There have been a few times recently where I’m showing someone how to do something in the lab and by the time we are finished, they have this look of unabashed glee on their face. It turns out this workflow or process was something they did in the past (and it took hours or days to complete) or that they feared would be extremely complex or time consuming. And instead, it was a few minutes and mostly learning the specifics around software settings or options for automating. These reactions make me think about the impact technology has had but more so, what kind of impact it can have going forward. It’s so easy to take for granted the years of research, tests, failures, and effort that has gone into each piece of technology we use, just as the research it is facilitating builds on the efforts of prior scholarship. Which is why I kept thinking about things in a “bit by bit” mindset…and why I couldn’t resist the pun when I decided to start this series. I’ve wanted to gather tutorials, experimental write-ups, and other types of posts together for awhile so that folks can subscribe as desired and—hopefully—be exposed to techniques and technologies that can make their research easier and better over time.
So welcome to Bit by Bit! Check out some of the posts below and subscribe to learn about new pieces when they are posted.
- Automating Object Silhouetting – a two parter digging into ways to batch remove the background from artifact photographs
- Sustainable web applications in cultural heritage – considerations when planning a new digital project
