AFRICAN LETTERS PROJECT THE DIGITAL RESEARCH INTERNSHIP TEAM
Project Owner: Elisabeth McMahon Fall 2019 - Spring 2020
BACKGROUND The African Letters Project is a database of letters written between African and American people during the African Decolonization period between the 1950s and 1990s. The goal of this project is to develop a website that houses the database of letters as well as enables community members to add their own letters to the database, and allows users to perform mapping and network analysis using visualization tools built into the website. Ideally, these letters will be available for scholars and community members alike to gain a deeper understanding of this historical period.
WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT The development team chose WordPress to build the website to house the database. We built the website using WordPress themes and software along side HTML coding. Specifically, we focused on designing the pages to fit the overall aesthetic of the project, and creating an intuitive layout that would be easy for users to navigate and have complete access to view and analyze the database.
DATA VISUALIZATION The second focus for this project was utilizing data visualization software to map the data and create a graphical representation of the connections formed by these letters. As a team we researched different options and created a comprehensive list of options. This document compares visualization tools using metrics such as cost, technical abilities, display options, and other factors. This document will be used to choose and implement a software option for the visualization of the African Letters Project database.
MOVING FORWARD With the framework of the website complete, the next step will be to migrate the database onto the WordPress website. We have created the site so that the letters can be displayed in a gallery view and viewers can see scanned photos of each letter along with the historical details. Additionally, we plan on creating a mechanism on the website that allows users to submit their own letters to the database. After these steps are completed, the website can be made public and distributed to scholars and stakeholders that can utilize the data in their own research.
