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February 3, 2009

Is there anything left for me?

So I got the software that runs my website fix and everything updated. I added the plug-in so that I can post from my phone and found that it needs an auto save feature. During this process I started thinking about platform independence.

And cupcakes.

I know, right? Cupcakes are awesome.

Anyway.

I've been watching as my friends spread out across the various social platforms (Facebook, myspace, livejournal, etc) and seeing the webs stretch thinner and further. My friend John has the right idea I think. He writes in one place and syndicates it out. He maintains control of his content, and yet stays connected through the existing social webs.

Platform independent.

All of this is tumbling around in the back of my head as I pick back of the project for this semester. It's a continuation of the one I've been working on, translating and presenting a book of broadsides and transitional literature into a website. As I think about this and learn the technologies I need to finish the project (or at least move to the next phase) I've been considering how platform independent we are on the project.

Tangentially related: the Japanese constitution paper I wrote was mostly research in books and the like which are language specific but otherwise accessible. However, the main archive I used was a collection of source documents collected onto a CD-ROM using technology that hasn't been developed in 10 years.

Not a major obstacle because I have some old hard ware and software, but an obstacle to overcome none the less.

As I worked with the archive I found myself wishing it was stored in a database with a published protocol for accessing the database, or even in a hypertext cloud. Anything that was not a locked platform and would give me some modicum of future proofing.

I think it's the right answer though. Not just for historians, but for other academic disciplines as well.

Back to the point. I'm working on redeveloping a website for the display of data and looking for ways of presenting that data. Related to this is the idea of visualizations and new ways to explore historical data. Personally, I don't think that it would hurt historians to develop a visual or auditory literacy much like you have in art and music. Information and arguments are transmitted in both mediums. Historians are just late to the party.

So what are we looking at for platform independence?

Theoretically, I can develop a website that, while limited by language choices, has maximum accessibility for the data being provided. There are some arguments to be made about presentation, but the accessibility issue should be solved.

I should get right on that.

I'm coming late to this conversation. But it's good to be having it.


Posted by Matt at February 3, 2009 2:04 PM