Session Proposal: Intro to Scalar

I’ve taught many Omeka and WordPress workshops at THATCamps, and am happy to do so again if there’s interest. One thing I’ve taught less often but still a few times is Scalar, found at scalar.usc.edu,  which resembles Omeka and WordPress in that it’s a content management system that can be used to build a humanities-flavored website but differs from those systems in that it’s particularly good at allowing you to collect and feature content that already exists on the web from places like YouTube and the Internet Archive — other systems are designed more for you to upload original content. Scalar also describes its end products as *books,* and indeed it is more geared toward that model too than Omeka and WordPress are: it’s a good system for a multimedia web version of “longreads.”

One of my favorite Scalar projects is also the most simple: a book about American Bandstand called The Nicest Kids in Town at nicestkids.com/nehvectors/nicest-kids/index This site (or book) was created with the first version of Scalar. To see other examples of what can be done with Scalar, see scalar.usc.edu/scalar/showcase/

Announcing THATCamp AHA 2018

Wikimedia Commons Credit: Benoît Prieur (Agamitsudo) - CC-BY-SA

Wikimedia Commons Credit: Benoît Prieur (Agamitsudo) – CC-BY-SA

We are very happy to announce that the AHA will be holding THATCamp this year in partnership with the history department at George Washington University. It will be held on January 3rd, 2018 on the GW campus in Foggy Bottom, just a few metro stops from the meeting hotels.

Everything, as they say, has a history, and THATCamp AHAs are no exception. The first THATCamp at an American Historical Association annual meeting took place in January 2012. That makes this the seventh annual event. Over the past seven years, they have been a place for historians to learn about and exchange ideas for how to use technology for research and in the classroom. They have been venues where projects have been conceived and connections made between scholars. Hundreds of scholars have been introduced to digital history in a relaxed, fun, and informal environment.

But what makes THATCamp great is you. So register now, and plan to join us at George Washington University on January 3rd.

You don’t need to be attending the AHA to come to THATCamp. All are welcome.

Read more about the THATCamp movement and browse other THATCamps at thatcamp.org.