Technology Skills
Tahirler Project Home Page
I have a background in technology work, including coursework in computer science, metadata and XML. I have had several jobs which have focused on providing technology services, including online research and website design, construction, and maintenance. In my archives and library work, I have created EAD finding aids, websites, and have used databases and other systems to accomplish my tasks. In my own historical research, I am very familiar and adept with online research methods, and have successfully performed archival research at a distance by utilizing digitized finding aids, WorldCat, and other archival communications systems.
I am enthusiastic about the ability of internet access to provide a wider exposure for archival collections and repositories, while being simultaneously cautious about the costs and limitations of this technology. It has a distressing tendency to blind users to the vast amounts of archival information which are not easily and immediately accessible online, and for which limited funding and time restrict our ability to provide digital access. I have taken an online course on metadata and the future of digital archives, and wrote a number of posts and a paper addressing some of these concerns:
Samples of my EAD finding aids can be found above listed under archival processing. One of my Endnote databases can be found under reference, along with annotated bibliographies which represent the results of literature reviews, compiled by utilizing various online databases. One of my websites, constructed for a course assignment, is linked above under historical subject knowledge.
While many of the class websites I have created for the University of Washington Information School are restricted to current students only, here is another sample of my work on a website which presents the results of archeological and historical research using ContentDM and embedded Google Earth maps:
All uncredited photos on this site were taken by Gabriel Chrisman
All material copyright Gabriel Chrisman, 2010
No reproduction allowed without permission