Prior to writing the group contract, I felt slightly overwhelmed at the volume of work that our website was nonetheless going to necessitate. However, now that we have divided the tasks and set milestones for their completion, I feel much more confident about the direction of our project. Our contract divides the work evenly among our four group members, and everyone’s tasks are spread out throughout the semester, meaning that one or two people will not become overwhelmed by constantly having a looming due date. Currently, our first milestone is to finish scanning Slaughter’s and Murray’s letters, scanning the typed transcriptions of Murray’s letters, and typing the handwritten transcriptions of Slaughter’s letters. It is essential that we get this done soon as our subsequent tasks for the construction of the website revolve around their digitization, which include creating online exhibits for the letters. I also think that when it comes time to create our digital exhibits, Omeka will be very helpful. My group created our site last class, and when you click on “Add an Item,” Omeka prompts you to enter the appropriate metadata for the document or other primary source you are uploading. This will help keep our website consistent, as all group members will be reporting the same kinds of information to describe each letter.
The one difficulty that I could potentially see my group running into is finding sufficient information on Montgomery Slaughter and George Murray so that their introductory blurbs will give site visitors a solid context with which to read the letters. However, the National Park Service has already helped with this, as a basic biographical sketch on Murray’s activities during the Civil War were delivered to UMW along with his letters and transcriptions. Additionally, when we make our visit to the Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitor Center and Museum to look at George Murray’s possessions, we can speak with Ms. Luisa Dispenzirie, the museum curator, so she can give us more information about these two men.
