from this final project of building and implementing a digital library. Instead, the experience reinforced my assumptions about implementing a collaborative project. I don’t mean to imply that the project wasn’t worthwhile. On the contrary, I appreciated the opportunity to work with my colleagues and explore new technologies. In many ways, this project has mirrored my experiences in the “real world” work environment. Our group members had varying degrees of knowledge and expertise and we had no one to guide us through the process. While this led to periods of frustration, we were able to work through the challenges and produce a fine result.

As the project comes to a close, here are my final reflections:

A digital library is only as good as the collection that it represents. As with any project, I think the quality of the end product relies on the quality of the original concept. From our first meeting as a group, we knew we had the potential for a great project given the extraordinary work of our group member, Joon Powell. Joon’s images tell a fantastic story. I think we were all excited about the prospect of sharing that story with a wider audience.

Collaboration is the key to success. As I mentioned above, each one of us came to the project with a different set of skills and experience. Additionally, we had to turn to individuals outside of our group for technical guidance (an important lesson: you have to be willing to seek and accept help when necessary). Everyone brought something new and relevant to the project. This collaborative effort allowed us to contribute our individual areas of expertise and to learn from one another.

Communication and flexibility are essential AND a great team is invaluable. Looking back, I think it is remarkable that we did not assign a project manager. By the end of our first meeting, we delegated individual responsibilities. Each one of us knew what we were supposed to do and accepted full responsibility/ accountability for making sure our tasks were complete. As all of our tasks were related to one another, there were times that a change in one area affected the design or progress in another area. We quickly learned that things don’t always go as planned. While we had a proposal to follow, we remained flexible in our approach. So, when complications or obstacles arose, we were able to either rework our plans or adapt. Despite not having a “leader,” we managed to make it work through constant communication with one another at each stage of the process.

Sometimes, you just have to make do with what you are given. I found the Omeka platform to be lacking in a few areas. For instance, the themes and user interface were dull and limiting. However, given our limited time (and nonexistent budget), we ultimately chose Omeka because it was free and quick. We also knew that we had access to technical guidance through the UT library (thank you Bridger!).  I’ve encountered similar situations in my work experience. The decisions on choice of tools and equipment (such as hardware, software, ILS systems, etc.) are ultimately driven by the budget and not by functionality.

There's no substitution for hands-on experience. This is the second SIS course that I've taken that provided a direct opportunity for hands-on experience. I can't imagine that I would have had the same gratifying experience had I chosen to work individually on a traditional research paper. 

Tara's Reflection

This project can be deemed a success in many ways.  I have not had the opportunity to do something so hands-on during my time at SIS.   From this project, we are able to have a concrete result from our work, available online for any prospective employer to see.  There were some road blocks and frustrations, mostly in the administration of the project at the beginning.  Once we set our minds to just getting it completed to the best of our abilities, the forward progress was apparent. 

Based on the structure of the original proposal, we divided up our tasks with the intent that we would each have some equal workload.  Although I think we each initially volunteered for an area of our “expertise” (or at least some background), I personally knew that I needed to gain some experience in areas in which I had no solid foundation, especially metadata.  I had no experience at all in website design, but I volunteered for the task.  Although I did not start much of my research for my annotated bibliography on content management systems until after we got deep into this project, combining my task of researching Omeka with reading about other CMS’s really helped solidify what I practiced with this project.  By the end of the project, when we were actually uploading the files and metadata, we all met together and attempted the uploads together.  None of us had ever created a website before so the actual creation process was something we all needed to see and do. 

Although the five of us had not all worked together at once, each of us had worked with another in some capacity in past classes and therefore had someone to vouch for our accountability and performance.  I understand that not all projects, in the academic or professional world, are granted this advantage and for that, I am extremely grateful I was able to work with the people I did.  We each knew our assigned tasks and no one failed to deliver on their part.  We did seek some much needed advice and instruction from Bridger outside of class that helped us understand exactly what Omeka could and could not do.  Most of our progress was simply trial and error, especially when it came to the actual implementation.  We uploaded the images twice and the metadata at least three separate times in an effort to get them to link together. 

If this had been an actual digital library, I would assume that there would have been a little more feedback and criticism from the host institution that may have required more research or modifications on our end.   I was a little frustrated with the lack of “pizazz” offered by Omeka, but we knew that we were working with the free model.  None of us had any experience or understanding of how we would even go about using the server model, although I think that project would have been even more valuable.  Had this class been dedicated to the creation of a digital library all semester long in conjunction with content lectures, I know that many students would have really benefited from the hands-on and practical experience of going out to the web and actually creating something tangible.  Overall, this was a valuable project, and I wish that other SIS courses did similar projects.