Category Archives: Reflection

Final Project Plan, Reflection # 6

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My final project will be editing the Wikipedia pages, the pages i will be focusing on are Brooklyn, Downtown Brooklyn, Vinegar hill, Rope walk and Sands Brothers (Joshua sand and comfort sand). The intention is to fill in the gaps between 1770’s to 1820’s. After research i found lot of information about these topics and it sounds like my project will be more like telling the story of Brooklyn. Story will begin with sand’s brothers by telling how they came to Brooklyn, how much land they had and how there farm land converted into blocks and the relationship of Olympia (rope making industry) with sand’s brothers.

Reflection #8: “Students Can’t Access Essential Research”

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Access to academic research has become more expensive each year. It is becoming a trend for schools to cancel subscriptions to academic journals due to insufficient financial means. Despite the fact that these journals are filled with research based articles written by researchers for free, the publishers, many of which are for-profit, sell access to the journals at inflated rates. An article can only be published in one journal at a time and cannot be posted or shared through other mediums. Because of this rule, the publishers are able to create a monopoly thus removing any preventatives that would control prices.

By contributing to public resources like Wikipedia, we are able to share this research with people who cannot otherwise access these journals. When a contributor adds cited data, we inform the reader of reliable information. This attempts to level the playing field of research. It aids people to do more thorough, extensive research because they are now able to access additional research-based sources.

Project Plan

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I may have to do a minimal amount of research, if any for my final project. Right now I believe I just need to digest, access, and organize all the information I have gathered, and find the correct categories to put them into for my final project. I have a rough idea of how I would like to categorize my information so hopefully all of that works out. I will be allowing my final project to live on the internet for as long as open lab or the internet may live. I will be focusing on the area near the Brooklyn Bridge once known as the Brooklyn Bridge Plaza, and just unloading as much information on this space as I have access to. My project has not really changed overtime, it did stem from my Mid-semester report when I was looking at maps of the Vinegar Hill area, and noticed it, and then I chose to take this little piece of information and just allow it to manifest itself and just go in any direction it leads me in.

Project Plan

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Deliverables: I will be analyzing a summary of the street I have selected from 1920-1940 which I may present as a PowerPoint or as a documentation report. I will decide on the most appropriate choice once my project is in the final stage. I will consult with my classmate since we have a focus on a similar aspects of the project.

Report/Summary Construction Process:  Most of the information I accumulated was from my classmate and others were from resources such as books, articles, websites, archives and historical maps/documents. I will use most of the information from my reports and bibliography. I will be combing all information and focus mostly on the changes of Hudson Avenue over a period of time.

Research Gaps: My time period gap is from 1920-1940 because I was trying to keep it within a 20-year gap. There is limited information relating to the causes for the changes of the Hudson Avenue.

Project Plan

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Deliverables: I will be constructing a report/summary (Presentation Material) of the information from my research of the demographics, politics, and urban renewal of the 1920s thru the 1960s (Scope), which may be presented as a PowerPoint/Prezi Presentation, and/or documentation report, and/or project, and/or technological media on a consolidated platform such as OpenLab, CartoDb, SketchUp, Wikipedia, YouTube, etc. I will be able to determine the most appropriate platform once my project is in the final stages. I will also coordinate my research with a classmate since we are focusing on similar aspects of my research project. His consolidation platform would be my main consideration towards my research contribution.

Report/Summary Construction Process: I will be using and consolidating the information from the resources from my research, such as libraries (books), web searches (“dot-gov” and articles), archives (historical maps/documents). The main consolidation of information will be taken from my previous reports and bibliography. I will combine and focus information regarding demographics, politics, and urban renewal to produce a final project geared towards a sociological (social sciences) approach.

Research Gaps: Although there is information regarding the demographics, politics, and urban renewal of the 1920s thru the 1960s, there has been limited information about the causes for the landscape cutoff point at Hudson Avenue and York Street.

Evolution of My Project: My project has changed/morphed from a focus of the cause of a physical aspect (landscape) of a street (Hudson Avenue) into a more sociological focus of the demographics and politics involved in the urban renewal of the 1920s thru the 1960s.

Final Project Deliverables

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Throughout the semester the focus of my research has been on how the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge affected the vitality of Vinegar Hill. After my research at the libraries, archives, and online, I have obtained a lot of information regarding the Brooklyn Bridge. However, I have not found a lot of information on how the Manhattan Bridge changed Vinegar Hill. Because of this, I think that the focus of my final will be predominantly on the Brooklyn Bridge. My scope is wide in the sense that I am focusing on multiple factors that involves the Brooklyn Bridge. Some factors include but are not limited to the following: population change, public perception, why the Brooklyn Bridge was built, its effects on transportation, and how the bridge changed the ferry industry, if at all. In addition, I am toying with the idea of delving into the actual construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.

I think that the best way to produce my research in a final project is in written form. I would like to post my final project on OpenLab as a page dedicated to the Brooklyn Bridge. As of now I am researching and writing independently. Even though my work is independent, I want to contribute to the project page that is being set up by a fellow classmate for the entire class to post on.

 

Academic Research

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Academic research is a privilege because only the few, usually institutions, who can afford to pay for access to it are able to use the most up-to-date research findings and information. Academic and research institutions are more likely to have access to research and peer review journals due to the high yearly costs, normally ranging from $10,000 to $25,000, that would prevent most individuals from being able to afford to pay for access to the journals. If academic research were a right, then there would be significantly less to no cost for access to the most up-to-date journals. (Today, there are financial cost even on things that we consider to be within our rights; for example, we have the right to a trial, but lawyers need to be paid and there are court fees. Usually the tax payers “flip the bill.”)

We can leverage the academic research privilege by contributing to public resources like Wikipedia, which will provide free and easy access to information that someone has obtained from using an “out-of-reach” academic research journal (properly cited of course). This would allow a large number of individuals, who are unable to obtain that academic research, to be able to have access to these priceless/invaluable research resources. Resources like Wikipedia, would facilitate a way to avoid huge fees and be a way, a “loop hole,” around the money barrier that would grant free and unlimited access to any researcher.

Mid Semester Course Progress Reflection

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This course has given me an invaluable assortment of research techniques, and it has reinforced some or my older research skills and also presented me with new ones; for instance, I am now able to look at a topic in a new perspective with a more “open” mind. I’ve learned new technological aspects involved with research, such as not only using online resources, but also using archives for primary access to artifacts. I have made a significant contribution to the world of research with Wikipedia, and it is credible and relevant. Now, I have an enjoyable experience from conducting research, and I can see, first hand, the results of my contributions to research. I feel confident in my approach towards researching. I have grown considerable from this course, and my knowledge gained from this course will benefit me for the rest of my life. In fact, I now use these research principles with my other courses and for my personal uses and purposes.