You have been introduced to Mississippi State University Libraries’ Special Collections and shown items relating to text you have read for EN3414.  Primary resources provide historical context and provide authority to your interpretation of the texts.  Using items from MSU Libraries Digital Library or approved digital archives/ libraries you will create a Digital Humanities (DH) project using items from these collections.  (You may pick items, but you should discuss the relevancy of the items in your consultation with the archivists)

You will be in groups of 2-3.  You will have the chance to grade your team members.  Each group will meet, outside of class, with Special Collections Librarians to complete their assignment.  You will sign up for a time to meet by emailing sp_coll@library.msstate.edu.  Keep in mind Special Collections have special hours:

When you email Special Collections state the collections you would like to use for your project, as well as the text & theme you are focusing on. 

We will have  dedicated in-class day to work on the DH project on Nov. 6.

To complete this assignment:

1. Sign up for a free Wix  (Links to an external site.)account.

• You can choose to do any of the templates.

3. Pick at least 5 items from digital archives/ libraries to use in your presentation.

• You will need to contact the repositories for items you have chosen for use permission.  You can discuss with the archivist in your consultation on how to do this if you need help.

4.  You will need to answer these questions about each item you have chosen:

• What is the item?

• When was the item created?

• What is the significance of the item?

  • How was it used?

  • Did events, politics, society, or other reasons drive the creation of this item?

  • Who would have used it?

• Why does each item relate to the text? 

• How does this item help your analysis of the text?

Examples on Relating Text and Special Collections Items:

The Great Gatsby & Jazz Music (Links to an external site.)

Remember to use proper MLA 8th Ed. citations for resources used in your presentation (primary resources, images, text).  You can consult these links to help with your citations:

• MLA 8th Ed. Image Use & Citation Guide (Links to an external site.)
• Owl Purdue: Citing Archival Resources (Links to an external site.)
• MLA Style: Citing Materials from Archives and Collections (Links to an external site.)

Discussion:

 Project Due Wed, Nov. 11 beginning of class.  Post your link to Canvas in the DH Project discussion post & comment on 2 other projects in 75-100 words.  You will need to do this by Nov. 15 (Sun.)