This summer really has been a great introduction to summer research. I got to learn about the principles and tools of Digital Scholarship and apply them to a project of my own interest. I felt like through doing this project, I was more connected to Burmese alumni. In terms of outcomes, I consider being able to refute a historical narrative and being able to compile a list of all Burmese nationals at Bucknell two of the most important, even though I haven’t been able to put up the latter on the website.
I came into the program pretty confident, having done a bit of digging into the subject and having taken a class on DS my first semester at Bucknell. But I’d never done archival work or even been in the Archives. I learned a lot more about all of these as I continued the summer. I learned so much more about all of these, about the Burma-Bucknell Weekends from the archival materials, about how University Archives functions from Isabella O’Neill, and about Digital Scholarship from Carrie and Courtney.
At times, it was a bit frustrating, sometimes because I couldn’t find the document I wanted or being intimidated at the other DS student projects at the Lafayette meetup. Those times, while inspiring and eye-opening to the variety of possible digital projects, were definitely frustrating, and thinking about having to measure up to them scared me a bit. At thst point, I only had a content structure and no specific content. But everyone who I talked to about the project was so supportive and gave me a lot of suggestions, and this really offset the frustration. The practice sessions were also really helpful, and it was only because of the help I had in those sessions in editing and presenting that I was able to give a wonderful presentation.
Overall, this summer has been such a wonderful time being able to be immersed in a topic I love and learning how to present it in an interesting format. The website is also easy to share and view in mobile, so my research is easier to explain, as a result, than if it was a regular research paper.
Http://scalar.usc.edu/works/burmabucknellconnection/index.
This summer has been a blast, being a part of the #dssrf19 cohort. I couldn’t have asked for a better group to work together and enjoy ice cream with. I’m looking forward to see if I can expand my project and make it even more informational on the Burma-Bucknell Connection.