Google Art Project and the MUA Maritime Art Gallery

Google recently announced a new online initiative called “Art Project” in
which they partnered with 17 art museums around the world and placed high
resolution images online for the public to explore. Each piece includes
viewing notes (click the <<i symbol), information about the artist, and
links to more images by the artist across museums. In addition the
website allows viewers to create their own collection of images selected
from any of the museums.

The MUA has taken advantage of that feature and created a collection
within the Google Art Project of the 41 maritime related images we found
across all 17 museums. We will update the MUA gallery whenever new
museums are added to the project . We invite you to explore this virtual
maritime art museum by clicking on the link on our home page at:

http://www.themua.org

Enjoy!

What Does it Mean to “Go Digital”? – By Dr. T. Mills Kelly

Back in the late 1990s – the days of Web 0.5 – I was a pioneer of sorts when it came to thinking about how new media might be changing the way students thought about the past. I got started with research on new media because I had an itch that needed scratching…What I wanted to know was whether or not the work I was putting into my website and into creating web-based assignments for my students was remotely worth it. I decided I needed to do a little research to see what I could learn about how my students used the digital learning materials I was creating for them and whether their use of those materials was changing their thinking at all.

As often happens with “little research projects,” the work I did that year transformed my career in that it opened me up to an entirely new way of thinking about teaching and learning. And because the results of my project found their way into an online journal, which then won an award, which then led to a job at George Mason University’s Center for History and New Media, I was suddenly an expert of sorts on digital pedagogy.

“How Web Video Powers Global Innovation”

I’ve been thinking (again) about the digital aspect of the MUA.  Our goal as an organization has always been to encourage underwater archaeologists to share their research with the public via the web.  That last bit is very important: via the web.  Why?  Because we believe it is the best tool to reach the widest possible audience.  That’s important too because we need to spread the word about ethical underwater archaeology so that the public understands what we do and why it is important to them. It’s not an option for us, it’s a moral imperative.

Originally I had hoped to have a bit more on our site about some of the technical innovations and practices going on in humanities computing but I think we’ve been lacking in that category.  Hopefully we can make up for lost time by highlighting relevant websites, articles, videos etc. that relate to this topic.

Getting back to my opening comments about using the web to reach wider audiences, I recently viewed a “TED Talk” video by Chris Anderson on how web video powers global innovation.  Many of you may already be aware of TED talks, a growing collection of videos hosted by a small nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” I could spend hours on that site (could?  I have!).  Have a look at Chris’s talk and see what you think.  Feel free comment here and share your “ideas worth spreading.”

You can view Chris Anderson’s TED  Talk here:

http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_anderson_how_web_video_powers_global_innovation.html

Enjoy

-Kurt

NOAA Offers New Online Media Library Featuring Ocean-Related Photos and Videos

This just in from NOAA…

“The National Marine Sanctuaries Media Library is an online vault where a comprehensive collection of select video clips and high-resolution still images from America’s underwater treasures are securely stored and available for searchable access and download.”

https://marinelife.noaa.gov/media_lib/index.aspx

Using Social Utilities to Reach a Wider Audience

As part of our mission to share ethical underwater archaeological research
with the general public we have created a group page on Facebook. We hope
to reach a new audience through this medium by reaching out to groups who
perhaps know little about what we do. Why are we telling you since you’re
already visiting the MUA?

Our Facebook group allows visitors to upload their own videos, photos,
links, discuss topics, and ask questions. So if you’d like to let people
know about you and your work without doing a formal web post this could be a
great option for you. An additional benefit is that through issuing
invitations to your Facebook “friends” you can help spread the word about
preserving submerged cultural resources.

To join our Facebook group you will need your own Facebook account. It’s
free and easy to join. Once you’ve done that just search groups for “Museum
of Underwater Archaeology (MUA)” and click join.

You’ll be surprised by just how many folks you know who have already joined.

http://www.facebook.com

Excavating the Website: There are Lessons Buried Here

Last week we announced that the Museum of Underwater Archaeology’s “Holding History in Your Hand” (HHYH) classroom learning kits were ready for shipping world wide. The response has been incredible with inquiries coming in literally from around the world. If you’re not familiar with the kit you can view the brochure here. The MUA staff has been conducting the HHYH exercise for several years now. But since we can’t be everywhere at once we worked with members of the East Carolina University’s Maritime Studies Association to create a lesson plan and artifact analysis guide so that school teachers and other organizations could conduct the exercise themselves.

But one of the most exciting things for us was the decision to augment the lesson plan with additional exercises that let teachers use the MUA website as a teaching tool. We’ve built up a great collection of projects written by underwater archaeologists from around the world but after you’ve read say a field journal written in 2006 what more can be done with it? Is it then time to send it off to the archive to wither away? We don’t think so.

Using the Collaborative Power of the Internet for Underwater Archaeology Museums

One of the primary goals for the Museum of Underwater Archaeology is to encourage Underwater Archaeologists to use the Internet to share their research with the world.  We also want to highlight what Internet tools are available for those folks who want to dive into the cyber ocean themselves.  To that end we have featured links and articles about Internet tools on our blog.  Today, however, we have incorporated a freely available Internet tool from  Google Maps.  Last spring our audience let us know through our online survey (another freely available tool) that they wanted to see more maps to show where different projects were taking place.  Today we have posted a new way to navigate our site.  You can now view a world map and select what project you’d like to see based on its geographic location.  It’s an especially great way for younger students to see what work is taking place around the world.

In addition we have reorganized our home page to make it easier to see all of our content in one place (another great user suggestion).  In the future we hope to create ways to let the viewer organize the page based on their own interests.

We will continue to explore the many freely available software tools for databases, museum exhibits, photo slideshows, bibliographies, time lines, and more.  Stay tuned and check out our new look and organization.

Look for the map under our “New to the MUA” section found here:

http://www.uri.edu/mua

Best regards,
Kurt

Thanks Roy…

This morning I received word that Dr. Roy Rosenzweig passed away yesterday. Roy was the Director of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University where I am enrolled as a PhD student. There are many others there that knew him far better than I did and I’m sure could and will tell better stories about him. My time in the program had not occasioned many opportunities to work with Roy. I spoke to him at length only a few times but it occured to me today just how much this man has influenced my own life. I can only imagine how his passing will impact those that worked more closely with him.

Who Owns Your Photos?

CNN posted a video story that has some important implications for organizations considering using Flickr to help them create slide shows for their websites.  While API’s offer promise for helping websites add technical content that website owners might not have time to develop on their own, if they are simultaneously giving up ownership of their images then they may find the price of this “free” assistance to be too high.  View the story here:  http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/09/24/intv.virgin.flickr.lawsuit.cnn

Ben Ford Interviewed on Blog Talk Radio

Ben Ford, author of the Lake Ontario Maritime Cultural Landscape Project Journal on the MUA recently wrapped up his summer work on the lake and was interviewed on Blog Talk Radio.   You can listen to the interview here: (http://blogtalkradio.com/hostpage.aspx?show_id=42233)

I would love to hear from readers if they have other blog talk radio stations they visit online.

Ben’s sixth post will be online soon.  You can see his current entries here: (http://www.uri.edu/artsci/his/mua/project_journals/bf/bf_intro.shtml)