| Object and Document Analysis This
page includes examples of Web-enabled object and document analysis from
 Archaeology
Web Assignment
John Kantner, Introduction to Archaeology (Anth 2030), Anthropology and Geography,
Georgia State University
Professor Kantner's Web assignment (found near the bottom of his syllabus) asks
students to explore ten archaeology Web sites over the course of the semester and answer
six evaluative questions for each. The questions move beyond mere information gathering
and require students to assess the worth of the Web sites as sources of archaeological
information. For example, the last question asks students to determine if they would
"feel comfortable using data and conclusions from this site in a research
paper."
Kantner's course focuses on how archaeologists "actually reconstruct past human
behavior and address anthropological questions." His assignment shows how critiques
of archaeological Web sites may be used to teach students how to apply the theoretical
knowledge they get from course readings and discussions.
This example features the use of Web sites.
Communication
Studies
Term Paper on CMC and Marginalized Groups
Margaret L. McLaughlin, COMM 321 (Communication in the Virtual Group), Annenberg
School for Communication, University of Southern California
McLaughlin's assignment asks students to analyze a UseNet newsgroup, Internet mailing
list, or Web-based chat room that is devoted to the interests of a marginalized group,
then write an essay examining how computer-mediated communication is being used to further
the interests and increase the solidarity of disenfranchised and minority groups.
This assignment, part of a course that examines the culture of online communication, suggests
ways of understanding the Internet both as a cultural artifact and as a means of mediating
dominant discourses. Analysis of online newsgroups and chat rooms provides a rich primary
source for investigation.
This example features the use of asynchronous
communication and synchronous communication.
Manuscript Study and
Text Analysis
Introduction
to Manuscript Study
Introduction
to Text Analysis
Virtual Seminars for Teaching Literature, Oxford University
This example features two interactive modules from the Oxford University Virtual Seminars for Teaching Literature,
a primary source archive and online learning environment. Both examples use the poetry of
Wilfred Owen (1893–1918), a British World War I poet.
The Introduction to Manuscript Study module provides introductory training in
manuscript editing. Students are invited to examine the different existing versions of
Owens's poem "Dulce et Decorum Est." They will then examine the manuscript in
four stages: study of the primary sources (the manuscripts which retain the poem), choice
of a base manuscript, collation of manuscript variants, and production of their own
edition.
The Introduction to Text Analysis module asks students to use TACTweb,
a Web-based concordance tool, to study certain uses of language and rhyme schemes in
Owens's poetry. Students input a series of words to the TACTweb database and are then
shown where these words appear and in what context in Owens's poetry.
These modules are outstanding examples of Web-based media being used to teach document
analysis skills and practices. The traditional processes involved in this field have been
preserved, but the information and tools are presented here in such a way that the
complexities of editing scholarly editions can be understood immediately.
This example features the use of text, images, and databases.
Material Culture
Virtual
Greenbelt—Student Projects
Virginia Jenkins and Mary Sies, AMST 205 (Material Aspects of American Life),
University of Maryland, College Park
Greenbelt, Maryland was developed as a "garden city" by the U.S. government
during the 1930s, and the Greenbelt Museum situated there preserves many artifacts of
American life and culture from earlier decades. The Virtual Greenbelt project undertaken by the American Studies
department at the University of Maryland, College Park, is an online American culture
exhibit and museum.
As part of the Jenkins and Sies course, students were asked to curate an object from
the Greenbelt Museum or to analyze some aspect of Greenbelt's built environment. This site
shows an index to student projects, arranged alphabetically by class and by topic.
Exhibits appear as photographs with descriptions and contextualizing commentary, and they
include items such as refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, playing cards, furniture,
newspapers, and toys.
This assignment suggests how the Web may be utilized to present collective study of
artifacts in the form of online exhibits and knowledgebases.
This example features the use of text, images, and scripts.
This project is a joint initiative of the Center for the Virtual University and the Center for Teaching and Learning
at UMUC.
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