Week Five: "Starry-Eyed"
Hello, reader! This week, I had my training session with Sarah Norries to learn the ropes of the Digital Commons backend system that powers STARS’ repository. During our meeting, Sarah showed me the basics of how to change description text, add links to a collection’s sidebar, add files individually, and batch upload multiple items at once to collection spaces. She uploaded example images from the sample files I provided her via OneDrive to show me both the individual and batch upload process, which was extremely helpful to learn from. The Digital Commons system reminds me of a basic web developer, like Wix or Squarespace, crossed with collections/museum software such as PastPerfect or Omeka. As you can probably tell, I absolutely could not wait to learn yet another archival system that will enrich my experience in the field going forward. Because the admin process is a long one, I did not get to try out Digital Commons during our meeting. After we parted ways, Sarah kindly gave me admin access to edit the exhibit, and I was thrilled to play around with its features on my own. I started my first test session by changing the text of William Gladden Jr.’s collection space in the backend system, which translated seamlessly to the sandbox version after sending me an email confirmation that the changes took place in the exhibit space. After that worked well, I decided to attempt to upload my first artifact.
While still working on William Gladden Jr.’s collection space, I decided to upload a scan that I took earlier this week that confirmed an age-old suspicion I had about William Gladden Jr. Back when Mr. Tarence generously donated some items from William Gladden Jr.’s collection, I came across a photograph of a young man. On the back, a pencil-written description reads, “16 years old, taken at Hungerford.” When Ms. Boykin and I initially surveyed this new collection, I asked if William Gladden Jr. was the subject of the photograph. Ms. Boykin said that it could not have been William, because she remembered him attending Jones High, not Hungerford, adding that it was his brother Joseph Gladden who attended Hungerford. I was not sure of the veracity of this claim, as I vaguely remembered reading a community tribute to William Gladden Jr. that mentioned him attending Hungerford. After going back and forth on this artifact for months, I finally found a reference to William Gladden Jr.’s High School experience spent at Hungerford, not Jones High. In his 2015 book, “The Pennings of Perrine Slim: Stories of Northwest Orange County,” William recounts his tenure at Hungerford starting in 1946 at the age of 14 years old. My conspiracy theory ended up being right all along!
After uploading the scan individually to the Digital Commons “Add Content” feature, I was able to fill out the basic metadata fields (save for the Rights and Accessibility sections) that I came up with for the digital exhibit’s collections. You can view the test artifact here, showing how it would look once the exhibit is finally published: https://ucf-sandbox.digital-commons.com/william-gladden-jr/5/.
I have much left to explore on Digital Commons, reader! I will let you know what else I add to the exhibit next week. See you then!
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