Omeka Classic is a web publishing platform for sharing digital collections and creating media-rich online exhibits. For skill assignments one and two you will contribute to an Omeka site that we, as a class, will create based on the Progressive Era.

Skill 1: Metadata in Omeka

Before we can build an exhibit, we need items in our Omeka site. Each student will need to find and upload 5 primary sources that relate to whatever topic you plan to write your exhibit on.

• First, select a topic. Your topic should be within the confines of the Progressive era, loosely defined as 1880-1920, and should focus on some aspect of labor or leisure in this period. The topic choice is up to you but try to select a topic that is narrow enough that you can write a concise essay on it and can find primary sources as evidence. You may want to run your topic by me before you begin.
  • Example: Gymnasiums in Progressive Era Boston, The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Trial, The Strike of Twenty Thousand, Nickel Shows, or The Pure Food and Drug Act.
• Once you’ve selected a topic, find 5 primary sources that relate to that topic.
• Create an Omeka collection. Add each one of your five items to your collection and use the metadata fields to describe the item.
  • Each item should be fully described in the metadata, though you do not necessarily have to use every Dublin Core field. Be sure to include a reference to the place you found the source in the appropriate field, and a copyright statement as appropriate.
• Once you’ve added all your items, ensure that each one has been made public on the Edit item page.
• Submit the link to your collection through Blackboard. (Put the link in the assignment’s text box).

Skill 2: Omeka Exhibit

Now that you’ve added five items to Omeka you will use these to create an exhibit. To create exhibits, we will use Omeka’s Exhibit Builder plugin which “allows you to develop online exhibits, or special web pages, that combine items from your Omeka archive and may include narrative text.”[1]

As Omeka’s Exhibit Builder documentation explains: “Exhibits are composed of pages, generally an initial page that introduces your exhibit and subsequent pages composed of the items from your Omeka database that you wish to highlight and/or relate to each other. Exhibit Builder exhibits may be as short as one page or consist of multiple pages. You can make the pages of an exhibit hierarchical.” The layout of exhibits “is highly customizable, with the pages composed of smaller units called blocks. There are three content block types which come with Exhibit Builder … file with text, gallery, and text block.” There is no right or wrong way to format your exhibit. You may wish to take a look at some of the examples that were discussed in class for ideas on how to format your exhibit. It often helps to draw the exhibit on paper before you begin building and the Omeka Exhibit Builder Documentation contains an excellent tutorial on using the plugin.

Your exhibit:

• should tell a story about the Progressive Era event or theme that you chose for skill 1.
• You should have at least 2 pages and an introduction in your exhibit and they should be broken down as you see fit according to the topic.
• It should include at a minimum the five items that you’ve added to your collection.
  • As you write your exhibit link these items together with prose.
• Should be between 750-1000 words.

Remember, this assignment is not only about the technology behind Omeka but also about the craft of writing for the web.

Submit the link to your exhibit in the Skill 2 assignment in Blackboard. (Put the link in the assignment’s text box).

Skills 1 and 2 are both due March 5th prior to the start of class. For each skill paste the link to your collection or exhibit into the text box for the assignment in Blackboard.