Unit 15

My Class Project

I completed the website today (July 8) and submitted the url on Blackboard. The url is evolutionhomeappliances.weebly.com.


Tools I've Found Useful

I am doing the Historical Translation assignment this week. Since I have some background in French and Italian, I sometimes use online dictionaries to translate from those languages into English. My preference for online dictionaries is Reverso, by Collins. It provides dictionaries for 13 languages, such as:

http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/
http://dictionary.reverso.net/italian-english/

I think it is far superior to Google. It is like the big hard back dictionaries I used to use way back when as a French major, with more information about multiple uses for the same word and idiomatic expressions. It provides example sentences using the word you want to translate. You learn a little about the culture by using it and seeing words in context. It's not quite as good as the big hard back dictionaries, but it is close.

Unit 14

Other User Participation Projects

I don't think I see National Archives anywhere in your Unit 14 note or the transcription assignment:
https://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist/registerandgetstarted

There is one at the UVA Law Library, which says "Seeks Transcription Help for Documents Offering Insight Into American Revolution and More"
https://content.law.virginia.edu/news/201706/crowdsourcing-history


Project Update

The draft of my website is complete (evolutionhomeappliances.weebly.com). I need to do some proofing/tweaking and check to make sure I have cited sources for all photos. I haven't been able to change the font color on the navigation menu. For some reason, my background theme does not allow one to change the navigation menu's font color. So, I tried a different background theme, looked for a place in the html code to insert a different color (e.g., #110855), etc., but so far haven't found a way to change that font color. I'm leery of changing themes again since it makes other changes I don't want when I do it.

Unit 13

Progress on Project

I have posted about 3/4s of the website, as of July 1, which has the url evolutionhomeappliances.weebly.com
I have uploaded photographs and text. I haven't been able to get Weebly to do everything I've wanted; I've adapted my ideas about layout somewhat.

Some issues I've faced are how long to make individual pages; not finding a timeline app thru Weebly (have used a table, instead); and not being able to get captions on the main photo on each page. (I've put the information about the main photo on the pages in the text, instead--tho I was able to get the citation under the photo on the home page.)

I'm used to using APA style for references, so the sources page is in that style. However, for citations, I've also added the page numbers where I found material, in case I want to easily refind material someday for another project. I can't get italics into the photo captions or hanging indent on the source page, but the information is there, even if formatting isn't perfect.  Most web pages I see don't have citations. I don't think they make it harder for people to read, personally, but I'm used to seeing them in my work, so I've included them.



Related to one of your comments to an earlier blog post--yes, I've found a washing machine museum. It's located in Eaton, CO, and has a website oldewash.com.  The owner is definitely into old washing machines!


Online Data Sets

Two places for Virginia data sets (though not related to my class project):

The Office of Personnel Management has Fedscope, which is a database on Federal employment. You can drill down to Virginia (as well as other states and DC). It says it works best with Firefox and Internet Explorer. I can't access it with Chrome.
https://www.fedscope.opm.gov/employment.asp

Data about education in Virginia at
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/index.shtml
They have 21st century data online, but I don't see much before 2000.

For my project, I used some data from the Energy Information Administration:

Energy Information Administration (2017, February). Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS): Table HC3.1 Appliances in U.S. Homes by Housing Unit Type, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2017 from https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2015/hc/php/hc3.1php

Energy Information Administration (2011). Annual Energy Review 2011, Table 2.6 Household End Uses: Fuel Types, Appliances, and Electronics, Selected Years, 1978-2009. Retrieved June 14, 2017 from https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/annual/showtext.php?t=ptb0206