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Food and the Power of Maps

  September 14, 2014

Urban Gardening, Food Deserts, and Mapping was the title of the presentation Nicole Ryerson and I gave during this week’s Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for CURVE. Nicole and I are both M.S. students in the department of Geosciences and, between the two of us, we have a diverse collection of original maps. These maps have been produced from the simplest of web mapping services to the heftiest spacial analyst desktop software. As we sat at Workstation II, there was a pleasantly consistent flow of curious administrators, librarians, faculty members, and students stopping by to ask us about our work. As we presented, we offered what I now reflect on to be a gracefully orchestrated dialogue:I would give a short overview of the different mapping tools that were used to make the maps surrounding food topics that we had on display and Nicole (who has constructed an awesome thesis surrounding urban agriculture in Atlanta) shared her wealth of knowledge surrounding food from “the plant to the policy.” Conversations around urban food are extremely “sexy” in research right now and, because these conversations lend themselves to spatial considerations, easily translate into related discussion around cartographic representations. Cartography is becoming increasingly accessible to non-experts with the advancement of technology. You can hardly search through a newsfeed on Facebook without seeing some colorful map of the US declaring each state’s allegiance to a certain product or habit. The one that I’ve seen most frequently is this one showing Facebook fans of the NFL. Both at my … Continue reading

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1930’s Blues at the Library?

  September 11, 2014

When confronted with the view of Atlanta’s skyline I can’t help but note the differences in the structure, it includes everything from the incredibly old and beautiful to the modern, chic buildings. Although not all buildings are to each of these extremes neither are they all beautiful or interesting ( let’s be honest) but they do share a similar qualities. These buildings all serve a purpose, share a history/story of their existence, and contribute to the culture that is Atlanta. Why bring up such obvious inquiries, you may ask. It is because as human beings we become so accustomed to seeing the same things and eventually taking our scenery or surroundings for granted. We do not realize that the streets and roads we may walk or travel on every day have been there long before we have. They have been there collecting stories of the people before us and eventually after us. Although this may seem irrelevant to those of us who are here in Atlanta to attend Georgia State University and earn our degrees, it is very much applicable to our everyday travels around campus. When conversing with my fellow SIFs about what project to bring to life this semester, we began to discuss the findings of old maps and historical evidence of our beloved centrally located Georgia State campus. We came to discuss that the block of Decatur st. and Peachtree center Ave. has a historical significance connected with the famous 1930’s blues scene in Atlanta. This block … Continue reading

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OMEKA: Web Publishing for Archives, Scholars, Libraries, Museums, and More

  September 11, 2014

OMEKA is an open source web-site builder that was designed by the Center for History and New Media (CHNM) at George Mason University with folks in mind who need to produce a digital collection of items that is fairly complex or intricate and needs to function as a digital archive or museum or library exhibit or perhaps even a scholar’s web site.  I’m particularly interested in the possibilities of OMEKA to build a site to share scholarship with other researchers as well as to use in teaching.  The most current version of OMEKA, as of July 14, 2104, is 2.2.2.  Though I have not yet used this software, I have begun investigating what others have done with it and what they have to say about it. The following are a few things I’ve discovered. Several example web sites built with OMEKA: Martha Washington Biography site: Project developed by George Washington’s Mount Vernon and the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. The Making of the History of 1989 site: Project developed by German Historical Institute, Washington, D.C. Florida Memory site: Project administered by the Florida Department of State, Division of Library and Information Services. Center for the History of Medicine site: Harvard University  Here’s a link to a video from the OMEKA web site giving a tour of the software. Below is an article evaluating an early version of OMEKA: Using Omeka to Build Digital Collections: The METRO Case Study by Jason Kucsma, Metropolitan New … Continue reading

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3D Printing and the Accuracy Problem

  September 8, 2014

Tea, Earl Gray, Hot Star Trek made us think that the advent and widespread consumer adoption of 3D printers would soon have us calling out, “Tea, Earl Gray, hot” and like magic the item appears. Unfortunately, the current state of the technology is far from magic. They’re clunky, complicated to operate, difficult to calibrate, and are constantly requiring fixing or tweaking to keep them running smoothly. Occasionally, things go well, and while many manufacturers are coming closer to the holy-grail of the 3D-printer-as-appliance, more often as not you’ll end up fiddling with something on the machine when things start to go bad.  You’re also limited by two other factors: material and accuracy. While industrial machines are close to being able to print fantastic things like human organs, consumer printers are usually relegated to plastic: either ABS (think LEGO bricks) or PLA. PLA is becoming the dominant material for consumer machines because it doesn’t require a heated build platform to prevent warping (ABS suffers from  temperature differentials while cooling, causing lower layers to shrink more quickly while upper layers are still warm, curling edges). It’s also biodegradable and made from plants, so it’s more eco-friendly. 3D printers work through a process called fused-deposit modeling (FDM). Plastic filament is heated and then extruded through a nozzle in little spaghetti-like threads, building up forms layer by layer. The smaller the distance between layers, the smoother the surface appears. Example of layer heights Accuracy isn’t much of an issue for the typical hobbyist, it … Continue reading

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The i Has It

  September 8, 2014

The reader of an ebook faces the question: which reader software should I use? The creator of an ebook faces the question: which ebook format should I use? In neither case is there a universally “best” answer. As business interests have scrambled to try to capture the ebook market, many formats have been introduced. This completely unregulated environment has created a certain amount of confusion and a lack of uniformity. Ebook (or ebook or eBook) formats fall into some broad categories. First, those based strictly on their internal structure: epub (or ePub) PDF text (or txt) Next, ebook formats based both on internal structure and the means to read them: iBooks (read exclusively on iOS devices) MOBI (Third party readers such as Stanza, FBReader, Kindle for PC and Mac, and STDU Viewer can open MOBI files.) AZW (used exclusively on the Amazon Kindle) It is important to note that these categories are not mutually exclusive. That is, while one must use ibook reader to read an ibook, one can also use ibook reader to read epubs, pdf, and text files (but not MOBI or AZW formats). In general, the formats based strictly on internal structure are the most adaptable to the widest range of reader software. However, it is also true that ebook formats based on internal structure and the means to read them offer more bells and whistles: design options, interactivity, multimedia, etc. (There are myriad other ebook formats; I list above only the most popular.) Amazon, as the big player in the … Continue reading