When first assigned the project “How to NOT Read Vonnegut,” it seemed quite destructive and odd. I mean, I feel like if any humanities major were to witness the book guillotine in action, they would go ballistic. However, as a Digital Humanities minor, my attitude remained skeptical yet intrigued. After all, it is not like we were destroying the content of the books; we just removed the binding and exterior. Additionally, I feel that our class is taking apart these pages simply to split up the workload, so that we can create something new collectively.
As I am now in the process of running my text through Prizmo, I am fascinated by the high quality scans and features. I have only had to fix a few minor typos or groups of text that were out of order. It is truly amazing how far technology has come in that there is software that can accomplish these tasks. Instead of typing out a book’s content word for word, it just takes a simple scan and minor adjustments.
This entire procedure uses computational methods to translate traditional humanities onto digital platforms. I am not exactly sure what I expected going into this class, but I have been genuinely surprised at how much I enjoy it. This project and others we have worked on have given me a clearer idea of what Digital Humanities entails and how relevant it is in the 21st century. Just because our world is becoming more digital, it does not mean we should disregard the foundational concepts of humanities.
I’m glad your Prizmo experience has been good so far! Mine was a nightmare, and I thought I could’ve done all my work easier, if not quicker, with a simple talk-to-text type of feature. But I agree with your last paragraph! We don’t have to abandon the principles of the humanities because our world is becoming more digital.