It’s hard to believe but coding and I were initially acquainted over two decades ago. While enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, one of my first graduate classes was an introduction to information technologies. In addition to learning about relevant software applications that I would regularly use in the library, I was also exposed to the wonders of HTML. Having been given an elementary understanding of programming thanks to my Carnegie Mellon housemates, I understood that there were a number of unique languages that one could employ to design websites, video games, and other computer-generated products. It wasn’t until I was assigned a project to write code in HTML that I came to a greater appreciation for coding. And ever since that summer, it became increasingly clear what all the fuss was about.
Flash forward a few years and I’m still dabbling in coding. In the early 2000s, I began serving as the webmaster for my school library’s website. In doing so, I had the opportunity to put my HTML skills into practice while maintaining the site that a former student had built. When our school district proposed the usage of Microsoft FrontPage for the construction of websites, I created a new site for the high school’s media center and kept up with its maintenance. Eventually, we transitioned from Windows-based desktop computers to MacBook Air laptops in the late 2000s. After that technological shift, I started using Apple products more regularly and made another library website in Google Sites.
Not only was the classic Google Sites a much easier tool to work with than FrontPage, but it also seemed to have a more visually appealing interface. One component of the classic Sites that I was fond of was the ability to embed HTML code in my website’s pages. Since the library’s scheduling calendar was housed in Google, I took advantage of the embedding options in Sites for this particular and other frequently updated links. For example, I copied the HTML code from the Remind app that communicates meeting dates and other necessary information for the student book club that I advise. Then, I did the same for the library’s Twitter page as well as a Symbaloo widget of library research and reading resources (see Figures 1 and 2).
However, when Google launched their New Sites program, they also eliminated the HTML box function that gave users the ability to add and edit the code on their websites. In sacrificing this important insertion tool, the company tried to make Sites even simpler to use when designing websites. Although the New Sites works seamlessly in the embedding of Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and images or videos that are housed in Google Drive, a webmaster is not able to embed other websites or links, as there is no longer a widget option. Consequently, the New Sites has lost some of its customization functionality and, in the process, has become more restrictive to website creators.
If I had to do it again, I’d consider developing a website in WordPress that lets me control the code within it, but given the free domain hosting in Google, that’s an advantage of Sites I can’t afford to ignore. It’s entirely possible that there’s a trick for adapting my school library’s website with HTML that I haven’t quite discovered or a reason for why the HTML feature was removed; yet, when weighing the strengths and weaknesses of the Google product, the convenience of Sites has certainly contributed to my long-term usage of the tool.
In continuing my education at USM, I studied a new coding language last spring in Dr. Yu’s Metadata for Digital Collections course. As part of a graded exercise, I identified the Dublin Core elements for a photograph and entered the metadata in an XML format (see Figure 3). This reintroduction to tagging with angle brackets reinforced the value of signifying the start and the end of the desired command with opening and closing tags. Later on in the class, I also produced an XML schema and metadata record for one of my favorite music albums. Other memorable assignments included the encoding of a USM finding aid with EAD tags as well as the making of a metadata record with VRA tags to describe a representative image and piece of architecture. Learning about the Dublin Core, EAD, and VRA metadata standards and practicing how to code them in XML have been great sources of pride for me. Not only has the experience taught me more about improving access to digital archives, museums, and libraries, but it’s also renewed my interest in coding and in the acquisition of new knowledge through the Codeacademy tutorials this week.
As I’m still brainstorming exhibit ideas for my final project, I haven’t decided on specific Omeka themes or color schemes that I’d want to showcase at this point. Nonetheless, I do have an idea as to what I don’t like in a website. Cluttered content, clashing fonts, and home pages that seem to scroll on forever are definite no-nos in my book. I’m also against carousels of revolving images and text if the speed has been set too fast. On the other hand, when a web designer selects coordinating colors and incorporates symmetry into their site, those types of aesthetic choices don’t go unnoticed; rather, they keep me coming back to their creation or spending additional time viewing whatever they’ve assembled.
In comparing the Histories of the National Mall project to the CWRGM site, I much prefer the antique color choices of the hacked themed to the ones that were picked for the original but can also respect the reasoning for such festive, spring-like tones. Even though it would mean a departure from Omeka, if I had the freedom and funding to construct my dream museum, I’d jump at the prospect to create a story map as part of a walking tour exhibit. While the subject matter would vary from what I’d want to focus on, this ArcGIS of the 1898 Wilmington Massacre and Coup d’état is a vivid example of the power of digital history, mapping technologies, and all that can be accomplished or even communicated with code.
