With the end of the term quickly approaching it is clear by the energy in class last Monday that everyone is feeling a little overwhelmed. This is a feeling that I am not impartial to. When I first read our Omeka assignments I began to worry about how I was going to finish my lengthy research papers for my other classes in addition to this large project. However, when you look at it more closely, the majority of the work required for this project has been completed, or at least partially completed, in the weekly exercises and in class workshops. If it was not completed, Marc has given us the tools to be able to complete it much easier than we would have been able to do on our own.
I am lucky and have been able to keep up with the weekly assignments and homework but I understand that is not a reality all the time. I have compiled a list of things that I plan to do this coming week in preparation for my catalogue entry and thought that I would share it as a blogpost in case anyone was looking for a starting point.
#1 – Go through the weekly plans on our class website here: https://medievalbook.gitbook.io/digitizing-medieval-archives/
While this does not give you all of the answers you will need in regards to your particular manuscript, it helped me to compile a list of important topics to cover. These topics include writing supports, paleography, abbreviations, codicology, and others. Making this list also helped to refresh my memory on some of our class discussions and reminded me of some important details that should be included in my catalogue entry.
#2 -Consult your in class notes
In this class I opted to hand write my notes and did not end up typing them out afterwards (something I always convince myself I will do every semester, yet never gets done). Every time we would discuss a topic relevant to my manuscript I would write it down in my notebook. This left me with a lot of very useful notes and ideas that I would lose completely if I do not go through my notes.
#3 – Consult in class handouts
A number of times during this semester Marc handed out some very useful reference materials in class that can be very useful to help your catalogue entry. Like handwritten class notes, the important information on these handouts is lost if you do not take the time to go over them again.
#4 – Skim over your textbook/readings one more time
We were assigned these readings because they are helpful and relevant to the topics required for our cataloguing. Skimming over them again may allow you to discover little details you forgot but can be added to your entry.
#5 – Browse various cataloguing databases
It is sometimes useful to view other databases to compare handwriting, or search for clues on your manuscripts provenience. In addition to these, catalogue entries found in databases can help to give you a clearer idea on what to include in your own work.
I hope some of this has been helpful! See you all in class.
Emily, this is amazing!
This blog post was super helpful and I am so grateful that you posted this! First, thank you for being so honest with how you are feeling because I am definitely feeling the same way. Secondly, thank you for compiling this amazing list. I definitely agree with you in the sense that this assignment seemed huge at first glance. We are really digging deep here and stepping outside of our comfort zone when it comes to “de-coding” these manuscripts. The tips that you provided are clear, concise and helpful. The way that at you are reminding us to go back to the basics, and check the weekly assignments was awesome. I know that when it comes to crunch time for assignments, I always feel as though I have to dig so much deeper and go beyond the lectures but often the answers are right there in front of us. As for the class notes, this is a really helpful tip. I think for the next semester I am definitely going to focus on taking notes that are pertaining to my manuscript specifically. As for the handouts, I will also be taking better care of these for the next semester. Your reflection here is a great reminder that all of our work that we do in class can directly be applied to all of our work that takes place outside of the classroom.
I was feeling very stressed but this post helped to remind me that I definitely have all the tools to succeed at the end of the semester. Thank you so much! Again, what an amazing and helpful piece that you have written here.
I have to agree with Trina on this! A very well organized and concise piece that helped me know I wasn’t alone in feeling a bit lost or overwhelmed throughout this class. When I came to our last class on Monday, I realized that my delinquency on the matter had really caught up to me. I was panicking internally. So when I read your post, it helped me find some calm again!
We’re trained to be essay writers & data moles, but I was never prepared for the mystery that is medieval manuscripts, beautiful and confusing things that they are. Our seminars and guest lectures were so engrossing, but admittedly, my note taking was very poor this term, as I didn’t keep my things organized into one location. Using a single notebook is absolutely the way to go & my next step in the coming term should be to use that notebook diligently, and to prepare advance notes from the weekly readings.
I’m excited for what is to come in the next term.
This was such a useful post when completing my OMEKA entry. As someone who has mostly just done essays for my academic career, switching to a project last minute took some time to adjust. Seeing the steps laid out to help us succeed, and explained by one of our peers was beyond helpful. Thank you Emily!
I agree with everyone above, this is an excellent blog entry. I particularly really liked how you broke the entry up into easy to read numbered sections, a very nice touch. I also agree with your comments about the scale of the project, that while at first the project did seem huge an overwhelming, once I went through each of the weeks individual assignments again I found the project a lot more manageable. Thank you for the awesome entry.