So here we are, week 12 of the semester, the last week of classes. It seems like only yesterday I was getting lost in the Arts building, trying to locate this mysterious “Creating Digital Media” class. That first class meeting lay the groundwork for a semester of exploring new (at least to me) tools, sites, and media for crafting a digital publication.
First and foremost, we had to make our “debut”on the digital forum. I had kept a blog before, but created this one for class specifically. I tried to combine reflections on class topics with topics that I would be interested in using for a blog. These included travel, literature, and the arts. I felt comfortable doing this for a class blog since most of the material which I would practice “digital media” techniques on (such as photographs and video footage) were related to these other topics. I used a lot of my own photography, taken on various travels around Europe and North America. However, I also searched for Creative Commons material showcasing interesting locations. When creating a podcast, I chose to read poems that celebrated New York. I wanted to practice making a podcast using material I was passionate about (namely, poetry and my hometown). Finally, in choosing a topic for my final project (which will appear on this blog), I chose to tell the story of the recovery in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. This was sparked by my recent trip to that incredible city. If I do create another blog purely for travel and tales, I would want to include such a story. I now feel more equipped to use a variety of tools and media in crafting such a story–one which will better catch and hold a reader’s attention.
It is easy to see how useful the lessons I learned in this class will be for the future, both in terms of hobbies and careers. We touched on photography and cinematography techniques, practiced photo and video editing, created our own podcasts, utilizing social media and social media analysis. I’ve become more familiar with subjects like photography and video editing, which I will without a doubt use in the future. As I’ve made evident in this blog, I love to travel. An important part of traveling for many people is documenting the memories. I love capturing the essence of a place and its people on film, and want to make those snapshots as bright and bold as they were in reality. I want people to be able to look at a photo or video I’ve taken and feel almost as if they were there with me. The tools we touched on will help me do that.
On a more serious note, this class was a good preparation for my future career as a librarian. More and more, digital skills are critical for librarians. This does not invalidate traditional librarianship, and I cannot (or rather, will not) imagine a world without printed books (with the lovely smell of pages and the sound of their turning). However, digital libraries and online access to books hold great promise for the survival and spread of knowledge and entertainment. In addition, a librarian armed with the twin tools of social media use and analysis can bring the people back to the stacks, eager for a good read or a library event. As they say–if you blog it, they will come. I, for one, am looking forward to joining this brave new world of librarianship.
Back in the late summer of 2005, the whole world watched as New Orleans, city of masks, mardi gras, Café du Monde, vampire stories, and jazz, lay submerged beneath the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina. This was only after days of terrifying storm conditions. The city and its populace suffered tremendously during and after the hurricane, but also proved their courage, compassion, and resilience.
A report published by the History Channel explains that officials feared even before Katrina arrived that the levees, bulwarks of sand, rock, and other materials, would fail to hold back the floodwaters. (2009) As I learned on my visit, New Orleans’ geography is referred to as a “soup bowl,” since it resembles a basin. The famous French Quarter lies along the rim, while the poorer neighborhoods occupy the points furthest below sea level.
Although occupants had some warning, no one expected a storm of such magnitude. The night before Katrina’s arrival, “almost 80 percent of the city’s population had evacuated.” However, “Some 10,000 had sought shelter in the Superdome, while tens of thousands of others chose to wait out the storm at home.” (History Channel, 2009) Katrina arrived with tremendous force, and by the morning entire neighborhoods were so deeply submerged in flood waters that residents fled to their roofs—the only dry ground remaining. It must have been a terrifying sight, one’s home and belongings below the brown, swirling waters, and the storm not yet over! I think anyone who saw the news footage of that day will have a hard time forgetting the images. By the end, “nearly 80 percent of the city was under some quantity of water.” (History Channel, 2009)
While the government emergency-response agency, FEMA, notoriously failed to respond, others rose to the occasion. The Coast Guard is credited with rescuing around 34,000 people around the city, while individuals able to access a boat brought much needed supplies and aid, or even opened their homes to those displaced by the storm. (History Channel, 2009)
The History Channel’s 2009 account of this harrowing event reveals, “In all, Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 2,000 people and affected some 90,000 square miles of the United States. Hundreds of thousands of evacuees scattered far and wide.”
Above: “Hurricane Katrina Disaster” by Disasters Channel, YouTube Creative Commons content. Web address:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6RCYefhSb4. Edited using YouTube Video Editor.
And yet…
Since 2005, the city of New Orleans has fought tooth and nail to return to its former vibrancy. Having visited in 2014, I can say that it is well on its way. While there is still much to be done, New Orleans has a strength that can only come from banding together to survive a disaster. Certainly some sections faired better than others. Diane Rehm, host of the Diane Rehm show, warns those who would claim that the recovery is complete. She began her show on New Orleans ten years after Katrina with the statement, “Smaller, whiter, more expensive, these were among the descriptions some residents have given of today’s New Orleans. In the decade following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the region…felt a resurgence in tourism and has been energized by an influx of young entrepreneurs. But many residents point to a disparity in the recovery.” (Rehm, 2015)
The French Quarter, the least affected by the hurricane, is where most of the tourists and their money have gone, and certainly this section is thriving. In the spring of 2014, I visited New Orleans for the first time, and quickly fell in love with the city while walking along its streets, wandering around Jackson Square, and looking out over the Mississippi. It is a beautiful city, and every street corner begs a photograph. This was the side of the recovery with which most of us are familiar—and the most successful.
Below: St. Louis Cathedral, Jackson Square; Inside Cafe du Monde; A student jazz band on the corner of Frenchman Street; An old horse-post; New Orleans architecture; Mardi Gras masks in a shop window.
However, New Orleans is still recovering, and in some cases struggling to do so. In speaking with locals, I learned that the poorest neighborhoods were the most affected, and are in many cases nowhere near the state in which they stood pre-Katrina. Gary Rivlin, a former New York Times reporter, spoke on the Diane Rehm Show about this unequal recovery rate. He compared a series of neighborhoods and their respective recoveries:
“You’ve got Lakeview, a prosperous white community that was completely covered in water after the levies failed. Ten years later, 100 percent back, arguably better than ever if you ignore the lousy streets there. You’ve got New Orleans East, well-off black community, middle class, professional class, really wealthy parts, it’s about 80 percent back 10 years after Katrina. Then, you go to the 7th Ward, the 9th Ward, you know, more working class neighborhoods. The lower 9th Ward is about one-third back a decade later, 7th Ward maybe 50, 60 percent back ten years later and that’s the real great tragedy here. It was not an equal opportunity storm. You were more than three times more likely to lose a home if you were an African American homeowner than if you were white and it has not been an equal opportunity recovery.” (Rivlin, 2015)
An NPR chart from the Diane Rehm Show’s online episode transcript (27 Aug 2015) reveals the complexity of the recovery:
Infographic Source: Kaiser Family Foundation/ NPR “Survey of New Orleans Residents Ten Years After Katrina”Accessed on The Diane Rehm Show website
Michael Hecht, the president and CEO of Greater New Orleans Inc. (a Louisiana based economic development group) remains optimistic about New Orleans’ road to recovery. Speaking on the same show as Rivlin, Hecht declares:
“So now the economy is doing much better across some macro elements. It’s one of the fastest growing in the country overall in terms of population, in terms of GDP, in terms of people moving here. But the challenges that you’re describing and that Gary is describing are very real and that is that, as of now, not everybody is yet fully participating in this revitalization.”
He adds, “the truth is that we’re probably 10 years into a generational 30-year project. And so what I say to people is let’s keep self-critiquing. Let’s keep challenging ourselves. But let’s realize that we need to stick with this thing for probably 20 more years before we’ll be able to judge success.” (Hecht, 2015)
Only time will tell just what an extended recovery will look like in New Orleans, but one thing is clear- the people of New Orleans will not give up on their city. They have imbued the city with its unique spirit and joie de vivre, and are the true reason that city is so incredible.
And before you go, why not enjoy a bit of the Big Easy?
King, Alex. 18 Apr 2014. “My Parade in New Orleans #kinfolk” YouTube Creative Commons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0I2AhAkhEc Edited by Therese Codd with YouTube Video Editor 14/04/16
Throughout my course, copyright has been one of the most discussed topics. Perhaps “discussed”isn’t the right word…complaining seems to be the more accurate tone. Copyright is a notoriously complex topic, not only in terms of policies but also how people feel about its place in society. This is why so many libraries retain legal staff. The topic is so contentious and can cause so many problems that professionals must be kept on hand for consultation. As a librarian, one can hardly assume that patrons understand copyright policies. To be honest, it often seems that few librarians have a complete grasp on it. I know I certainly have much more to learn. The debate continues surrounding whether copyright does more harm than good. For today’s class though, we were not expected to find the ultimate answer to this argument. Instead, we were tasked with going through our past blog posts and properly citing all images, quotes, and references. While almost all of my material is original, there were several instances when I drew on other resources or individuals. I fully support the need to attribute credit where it is due, and think that this is at least the noble intention behind copyright.
In my first blog post, “Tales and Trails,” I opened with an image of a young woman sitting at a table with a magazine opened on her lap, a cup of coffee on the table by her side. It seemed a fitting image to start my blog, which (although primarily a discussion of digital media practice for class) would be augmented with little side-stories of my travels and love of literature. This would add to my preparation for the course’s final project–crafting a story using various digital media forms.
Blog Post: Tales and Trails (29 January 2016)
Image: “Coffee Break Rest Mug Cup Cafe Reading Magazine” by Unsplash, Pixabay.com
All other photographs used in my blog posts are my own, taken while traveling.
Blog Post: Video Editing (1 April 2016)
Natural water slide video courtesy of YouTube Creative Commons.
All of the Prague video footage included in the post is my own.
Blog Post: Another New York Podcast (24 February 2016)
This week’s class, with its revelation of the complexities of copyright, has reinforced in my mind how much easier publication is when I rely on my own work.
Today’s class focused on video editing, something I have little experience with (aside from snapchat but I kinda doubt that counts). We discussed the various tools which can be used for video editing–websites, apps, and other programs. It comes as no surprise that there are so many options for editing tools (and that these are aimed at users different levels of experience). Today taking video footage is easier and more widespread than ever, largely due to the prevalence of smartphones. With a smartphone, one can capture anything from a fun time with friends to potentially groundbreaking news footage. If I were to create a video of my own, the brief introduction to camera angles and framing would come into play. The tutorial we watched discusses head room and look room, as well as the balance of a shot. It was all very similar to the discussion of proper photography techniques. For our class exercise, however, I would simply need to use YouTube editor to manipulate a creative commons video from YouTube. This would give me a good chance to practice a new set of digital media skills.
Logging into my YouTube account, I went to YouTube editor, selecting a video from their creative commons offerings. I wasn’t sure what to choose at first, but then decided to pick something to indulge my daydreams of summertime and relaxation. For this, I picked a video of vacationers enjoying a natural water slide. I turned on auto-fix to adjust the brightness and contrast. Then came the time to select audio. The video had terrible sound quality (mostly static with only faint sounds of voices and laughter). I chose a cheerful (perhaps too cheerful actually) banjo song, reinforcing the “fun” theme. So if you want to imagine that it’s summertime again, take a look at my video (and please don’t resent the banjo too much).
Next, we were instructed to use WeVideo (a website that offers free video editing tools). I uploaded a few video clips I had taken while exploring Prague this January, stitching them together, adding captions, and selecting an audio track. My only complaint is that the free accounts leave a WeVideo watermark (if that’s the proper term for it) over the footage, announcing that it was made with their tools. However, it was a good introduction to video editing and left me feeling far more confident. So here if you’d like to get a glimpse of beautiful Prague, my short video may be of interest (and you can find it here).
This week my classmates and I were able to put our experience with filters, cropping, and general editing for something other than gratuitous selfies. Our topic was photo editing and photography in general. After a brief run-through of camera terms and photography techniques, we looked at a few online photo editing tools, from Photoshop to Pixlr (the latter we used for our own photos). Most of us had some experience with photo editing in some form or another (largely thanks to social media), and everyone had at least heard of the concept. Although my own experience was limited (being probably the last person in my peer-set without an Instagram account), I found Pixlr very easy to use.
I decided to indulge in a little nostalgia, and use some of the photos I took while in Donegal in the Fall. Playing with saturation, contrast, brightness, and other elements, I was able to make the images a bit closer to their real-life vibrancy.
A view of the cliffs (I adjusted vibrancy, color, contrast, and brightness)
Taking in the view!
In this photo I added a filter (title: Too Old, subcategory: Ronny) and adjusted the contrast and color.
All in all, I had a lot of fun playing around with the photo editing tools, and bringing my pictures a bit closer in quality to the actual views.
This week, our class was instructed to use Storify and Trendsmap in order to track down a trending topic here in Ireland, then craft a social-media embedded story about it. In doing this, I thought a lot about my past experience writing for my college newspaper. The paper has gone increasingly web-based, relying primarily on Twitter to disseminate news. Both Trendsmap and Storify seem to streamline this process–I had only to type in a topic and pick from a variety of social media forms before a list of sources appeared, ready to be inserted into my story.
For my topic, I chose World Book Day, focusing on its celebration and online presence based here in Dublin. I chose to include a tweet from a local school, wishing a happy World Book Day to book-lovers in the Republic, Northern Ireland, and the U.K. This school used Twitter to celebrate World Book day on both a local and international level. Secondly, I added a link to the World Book Day Ireland website, providing an authoritative source on the celebration, its history, and its purpose. This was just a first attempt at using Storify, but as I said, I can see how useful it would be for anything from personal to professional use. Take a look at my story here!
I’m sure there are plenty of podcasts about New York, but here’s one more. I decided that if I’m going to make a podcast, it should be about something (or somewhere) I love. Since podcasts can cover an amazingly wide range of subjects, from music to weird history and so on, I chose to read two poems about my favorite city. I’ll let the podcast do the talking (and hopefully it works–there were a few technical difficulties as I got the hang of it).
Lately class has focused on the infrastructure of a WordPress blog–going further behind the scenes of our sites. This week, however, we spoke about creating a podcast. I’ve never actually listened to a podcast, though a close friend of mine always plays a few while driving. According to this friend, pop music had begun to grate on her ears, but she still wanted some white noise in the background as she drove through rush hour. Podcasts, especially those speaking to her favorite topic–history, held a particular appeal. I think I would enjoy doing the same, especially if the topics related to those which I’ve already said I enjoy (namely, travel and literature).
A good podcast would have been right at home during my family’s recent trip to the Florida Keys. After the emotional roller coaster that was my first semester, I wasn’t sure how well I would be able to leave my cares behind and fully enjoy a vacation. The Florida Keys would have none of my nonsense though, and as soon as I stepped off the plane and into the warm sunshine, I felt light as a feather. We got a rental car from Fort Lauderdale airport (seating five, but only if I used my latent contortionist skills to climb into the very back). My sisters immediately put on their most “summery” music and rolled down the windows, looking out at the palm trees and blue water. Driving along the scenic route between Keys, listening to music, was one of the best parts of the trip. A podcast on Hemingway (who lived in Key West) or the local history would have been perfect! We stayed for three days, and every morning I had coffee on the balcony, joined by the happiest looking iguana perched on a palm frond nearby.
My favorite day was spent in Key West. Each of the Keys is a small island, so our drive was particularly scenic, taking us across some of the bluest water in the world. Old Key West is the perfect combination of sophistication and fun. There are beautiful old homes, gardens that each look like a miniature paradise, and pristine beaches. You can buy a coconut from street-vendors (who will take a machete to it in the least threatening way possible), peruse the stalls at the many open-air markets, or just sip on a piña colada and watch the sunset.
And as for Key West’s literary side, no trip would be complete without a visit to Ernest Hemingway’s house. Of course I had read a bit of his work in high school, and looked back on them as I enjoyed the tour. However I had only just read a novel called The Paris Wife, inspired by the life of his first wife, Hadley. It was after the collapse of his first marriage that Hemingway and his subsequent wife moved to Key West. Reading this fantastic novel cast the tour of his house in a new light, I found (and perhaps you will too, since I highly recommend both the book and the house). We saw Hem’s studio, decked out in ultra-masculine furniture and fixtures. He would have certainly approved of the number of cats lazing around the premises. They live a pretty sweet life there in Key West. I could understand why the great writer settled there–for a time, at least. It would be all too easy…
I’ve always enjoyed learning languages–having studied French and Spanish extensively. Now I’m learning about a whole other side of language learning, the field of markup languages. We’ve looked at HTML and a bit of CSS, each with its own grammar and vocabulary.
All this talk of languages, combined with the celebration of Mardi Gras, or as it is called here in Ireland, Pancake Tuesday, has put me in a very nostalgic mood for my recent trip to New Orleans. Last year, I visited NOLA for the first time, spending spring break away from the relentless winter snow storms that hit the East Coast of the United States, instead enjoying the sunshine in the land of jazz on street corners, hot sauce laced cajun cuisine, and so so so many beads. Anyone looking for a great place to visit in the United States absolutely must consider New Orleans. Where else can you find a hot sauce sampling bar, ride on the oldest street car line still in operation, enjoy gumbo along the Mississippi, and dance the night away?
And as far as literature is concerned, this city has plenty of bragging rights. Just on Pirate Alley (and how can you NOT want to walk down a street with a name like that??), you can find Faulkner House Books–a bookstore in the author’s former home. And let’s not forget those pillowy, sugar-dusted pastries–beignets, best served hot with a cup of chicory coffee. So pick up a classic–book and beignet; you may never want to leave.
This week in class, we began a discussion on the aesthetics of web design, then moved on to the building blocks of HTML. This lesson topic fell in line with so much of my other library science coursework, particularly the study of cataloging standards. The main idea between these three topics (web design, HTML, and cataloging) seems to be ascribing to a set of standards and rules to effectively convey information. These topics appeal to the organizational side of my personality (a particularly dominant side, I might add). It occurs to me that attention to patterns and communication skills are of particular benefit to web designers and librarians alike.
Now, to tie in my other topic of discussion, I’d like to share a bit about my first solo trip to another country–an adventure that appealed to my librarian side as much (dare I say) as this week’s lesson topic. My destination? Vienna, Austria. Why? Christmas markets, gingerbread, Klimt, and (of course) books!
I hit the ground running-going from the airport to the metro and into the city center. I had a screenshot of my hostel’s location information on my phone, and tried (unsuccessfully) to appear the at-ease local as I searched for my temporary home. I took my time, walking through the Naschmarkt (which, as the name hints, is home to countless stalls and food vendors). After purchasing some falafel (a great decision), I left the market and found my hostel across the street. I took some time to settle in, relax in the common room with all the other students, vagabonds, and the veteran travelers, and familiarize myself with the city map.
It may have been a grey December day, but Vienna was all colors and charm. I walked with my face turned up to admire the handsome architecture. The 18th century had left its mark on the city, and what a beautiful mark it was. It was easy to find the Hofburg Palace, a grand complex in which one could easily imagine the Hapsburg’s holding court. A horse-drawn carriage trundled past. Following its path, I discovered a little Christmas market, strung with lights and smelling of gluhwein, gingerbread, and hot pretzels. I ambled from stall to stall, admiring the holiday wares–even buying a few.
I passed my days in Vienna in this fashion–wandering from museum or gallery to Christkindlmarkt, stopping in a cafe (as the locals insist one must do), and appreciating the city’s beauty.
One place in particular will always come to my mind when I think back to Vienna, and that is the National Library. I’m sure my excitement must have been all too apparent on my face as I entered the grand old building. The guards chuckled as I rushed into the main room and gasped at the incredible space before me. This library, home to some of the most incredible rare books and manuscripts in the world, is, in my mind, also one of the most beautiful libraries ever built. If, like me, you dreamed of standing in a library just like the one the Beast shows Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, you owe it to yourself to make a bookworm’s pilgrimage there. You will feel just as spellbound by the stunning marble and gilt as the priceless glass encased works. Do as I did and sit in one of the chairs beneath the dome. From there you can admire the scholar’s heaven painted above. I could go on forever describing it, but instead I thought I’d simply show you (dear reader) what makes this library so special. Perhaps, in your own travels, you may want to pay it a visit!
The Flying CoddFish 