Category Archive: Representing Knowledge Conference

Poster Session

Ireton, Daniel. Assistant Professor/Undergraduate and Community Services Librarian, Kansas State University;
Urton, Ellen. Associate Professor/Visual Literacy Librarian, Kansas State University

Title: The Power of Amusement: Lessons from the gaming world

Abstract: Video games have long been dismissed as an amusing distraction at best and as a direct cause of the decline of civilization at worst. Yet, undergraduate students entering higher education now have never lived in a world in which video games have not existed; indeed they are a ubiquitous aspect of our shared cultural experience. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) reported that as of 2009 video games are played in 67% of all U.S. households and the computer and video game industry made $10.5 billion in revenue (www.esrb.org/about/video-game-industry-statistics.jsp). According to Stephen E. Siwek in “Video Games in the 21st Century: The 2010 Report” compiled for the Entertainment Software Association (www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/VideoGames21stCentury_2010.pdf):
• “The U.S. computer and video game software publishing industry directly employs more than 32,000 people in 34 states.”
• “The U.S. computer and video game software industry’s value added to U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was $4.9 billion.”
• “The real annual growth rate of the U.S. computer and video game software industry was 10.6% for the period 2005-2009 and 16.7% for the period 2005-2008.”
• “During the same periods, real growth for the U.S. economy as a whole was 1.4% for 2005-09 and 2.8% for 2005-08.”

An educator may create a game intended to impart certain knowledge or skills, but those wishing to do so should be wary of creating games that succeed at delivering content but fail as games. Where video games are discussed or applied in education, the academic community seems to dismiss the broader cultural context of gaming and has yet to harness the cultural application and relevance of video games. The instructive power of video games is not discipline-specific, but rather they are instructive by their very design; problem solving, visual literacy, aesthetic literacy, critical thinking, data driven decision making, and a willingness to iterate are ubiquitous in the games of today. The most successful games are narrative-driven, immersive, experiential, aesthetically pleasing, and enjoyable works of art.

Poster Session

Monaco, Greg. Director for Research and Cyberinfrastructure Initiatives, Great Plains Network

Title: Great Plains Network: Fostering Communities of Interest

Poster Session

Palmer, Scott. Professor of History, Western Illinois University;
Perkins, Jonathan. Director, Ermal Garinger Academic Resource Center, University of Kansas

Title: Strategic Visions and Tactical Realities on the Frontlines of Digital Humanities: Russia’s Great War & Revolution

Abstract: For most of the twentieth century Russia’s involvement in the First World War was a historical afterthought. Overshadowed by the Bolshevik revolution, Civil War, and consolidation of power, Europe’s “Great War” took a back seat within professional scholarship to explanations of the origins and rise of Soviet Communism. In recent years, however, a new generation of researchers has begun to re-examine and re-evaluate the wartime experience. Buttressed by new archival findings, they have begun to analyze and represent Russia’s Great War not as a prelude to “Red October,” but as the first in a chain of events that transformed Eurasia and much of the world.

Russia’s Great War and Revolution, 1914-1922: The Centennial Re-appraisal (RGWR) is at the forefront of these investigative efforts. A decade-long multinational undertaking involving more than 300 scholars and graduate students from around the globe, RGWR aims to fundamentally transform our understanding of Russia’s “continuum of crisis” during the years 1914-1922. RGWR’s companion website (russiasgreatwar.org) aims to integrate advanced scholarly research with new digitized content and innovative multimedia applications to provide visitors with an interactive environment for exploring the cataclysmic events that gripped Eurasia at the outset of the twentieth century. Developed and housed at the University of Kansas, the ongoing digital humanities initiative is jointly overseen by its Director, Dr. Scott W. Palmer (Professor of History, Western Illinois University), and Project Manager, Dr. Jonathan Perkins (Director of EGARC, University of Kansas).

In their poster, Palmer and Perkins will share with conference participants their experiences in conceiving, designing, and managing russiasgreatwar.org with particular emphasis on the challenges involved in implementing a large digital humanities initiative in light of competing project agendas and limited resources.

Poster Session

Schulte, Becky. University Archivist, University of Kansas;
Hanrath, Scott. Web Services Manager, University of Kansas Libraries;
Thiel, Sarah. Imaging Librarian, University of Kansas Libraries

Title: Dr. James Naismith: his life and legacy. Three University Archives tell the story of the “Father of Basketball”

Abstract: This project involves an international collaboration between the University Archives of the University of Kansas Libraries and McGill University, Montreal, Quebec and Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts (where Naismith graduated and the game of basketball was invented, respectively).

University Archivists from each institution will select and digitize items from their collections concerning James Naismith. The KU project team will build a permanent and public digital collection using Naismith image files from each participating institution. Images and metadata will then be made accessible through the KU image management system (Luna Imaging). The team will also create a virtual exhibition of selected Naismith image files using Omeka as the web publishing platform. Both a temporal and spatial timeline will be developed to show the relationships between the three institutions throughout Naismith’s personal and professional life.

This international collaboration will allow one-stop access to a unique archival collection representing James Naismith’s life and varied achievements spanning both time and space. Speakers will share best practices, workflows and project management decisions and results in their presentation of this rich and complex collaborative effort.

Poster Session

Ward, Doug. Associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Kansas

Title: Tracking Audiences: How Mapping Forces a Rethinking of the ‘Mass’ in Mass Media

Abstract: Traditional methods of media history favor qualitative analysis, and a focus on individual lives, organizations, and social and institutional norms. That focus often leaves the role of location largely unexplored. This presentation will explain how the concept of where can be combined with the analysis of media audiences, another little-explored area of media history. It will show how a combination of geographical information systems and statistical analysis of census data can lead to new questions about audiences. It will argue that the term “mass magazines” is a misnomer, and that geographic patterns of readership suggest a deeper, more complex relationship between magazines and audiences than analysis of editorial content can explain.

Poster Session

Williams, Sheryl. Curator of Collections, Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas;
Garrison, Wade. Assistant Librarian, Center for Digital Scholarship, University of Kansas

Title: Digitizing Kansas Sanborn Maps

Abstract: The Kansas Collection is home to a significant collection of Kansas Sanborn fire insurance maps that provide detailed information about the built environment, especially the business districts, for many Kansas towns (some 220) over a period from roughly the 1880s – 1920s. A recent grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission provided funds for their digitization. The grant project, completed in March 2011, has allowed the Libraries to provide access to these unique sources through LUNA to a much broader audience virtually. Presenters Williams and Garrison (the project Director and Manager) will discuss the maps and project, detailing the history of the maps, their research use that supports the humanities, and specifics of carrying out the project, including selection of vendor for outsourcing the digital work, mounting of records in LUNA, and reaction to the project thus far. The presentation will also provide discussion with attendees of options for additional digital projects, building from the basic data provided up to this point. Presenters will include a Sanborn map in original form, and a demo of the digitized maps as part of the presentation.