Question of the week...

To which level of Dante's inferno shall we consign Internet Explorer? 

The analogies between CSS and language learning increase.  Understanding before speaking, in most cases.  It IS making a bit more sense, but there's no fluency yet.  And thank heavens for cut-and-paste.  Modifying the works of others does, in fact, increase understanding of possibilities.  Things to learn (besides footnotes which are not yet in the text assignment): to think in three-columns; the advantages/disadvantages of non-static layout; cleaning up CSS; positioning, positioning, positioning...and more.

On Tufte.  It goes without saying (but I'm doing it anyway) that we are increasingly a visual culture--or at least,  text and image increasingly overlap and integrate in our daily lives. I never tire of the story of Dr. Snow and the use of spatial analysis or mapping to stem the London cholera epidemic.  What would Snow have done with today's mapping technologies? For historians, the accessibility of these technologies  offers the possibility of asking questions and giving visual answers to problems of change over time, the effect of social relationships, the correlation between space and event.--just to touch on a few really broad themes that historical geographers in particular, have discussed for decades. 

In  Past Time, Past Place: GIS for History (Anne Kelly Knowles, ed., ESRI, 2001) David Rumsfeld and Meredith Williams point to the changes in visual explanation that GIS allows, "GIS is breathing new life into historical maps by freeing them from the static confines of their original print form. ...When [a map] is converted into digital form, it can be manipulated and combined with other spatial data..."  (2, 3)

Effective visual explanation seems particularly important for exhibit curators in museums faced with the challenge of how to maximize the information that's presented within the confines of the three-dimensional exhibit space.  It's necessary to simply stop thinking "text" and ask how visual explanations consolidate, reinforce, and amplify the presentation of information. 

Comments

[Laura Veprek]

Hi Lee Ann,
I've been thinking, too, that this is all a bit like learning a foreign language. In a very real sense, CSS and XHTML are indeed foreign languages. You're right, the learning process is very similar. First, you learn some basic expressions (how to say hello and thank you or how to change heading colors to blue), then you learn basic grammar (for CSS, how to write expressions selector, property, value go together how?). Once you're comfortable with the basics, you start putting things together and stretching your imagination to see what you can create. Then, at least this was true for me, and I'm sure it happens to everyone at some point, just as it does with learning a foreign language, you hit a wall or plateau. Not too long ago, I reached a point where I felt I wasn't learning and improving though I was working hard and reading alot. That can be very frustrating. Happily, I feel that I've worked through that phase and am on my way to the next level.

I know you're coming at this all from a different angle than most in the class, with your strong background in table-based web design. This undoubtedly gives you an advantage as you already know the mechanics that some of our classmates say they don't yet understand. For them it's harder, and here I'm speaking to the class, we are each are here to learn and to improve our talents and skills. This is not a class where we can all write a paper at the end and get A's. From what our professor has said, it seems much more based on your personal experience and learning curve. How much do you push yourself? How much to you learn and apply what you've learned? We aren't all going to finish the class as expert web designers, but that isn't the goal, is it? Here I am getting back to what I wrote about The Polyglot Manifesto, that we can't all be the best at everything. Strive for greatness, sure. Expect it, not realistic. I don't mean this to sound pessimistic, and I think I'm talking to myself and reminding myself that it's about the process and how hard you work and whether you enjoy what you're doing rather than whether you are the best at everything.