Got the phone call. Leaving Ireland for a year on 22 August. 26 days. So much to do. Try fit it all in. Thesis is number one. Nearly there with it. Editing and the what nots of it all. Theres West Fest. Going climbing Carrauntoohill, drinking in Dingle and Doolin. Going to be the last hoorah with all my friends. Gonna make it an epic one.
So going back to leaving this country. I know it can be said that oh lord aint it bad that all the young are leaving. Yes it is but would we not be doing it anyway? I mean I didnt see myself staying here even when the times were good. Always wanted out for a couple of years. So does the majority of my generation. What is bothering us is that we have to work shite jobs while we save up to get outta here.
So yes time to get a move on and start getting things ticked off. To begin with Cinema hopping. Gd Luck
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The first document that I read was 'Mapping Freedom' by Edward L Ayers. This essay details the very great advantages of using maps to document the emancipation of black slaves in America. The first basis of this idea came from Napoleons march to Moscow by Charles Minard.
This is a simple liner map that as Ayers does not take into account the other factors that occurred during the march, The map is simple and informative but lack in other information such as is seen at the end of the essay when depicting freed slave movement in the years following emancipation. The use of visual aids to help the historian is one that would aid all types of learners.
To see history laid out in front of you would certainly aid me as I would have a better understanding of the details that surrounded the event being studied. For Ayers the event was Emancipation and the following effects it had on the freed slaves. It is interesting to see the movements of the freed slaves in the map but also to hear the harrowing stories.
Using models as visual aides would certainly help the historian in gaining a better knowledge of the topic but would also helps on numerous levels when teaching. For the student could gather far more information then simply reading a piece of text.
Another article I read was on the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project at Northern Illinois University Libraries(http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu). This project is a digital library resource on Abraham Lincoln’s life and times in antebellum Illinois. What differentiates this resource from others is the use of multimedia platforms. The use of sound, interactive images and maps produces a more multi platformed learning experience. The boom in the use of the internet has enabled libraries to embrace technology and use the many platforms available to share what information they have.
A quote from historian Thomas Bender in 1986 worried about "the declining significance of history in the general intellectual culture of our time". Eight years later he argued that "Professional historians are becoming increasingly isolated from the general public and writing primarily for other historians". With the age of the internet and the sharing of ideas digitally historians have never been so connected with the general public. The many varieties that a historian can use can sometimes be overwhelming as to choose the right medium to share their knowledge in order to get maximum exposure.
The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a very beneficial tool. It provides project users with an opportunity to explore another type of historical resource: statistical data gathered by censuses or latter-day social scientists. The statistical data that is available to a user can be pin pointed to one data source such as the rail road in a specific place at a specific time. Putting all other irrelevant information to one side and highlighting only the information being sought. This helps the reader like in the previous reading by giving a visual aide to the information that the person seeks.
The beneficial factor of publishing all primary source data is that the reader can make judgement for him or herself. Thus learning to read documents and formulating their own opinion on the matter and then sharing it over online forums or blogs. Creating a new idea that can be open accessed and interpreted by others.
There can only be advantages when something like the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project is launched. Where disadvantages occur is in the rise of more amateur based works. By only releasing primary materials and using this in the interactive media the users can create their own ideas. With blogs and secondary reading websites it is the authors opinions that are being expressed thus leading to a very limited learning experience.
This is a simple liner map that as Ayers does not take into account the other factors that occurred during the march, The map is simple and informative but lack in other information such as is seen at the end of the essay when depicting freed slave movement in the years following emancipation. The use of visual aids to help the historian is one that would aid all types of learners.
To see history laid out in front of you would certainly aid me as I would have a better understanding of the details that surrounded the event being studied. For Ayers the event was Emancipation and the following effects it had on the freed slaves. It is interesting to see the movements of the freed slaves in the map but also to hear the harrowing stories.
Using models as visual aides would certainly help the historian in gaining a better knowledge of the topic but would also helps on numerous levels when teaching. For the student could gather far more information then simply reading a piece of text.
Another article I read was on the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project at Northern Illinois University Libraries(http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu). This project is a digital library resource on Abraham Lincoln’s life and times in antebellum Illinois. What differentiates this resource from others is the use of multimedia platforms. The use of sound, interactive images and maps produces a more multi platformed learning experience. The boom in the use of the internet has enabled libraries to embrace technology and use the many platforms available to share what information they have.
A quote from historian Thomas Bender in 1986 worried about "the declining significance of history in the general intellectual culture of our time". Eight years later he argued that "Professional historians are becoming increasingly isolated from the general public and writing primarily for other historians". With the age of the internet and the sharing of ideas digitally historians have never been so connected with the general public. The many varieties that a historian can use can sometimes be overwhelming as to choose the right medium to share their knowledge in order to get maximum exposure.
The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a very beneficial tool. It provides project users with an opportunity to explore another type of historical resource: statistical data gathered by censuses or latter-day social scientists. The statistical data that is available to a user can be pin pointed to one data source such as the rail road in a specific place at a specific time. Putting all other irrelevant information to one side and highlighting only the information being sought. This helps the reader like in the previous reading by giving a visual aide to the information that the person seeks.
The beneficial factor of publishing all primary source data is that the reader can make judgement for him or herself. Thus learning to read documents and formulating their own opinion on the matter and then sharing it over online forums or blogs. Creating a new idea that can be open accessed and interpreted by others.
There can only be advantages when something like the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project is launched. Where disadvantages occur is in the rise of more amateur based works. By only releasing primary materials and using this in the interactive media the users can create their own ideas. With blogs and secondary reading websites it is the authors opinions that are being expressed thus leading to a very limited learning experience.
Monday, November 22, 2010
For this blog post I decided to use a text analysis tool to compare what politicians say when dealing with Irish sovereignty. I decided to look at all the Dail debates on the treaty as well as a selection of Dail excerpts from leading politicians from November 2010.
The reason I have chosen November is I believe it is a very dark month in our history where calamity and confusion are the order of the day. The Fine Fail led coalition government have led this country to a collapse where our fought Independence has been sold out.
I am first going to analyze the three Dail debates and see what common words are used. I will then compare this to what modern day politicians are saying in relation to the crisis that is currently occurring,
From the Dail debate from
14 December
19 December;
7 January
Looking at the three debates together one can get a picture of what issues are being raised. "Irish People and the Republic are the most common themes being argued in the debates.
Now we turn our attention to the modern era and see how people are commenting on the current economic crisis.
The first account is from a speech made by An Taoiseach Brian Cowen regarding financial stability.
The next item is taken from the a blog post entitled ' Irelands last day of independence'
As is clear when looking at the different examples the majority of the speeches are dominated by 'ireland' republic. people. It is fair comment for the modern day journalist to see this handing over of out fiscal independence to the IMF as a handing over of our total independence.
The reason I have chosen November is I believe it is a very dark month in our history where calamity and confusion are the order of the day. The Fine Fail led coalition government have led this country to a collapse where our fought Independence has been sold out.
I am first going to analyze the three Dail debates and see what common words are used. I will then compare this to what modern day politicians are saying in relation to the crisis that is currently occurring,
From the Dail debate from
14 December
19 December;
7 January
Looking at the three debates together one can get a picture of what issues are being raised. "Irish People and the Republic are the most common themes being argued in the debates.
Now we turn our attention to the modern era and see how people are commenting on the current economic crisis.
The first account is from a speech made by An Taoiseach Brian Cowen regarding financial stability.
The next item is taken from the a blog post entitled ' Irelands last day of independence'
As is clear when looking at the different examples the majority of the speeches are dominated by 'ireland' republic. people. It is fair comment for the modern day journalist to see this handing over of out fiscal independence to the IMF as a handing over of our total independence.
Monday, November 15, 2010
A Historians tool.
A great line depicting the state of mass media. 'see mass media as reflecting not a world out there, but the practices of those having the power to determine the experience of others'.
Newspapers are a vital tool for the historian. As this article discusses how reliable are they? Bias and commercialization all have a role in the words we read on the page, The argument that what we read is simply the editors view on an issue can be strongly supported but hard facts cannot be disputed.
Using the newspaper as a source can be a gamble but as this article continuos to say is that a broad examination of newspapers in needed to look at a specific event. Thus eliminating the viewpoint of one specific editor and incorporating the ideals of others to formulate a hypothesis of the event being reported.
In order to support the validity of the report it would require a study of other sources on the event such as police reports government reports and stats.
This is a very informative article detailing extremely well the method used when taking newspapers as a source. The problems that are encountered such as what papers to select and what issues to be looked at to method used in collating the data all are easily picked up.
One issue I have in reading the article is that it is a very long winded and tries to back up the arguments immensely. Don't get me wrong it is a very informative piece and very useful but a simple bit of editing and it would work wonders.
I found the article online and here it is for anyone out there wanting to know how to properly use newspapers as a historical source
The Press as a source of socio-historical data.
Newspapers are a vital tool for the historian. As this article discusses how reliable are they? Bias and commercialization all have a role in the words we read on the page, The argument that what we read is simply the editors view on an issue can be strongly supported but hard facts cannot be disputed.
Using the newspaper as a source can be a gamble but as this article continuos to say is that a broad examination of newspapers in needed to look at a specific event. Thus eliminating the viewpoint of one specific editor and incorporating the ideals of others to formulate a hypothesis of the event being reported.
In order to support the validity of the report it would require a study of other sources on the event such as police reports government reports and stats.
This is a very informative article detailing extremely well the method used when taking newspapers as a source. The problems that are encountered such as what papers to select and what issues to be looked at to method used in collating the data all are easily picked up.
One issue I have in reading the article is that it is a very long winded and tries to back up the arguments immensely. Don't get me wrong it is a very informative piece and very useful but a simple bit of editing and it would work wonders.
I found the article online and here it is for anyone out there wanting to know how to properly use newspapers as a historical source
The Press as a source of socio-historical data.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Photo editing
Right its time to start editing pictures. Im gonna try and use two different tools out of curiosity and just to see which one is user friendly. I opened Sumo paint and worked around with all the various colour changes. I found it very easy to use but I was going in blind and just playing around with the colour of the picture.
The first picture I used was of a photo of the old Bandon Railway station. I took it on a very wet and dark day so the picture is cold( reflecting the feeling that day) I tried to warm the picture up but only the red brick came out and the tarmac remained cold. I then tried to clear the picture but it just did not work out for me.
Here is the original photo
The Photo editor automatically cut the picture as you see above. I left it as it because I did not want the sky to be seen.
The next photo I took was from a book detailing the history of Patrick Street in Cork. It is of the Fr Mathew stature taken early in the 1900s.
My aim for this photo is to be able to get more clarity from the photo. I also took a picture of the statue as it is today just for the sake of viewing what is still the same from the same angle.
It took a while for the Adobe photoshop trial to download. So as I waited I looked around to see what all the fus was with photoshop. Pretty interesting stuff. I used Final Cut Pro last year for a project we had in college. I editing a 30 second ad and found messing around with the buttons to be great just as long as i saved the previous material. With FCP as with ant editing software it takes time to get to grips with what the software can do. A lot of experimenting is needed
I tried using photoshop but will need more time than I can afford in order to understand what it can do.
The first picture I used was of a photo of the old Bandon Railway station. I took it on a very wet and dark day so the picture is cold( reflecting the feeling that day) I tried to warm the picture up but only the red brick came out and the tarmac remained cold. I then tried to clear the picture but it just did not work out for me.
Here is the original photo
And here is my attempt at warming it up
The next photo I took was from a book detailing the history of Patrick Street in Cork. It is of the Fr Mathew stature taken early in the 1900s.
My aim for this photo is to be able to get more clarity from the photo. I also took a picture of the statue as it is today just for the sake of viewing what is still the same from the same angle.
I tried using photoshop but will need more time than I can afford in order to understand what it can do.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Clashnafree 1911 Census
A very interesting but time consuming task. Trying to get all the details in the right cell with the right people was a tack. All these different lines had my eyes going hazy. But I eventually got the information in. Now the next task was to calculate the data.......Clicking here there and everywhere. Break, cup of tea back again and same luck.
I got one column calculated but every time I went to the next to calculate it came up as error. Another attempt and again the same story.
Then I went to look at the difference between the 1901 and 1911 census. There are interesting changes such as new members to the street and deaths of family members. What is more interesting though is there are fewer numbers living on the street and information on house given in the 1901 census is not found in the 1911. Reasons for this can only be guessed but death in some cases are very strong as the occupants were of old age.
The majority of the people employed on the street continue to be laborers and some a minority have private servants.
The literacy rate of the street is some what alarming. In two families children under 12 cannot read and some have no literacy at all. Considering that children received free primary education under the British government.
All in all this task was a challenging one. It was very time consuming and for a first time user of excel took a bit of getting used to.
I got one column calculated but every time I went to the next to calculate it came up as error. Another attempt and again the same story.
Then I went to look at the difference between the 1901 and 1911 census. There are interesting changes such as new members to the street and deaths of family members. What is more interesting though is there are fewer numbers living on the street and information on house given in the 1901 census is not found in the 1911. Reasons for this can only be guessed but death in some cases are very strong as the occupants were of old age.
The majority of the people employed on the street continue to be laborers and some a minority have private servants.
The literacy rate of the street is some what alarming. In two families children under 12 cannot read and some have no literacy at all. Considering that children received free primary education under the British government.
All in all this task was a challenging one. It was very time consuming and for a first time user of excel took a bit of getting used to.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Zotero 'a handy ol tool'
My God why haven't I heard of these kinds of technologies before now. The simplicity is the key to Zotero . Previously I was searching through the internet looking at items of interest for my thesis and just downloading them and saving them. Now with one click they are all organized into one complete area where I choose where it is saved and what name it is under.
I really like the fact that all the different items can be saved in individual folders. What makes it worthwhile for me though is that there is no need for external memory key or printing it off as it is all saved online.
The one downfall to Zotero is it is only available on Firefox. I mostly work off a Mac and safari is my choice of browser but I could look at safari as my playground and Firefox as my classroom. I need some discipline.
Now that I have been introduced to Zotero I shall be using it indefinitely when researching. Any item of interest can be saved and read through ally at a later date while I continue on my quest to gather as much information as possible.
I really like the fact that all the different items can be saved in individual folders. What makes it worthwhile for me though is that there is no need for external memory key or printing it off as it is all saved online.
The one downfall to Zotero is it is only available on Firefox. I mostly work off a Mac and safari is my choice of browser but I could look at safari as my playground and Firefox as my classroom. I need some discipline.
Now that I have been introduced to Zotero I shall be using it indefinitely when researching. Any item of interest can be saved and read through ally at a later date while I continue on my quest to gather as much information as possible.
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