CUNY English department has really an embarrassment of riches when it comes to capable and generously helpful digital humanists.

After meeting with Mary Catherine Kinniburgh, I had plenty set up to get going, though she did recommend I scheme my way into access to Oxygen, an XML editor that will highlight missing notation. I have to figure out if there is some way to get a license through CUNY, but for now, I am getting the 30 day trial (which will at the very least get me through this version of the project).

MCK also recommended I attend the English department Friday Forum on “Untraditional Dissertations.” Not only were the panelists — Louis Bury, Cori Gabbard and Karinne Keithley Syers— inspiring, I had the good fortune of talking to Amanda Licastro. As an active DH educator and former contributor to the Emily Dickinson Archive, she had incredibly helpful recommendations for my letters project.

Main points:

1. Set strict database architecture from the start

2. Use Excel for said database because you can track it easily into Neatline.

I am so grateful for these bits of guidance. Very often the knowledge of more and more softwares and decisions about metadata feel overwhelming, and it is invaluable to have colleagues who not only have experience wading through the available media but also have a genuine interest in helping others bring their projects to fruition.

Plugging along with much gratitude.

-Jojo