Final Essay

Here is a link to my final essay titled Open Access in the Digital Humanities

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dhSFt2WTP0-pT-QFOdBzMRr0FpnmNFiRoXAkhZhpQ0c/edit

Open Access in the Digital Humanities

A Brief Overview of My Final Essay

 First, what is open access? Just like when you ask an individual to define digital humanities (DH), each person has their own spin on what it means. The same can be said for open access, but on a much smaller scale. For purposes of this blog, I will use the definition offered by Peter Suber who is a respected advocate for open access: “Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.” In my essay, I will elaborate on the meaning of OA because before you can analyze why or why not something should exist, you must first understand what it means.

As we know, DH reflects the Humanities meeting the digital age which makes it easier for information to be readily available to the public. However, OA, as a practice, has been a topic of debate. There are those who speak loud and clear as to the benefits of OA, both for the author and the public. Then as with many things, there are those who raise concerns about the information being made accessible and the potential drawbacks especially to those who are concerned about the future of scholarly communication. In my essay, I will address both sides of the debate. Ultimately, you will see that my opinion is to open the floodgates and let the information flow through, and I will discuss why I am in agreement with those who are in favor of open access.

 Additionally, I will touch on what the future might look like for DH open access. Even though DH is not limited to one field, it is clear that it has a strong presence in academic institutions. Therefore, the academic institutions can play a large role in the future trend of open access. As Jason Heppler states "If the philosophical goal of the university is to serve as the sanctuary of knowledge, then the work we do should be publicly accessible. Not just open access for students, but open access for anyone seeking exposure to the world electronically."

 Finally, I will share some open access works from the DH field that I found of interest. Well, got to get back to working on my essay so I am signing off for now.

My Story

My alarm starts buzzing and wakes me out of a deep sleep. I look out my window and see that it is a cold, dreary Tuesday morning. I am tired and miserable, but I got to get on with the day. I decide to go visit James and Jeff, but only Jeff was there. As Jeff and I were chatting, he was making fun of me and that set me off. I told him to stop over and over again, but he just kept teasing me. I became so angry that I killed him. Jeff, that will teach you not to make fun of other people. After I killed Jeff, I  I took his room keys so I could return later and dispose of his body. I knew at that point that I had missed most of my Digital Humanities class so I decided to go to Hickory Hall to hang out with my friend Ryan hoping that would help me calm down. Ryan was not in his room, and needless to say, this made me angrier. I started making a raucous in the hallway so the RA Matt called me into his room. He told me that I was in trouble and he was going to write me up. I asked Matt not to write the report, but he would not listen to me, so I killed him. I think Matt gets the point now that I didn’t want to be written up. I stuffed Matt’s body in a trash bag and dragged it outside. I loaded the bag onto a UPJ cart and drove to the Student Union where I had earlier texted James to meet me for dinner. Before heading to the cafeteria, I went to the mailroom to pick up a package since it would be closing in a few minutes. As I am standing in line, Justine comes up and jumps the line by getting in front of me. I was not happy, but decided not to say anything. After Justine got her package, the mailroom attendant told me they were now closed for the day and that I could pick up my package tomorrow. I was so furious I did not get my package because Justine had cut in front of me in the line that I followed her as she entered a side bathroom and told her, “See Justine, it isn’t always ladies first.” I shoved her dead body into a trash bag and loaded it onto the UPJ cart I had stolen earlier. I went into the cafeteria to find James, but at that point, he was already gone. I figured that before James gets back to his room, I had better drive the cart back to the Living Learning Center so I can put Jeff into a trash bag and put him in the cart with the other two bodies. Then I would need to find a place to dispose of all three of them. I used the keys I had taken from Jeff earlier and let myself in the room. Just as I was ready to put Jeff’s body in a trash bag, James walked in and saw me. He was now a witness to the fact that I had murdered Jeff and when he said that he was going to report me, I told him that if he did that, he would end  up like Jeff. He started to walk away to notify the campus police and I said “Go ahead James, make my day.”

My Analysis of Convergence

By definition, convergence is the process by which several things come together from different directions so as to eventually meet. Or as Henry Jenkins states on the cover of his book Convergence Culture, "where old and new media collide." It was interesting when Jenkins talked about the reactions from the salespeople when he asked to buy a cell phone that would just make calls without all the bells and whistles. They probably thought he had been living under a rock to not know that those types of phones don't exist anymore. I do remember some years back when I had my iPod shuffle and flip mobile phone and must admit, now with my iPhone, I do like having both my music and my phone in one device. Let's not forget, I can also take pictures, surf the internet, watch movies, and so much more with one "simple" device. Knowing that you could do multiple things with one device makes me question why Jenkins does not believe that a single black box will ever exist. Probably because as he states in his book, "convergence refers to a process, not an endpoint."  However, I must admit, it was true when he said he is seeing more and more boxes instead of less and less. I look at my game room and surrounding my TV is a DVD player, multiple game systems, cable box, etc. I guess the future will tell if a single black box option is just a misconception or not.

 Another interesting point that Jenkins touches on is transmedia storytelling which he indicates came to light in response to media convergence. This involves active audience participation in the telling of a story across multiple platforms. The end result - the audience enjoys a "richer entertainment experience." One of the examples Jenkins uses is The Matrix franchise; read more about what he has to say about this and transmedia storytelling in general by clicking here.

 Convergence is bringing about change and lots of it; in fact, Jenkins says so much so that he wouldn't be able to describe or document all of the changes. I believe that change can be good because many times with change comes improvement. After all, it isn't that old media is going away, it is just going to look new and different as it emerges through each stage in the process. I will be curious to see how the convergence culture plays out especially technologically.

 For more insight into the connection between convergence and DH, check out Defining Digital Humanities where convergence is listed as one of the top ideas and practices that begin to describe DH.

My Thoughts on Ender's Game

I enjoyed reading Ender's Game. I had seen the movie on DVD last year which probably made reading the book a little easier for me even though there were differences between the movie and the book. Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is a six year old boy genius being trained in Battle School by the International Fleet (I.F.) to become a commander and save the world from buggers during an anticipated Third Invasion. Each chapter of the book starts with a conversation between two adults, typically I.F. officers; then it gets into the meat of each step of Ender's training. Here you have a young boy who was only allowed to be born as a "third" child so he could be given to the I.F. As a third child, he was lonely and bullied not only by his older brother Peter, but by kids at school. Like Peter told Ender at one point, "You're a Third, turd, You've got no rights." Ender just wanted to be a normal kid who did kid stuff like playing with friends; however, he would soon find out that wasn't meant to be the case.

 A few things really struck me in this book. One was that I was glad that Ender enjoyed a good relationship with his sister Valentine. This was the one person that Ender really loved and cared about and she loved and cared about him. So when the I.F. needs Ender, who is now ten years old, to continue on his mission, they use or you could say force Valentine to convince Ender to save mankind and make a difference in the world because they know he can't say no to his sister. Another thing relates to human behavior - Ender's struggle between good and evil. Ender showed real feelings and emotions, and he did things that he might not have otherwise done in order to survive. It was clear that Ender did not want to wind up like his dangerous and mean brother. There were many times, like when Ender hurt a bully named Stilson, that he would cry and believe he was just like Peter. Then there is the manipulation by the adults. Ender's relationship with the I.F. officers especially Graff shows that although they liked Ender, they manipulated him to get the results they needed. Technology was also used to play mind games with Ender like when he looked in the mirror and saw Peter's face looking back. However, the biggest example of manipulation was when they made Ender believe that the last battle is a simulation of the future battle with the buggers when in fact it was the actual Third Invasion. This definitely reminded me of what I said in my blog on eXistenZ - it raises the question of what is real and what isn't. Ender thought he was playing a virtual reality game, but it was real. You could feel the devastation that Ender felt when he realized he had been manipulated; he cried to Mazer Rackham, "I didn't want to kill them all. I didn't want to kill anybody! I'm not a killer! You didn't want me, you bastards, you wanted Peter, but you made me do it, you tricked me into it!"

 It is sad that Ender missed out on his childhood and he can't go home to Earth because Peter will control him. However, he can finally be happy and find peace by making his own choices and doing what he believes is right. Full circle now shows that he is Andrew Wiggin, speaker for the dead, and he's intent on rebuilding the bugger community again. And he can do it with Valentine by his side.

 A good story. But one, just like eXistenZ, that makes you wonder about the technological future of gaming.

 

eXistenZ

My Thoughts on eXistenZ

 

Strange and weird are two words that come to mind if I am going to describe my reaction to the movie eXistenZ. This movie was definitely not about your typical video game. In fact, as Allegra said at the beginning of the movie, it was about an entirely new game system. One of the things that made this strange and weird was that the power source for this virtual reality game system was the human body (nervous system); the gamepod which looks like a wiggly piece of flesh is inserted into a hole in the player's back.

 
I enjoy playing video games and using different systems. Playing video games provides a temporary escape for me to relieve stress and forget about all the things on my to do list for awhile, but at least I know that I am in control of what I play and when I want to quit playing. Control was something that Pikul didn't always seem to have like when he was rude to people and especially when he was eating the "special" and said "I find this disgusting, but I can't help myself." Playing this type of virtual reality game would cause me stress because I wouldn't like the feeling of losing touch with reality, and  this movie definitely raises the question of what is real and what isn't. When I start playing a video game, I prefer to know as much about what I would be facing in the game ahead of time. In this movie Pikul has to enter the game being unaware of the goal; Allegra tells him that he has to play the game to find out why he is playing the game which to me is a scary proposition. At the end of the movie, you see that it was a game within a game, but you are still left to wonder "Are we still in the game?" when the real video game designer and his assistant are shot dead by Pikul and Allegra.

It is clear that the future of video game systems and video games will become even more technologically advanced. We are seeing that with the graphics in the new consoles and the emergence of Oculus Rift. As Allegra said, "the possibilities are so great." No matter where video game systems and games go down the road, I think I will stick to my traditional game systems. That way, I will always be able to know if I am still in the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well...DO games "count?"

Gaming is an important part of people's lives; I know it is for me and for so many others (consider the billions of  dollars the industry rakes in). When I was younger, I played computer games like Zoo Tycoon and Rollercoaster Tycoon. The chance to use my imagination and build zoos and amusement parks was so cool. Then of course, there was the first handheld gaming system, Game Boy that provided endless hours of enjoyment. Now, I mostly play video games utilizing the gaming systems: X-box, Playstation, Wii. Video games allow you to have fun and escape from reality. You can be part of a battle (yes, sometimes a violent one) or you can imagine you are on a football field, a basketball court, or on the ice playing hockey with the pros. You can have alone time or engage in social interaction like with X-box Live. I mean chatting with and "battling" people in the U.S. and other countries is fascinating. I enjoy playing video games and love the creativity involved that sometimes I think the best job in the world would be to design video games.

 One aspect that I am becoming familiar with because of this Digital Humanities (DH) class is alternate reality games or ARG for short. CNET defines alternate reality gaming as "...an obsession-inspiring game that blends real-life treasure hunting, interactive storytelling, video games and online community..." ARG is definitely a different way to play games from the traditional video games. Dr. Jane McGonigal, a Game Designer and Inventor for the  Institute for the Future describes the difference, "... traditional gaming is designed to help people escape from reality, alternate reality games are actually designed to make reality more engaging..." Interested in knowing what are the "5 Most Insane Alternate Reality Games?" Click on the link to find out.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19346_the-5-most-insane-alternate-reality-games.html

 

I have talked about how gaming can be fun and provide social interaction, but it can also promote thinking. Jeremy Antley wrote an article titled "Games and Historical Narratives" published in the Journal of Digital Humanities (Spring 2012) which describes games particularly video games as visual digital objects that "can be platforms for building, and not simply consuming, knowledge." There are universities that teach courses on this subject.

 There is much debate on whether games are considered part of the digital humanities. In his book "The Emergence of the Digital Humanities" (2014), Stephen E. Jones comments that his one problem with the DH field is that it has ignored games. I believe that DHers need to see that gaming belongs not just as part of the discussion, but part of the work. As the field continues to emerge, that is the likely scenario.

 One more thing that I took note of in my research is that Dr. McGonigal believes game designers are on a humanitarian mission and her #1 goal in life is to see a game developer win a Nobel Prize in Peace or Medicine.

Well...DO games "count?" I would instead ask, How can they not?