gaelicmichael
Member
What is the best set of questions that I could pose to a humanities scholar without any particular knowledge of computer technology to figure out what s/he is trying to do so that I design the best possible implementation in digital format?
(I've just written a blog post with some possible answers, which might be of interest to those trying to help humanities scholars design and plan digital projects. Perhaps others can offer further suggestions, comments or nuances here.)
Willy Lee
Member
Is this a story/narrative or a collection/database?
This is one of the things I always try to pin down first. If the project has to be in a singular narrative path, it makes some tools completely inappropriate. Alternatively, many tools that excel at narratives are poor choices for random browsing.
Replying to @gaelicmichael's post:
hopegreenberg
Member
Replying to @gaelicmichael's post:
Those are great questions. I particularly like #6 and #8 as a way to help refine the define. I agree with Willy Lee that one way to help focus is to get at the difference between a collection, a Collection, a collection with narrative, and a typical web site. I've found that people who do not have a background in building collections don't usually distinguish between collection=a bunch of stuff I want to organize and display, and Collection=a curated group of objects chosen according to specific criteria. Neither do they distinguish between collections and exhibits. Showing them a searchable/browsable database of objects (eg dSpace), then showing a narrated exhibit (with the objects still in a searchable database behind the exhibit, eg Omeka) goes a long way to clearing that confusion up. (And then too often you find out what they really want is a customized web site with all kinds of bells and whistles. *sigh*)
With question #6 you will be able to find out if they want to do things 'above and beyond' that will require additional apps, all of which should play nicely with your core application, so that helps determine what you need as well.
Thanks for posting the questions--I'm going to use the pedagogical ones to help frame a course project we are designing right now!
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