Process, Problems, and Data

This short exhibit was created in 48 hours for my midterm in Hacking the Humanities class in the Winter of 2022 at Carleton College.

Why Chicago?

Charles W. Cushman lived in Chicago at several points in several points of his life as he was a part-time businessman. He did not live in the Chicago in the year 1951, but he took several trips to Chicago which are the focus of this exhibit.

Data

I used the cushman-metadata-1951 dataset provided in class, which consisted of 558 photos in the year of 1951 (although somewhere from 1950), to create a smaller clean dataset consisting of 31 photos using Google Sheets. The new dataset adhered to the Dublin Core metadata standards and used data from the original dataset. The cleaned dataset which was then import into Omeka item by item, organized into a collection, and made into the Chicago in the Eyes of Charles W. Cushman exhibit.

Problems

I originally planned to import all 558 photos into Omeka through the CSV Import+ plugin, however, it only resulted in error messages. I tried several solutions to remedy this problem such as creating a test csv file and a smaller subject of the dataset csv file resulting in this collection of photos. Furthermore, I tried changing some of the settings, but it provided unsuccessful as after extensive googling I learned that most people suggested directing editing the Omeka files in your C-panel or the PHP, but it was to big of undertaking, especially for 48-hour project and too much room to create more problems. So, I decided to individually import each photo and its metadata using the Add Item button. Therefore, I decided to create a smaller collection concentrated on the photos taken in Chicago. 

Significance

This project was fun to do, because I like exploring the photgraphs, therefore, I found Omeka a great site to host and exhibits the photos in the collection. Moreover, although I didn't add all the tags associated with photos, the browsing feature in Omeka allows you to explore the photos by exhibit, collection, metadata, and tags which I find extremely useful, especially if there is something that you really want to explore.