Author: bbrinkman
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How easy is this tool to learn and use?
Consult your local library! Many LibGuides, such as those at Framingham State University, link to extensive documentation, like Voyant Tools documentation, and may even include tutorials from a student’s point of view.
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What are the ethics of using this tool?
One example of a content management system that takes such questions into consideration is Mukurtu, which describes itself as “the free, mobile, and open source platform built with Indigenous communities to manage and share digital cultural heritage.”
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What is the history of this tool?
Mapping Marronage is an example of a project that resists the logic of the database as it visualizes networks of trans-Atlantic exchanges of enslaved peoples of African descent.
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What assumptions are behind this tool?
Discussion of Question/Significance Does this tool make certain assumptions about the world that encourage you to model your data in particular ways? For example, mapping tools often rely on Westernized, distorted, notions of place, exhibited in Mercator projections that potentially flatten complex relationships to space into latitude/longitude coordinates. Similarly, timelines often assume a Western calendar…
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What is this tool’s potential for collaboration?
Discussion of Question/Significance Example https://github.com/ (now with copilot X!) is a longstanding, industry standard tool for collaboration. Entry-level tools include the suite of Google products (Google docs, Google sheets, etc), which allow for simultaneous collaboration in various ways.