Omeka-Neatline Workshop 2016

Today we’ll be learning the following. I’ve outlined a rough schedule just below this paragraph, but it will vary depending on both human and technical variables. At any stage, feel free to let me know whether we should slow down, speed up, define, redefine, and so forth. I want to make sure you come away confident in your ability to use Omeka and (just as important!) to teach students to use Omeka. I’m just fine with detours, so long as they contribute to your projects and your teaching.

1. Introductions [10:30-10:45]
2. Omeka Basics: what is it and what is it good for? How might Omeka meet your project's needs? [10:45-11:00]
3. Getting started: adding items, collections, and exhibits [11:00-11:45]
4. Group practice adding items, collections, and exhibits using resources here; discussion [11:45-12:15]
5. Lunch! [12:15-1:00]
6. Questions, concerns thus far [1:00-1:15]
7. Neatline Basics: adding a spatial canvas to Omeka [1:15-2:15]
8. Group practice creating Neatline exhibits [2:15-2:45]
9. Coffee? break [2:45-3:00]
10. Discussion of larger Omeka project considerations, such as: [3:00-3:30]
    • Do I need a full Omeka installation for my project, or will a hosted Omeka site work for my needs?
    • What plugins and themes might be useful?
    • What kinds of customizations might I need for my Omeka site?
    • What kinds of support do I have or need for working with Omeka?
    • Other questions?

Then, depending on time and interest, we can learn:

11. Georectifying historical maps [3:30-4:00]
12. Using georectified historical maps in Neatline exhibits [4:00-4:30]
13. Final questions, concerns [4:30-5:00]

Below are some links and resources you might find valuable for learning about Omeka and Neatline, as well as some models you might look to for inspiration. I’ll refer to these during our workshop and you should check them out afterwards.

Sample Item Resources

• Boston Athenaeum Digital Collections
• their photograph collections

Historical Map Resources

• The Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library
• The David Rumsey Map Collection
• New York Public Library Map Warper

Omeka Tutorial

• The Official Omeka Documentation is always a good place to start
• The Haskins Society has a set of tutorials for Omeka and Neatline.
• The Omeka team has also published a set of screencasts describing how to use Omeka and some of its plugins.
• Miriam Posner's Up and Running with Omeka.net
• U-Me New Media's Screencast How to Put a Collection Online walks through exhibit building in Omeka.net.
• Arden Kirkland's screencast on Using Omeka with Students (and here's part 2 and part 3)

Neatline Tutorials

• Of course, the Official Neatline Documentation
• From Haverford College, Neatline Tutorial in Neatline!
• A NITLE Presentation on Geotemporal Storytelling with Neatline by the Neatline team
• Post introducing the new (and beta) NeatlineText plugin.

Model Neatline Exhibits

• David McClure, Project Gemini over Baja California Sur. Also useful is McClure's blog post about creating this exhibit.
• Ryan Cordell, Abby Mullen, and Jonathan Fitzgerald, A Love Letter to Viral Texts.
• All the demo exhibits from the Neatline website.
• Undergraduate student project on the 1919 Molasses Flood.
• Undergraduate student project on the Boston Harbor Islands.