DR JAMES LAMB
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[Holiday notes] Information/Key on front page of map

17/8/2013

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This short section of text will be on a discreet page, linked to from the front page of the website. Perhaps I will link to this using an information icon.

  • I will begin by talking about the fact that this is a multimodal artefact and - very briefly - why I have chosen to take this non-traditional approach. I will draw the reader's attention to the dissemination rationale for a full justification.

  • Then I will talk about how to navigate the site including how the map works as a constellation (with reference to the literature on constellation and assemblage and my use of the metaphor) and how to move between pages.

After that I'll briefly explain or discuss the following:

  • how the images work including that they are original and can be enlarged, that they are intended to illustrate but also add to the meaning however I haven't included an explanation as the reader is encouraged to drawn her own interpretation of the image in relation to text
  • [that some sections are accompanied by music that is intended to be representative of other content within that section. Again the reader is encouraged to draw her own conclusion on how the music works as part of the assemblage. Also mention that it can be switched off.] This idea subsequently abandoned.
  • the different ways that hyperlinks work
  • that there are videos and again, these don't come with a detailed explanation or commentary but are instead intended to work to support relevant content and work themselves as multimodal artefacts

In each case I will use a small icon - for instance a part of a screen shot or an icon - alongside each of the different components above. This will break up the text and make the whole thing more  user friendly - a combination of explanation and how to use this site, type of approach.

  • I will also talk - perhaps within a concluding paragraph - that the implications and challenges for the marker of presenting my ideas in this way are acknowledged (and discussed within a separate section - link). End though with a line that this it is appropriate that the work should be presented in this way and that he the form and content will hopefully provided an interesting experience for the reader.

So, the structure of this section would be:
  • intro line saying what this page does
  • that the work is multimodal and briefly why (with link to rationale)
  • how to navigate and the constellation metaphor (with link to rationale)
  • how the images work
  • how the videos work
  • how the hyperlinks work
  • acknoweldgement that there are implications for the reader (with link to relevant section - probably conclusion)
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Composing front page image

6/7/2013

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[Glossing over the fact that it's more than a month since my last entry]

Here's a image I put together tonight as to how I might compose the image for the front of my dissemination website. My plan is to take a draft photo tomorrow, build the shell of the site and then e-mail the link to Sian in order to get feedback on my structure. No point spending too much time just now on either the image or the site as both will be influenced by Sian's comments. Here's the pic:
Picture
Actually, that looks quite good, although I don't suppose proper designers/photographers do night before mock-ups in PowerPoint. It's multimodal. Maybe I'll include this somehow - whether as image of via hyperlink - within my Dissemination rationale.
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Using 360 panoramic for cover image

25/5/2013

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Here's an idea to overcome the difficulty of composing the different representational artefacts in a way that offers a convincing constellation. Rather than using a standard landscape size photo, I could create a panoramic image in order to offer enough canvas space to place all the components in a way that is clear and convincing, as well giving a reasonable chance of presenting a constellation.
Picture
And here's one I created earlier. Obviously I won't be using a VW Golf dashboard. What I need to do next is try and see whether I can create an image of the approximate size and orientation using the 360 function on my camera (as I don't want it to as wide as the above) and then whether this will work in Thinglink. 

Hmm. I wonder whether the image will become skewed and I'm actually better off just using a slightly different orientation from the standard portrait. After all, it still has to look like a map. Yeah, maybe that's it. Worth exploring both approaches, though.
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Cover image layout and dissemination structure

22/5/2013

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Some images from my scribbled and sketched notes.
Picture
Picture
Picture
I've spent a lot of time thinking about dissemination. Maybe that's worth reflecting on somewhere in the dissertation itself. If this had been an 'essay' I could have spent days and days more time on 'content' rather than 'form'. But that wouldn't have been as much fun.
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Components of front cover image (dissemination)

14/5/2013

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On the way back from Moray House Library earlier today (having returned The Psychology of Everyday Things by Donald Norman) I stopped for a coffee in Caffe Nero and jotted down some ideas for the front cover image. With Michael visiting this weekend and willing to spend some time talking multimodality, it would helpful to have a mock up in place to get his thoughts on. Here then are some thoughts on the possible artefact components that could make up the front cover image for dissemination:
Introduction, background, abstract
This could be the abstract printed out or on screen. In fact it makes sense for it to be on screen. It could be the abstract seen in Word or something like that - being digitally composed.

Literature review
This could be a pile of books or some printed out journal articles. The pile of books could be actual texts that I consulted or I could do mock up front covers as per the LS image a few years ago (although that sounds quite time consuming and the originality might not be consistent with the approach to other artefacts). Maybe just stick with a pile of books from the key voices in the field. It would be a nice touch to include the book that Sian was the editor of.

Methodology
This could be a print out of my research proposal on the desk. Perhaps the document would be open.

Discussion of data
This could be a transcript on screen being edited, the raw data in Skype, or a print out of the script with annotation.

Observational case study
This could be my camera, case and print out  of photographs from the architecture observation. Obviously it would mean I wouldn't be using my own camera to take the photo. Mightn't be a bad thing considering I haven't got the hang of it yet.

Conclusion
This could be the actual conclusion typed on the computer screen. Getting a bit unoriginal here.

Appendix and acknowledgements
[Assuming I choose to structure the dissertation this way] Don't know what to do here.
Hmmm. Lacking imagination here. Very repetitive. Maybe I need to take a different approach, focusing on the artefact rather than the component of the website that's being represented.
Computer screen with abstract typed in Word: 'Introduction'  

Printed out research proposal on desk: 'Methodolody'

Books piled up: 'Literature review' [Words]

Dictaphone: 'Data collection and discussion' [Sound]

Hand drawn spider diagram: 'Conclusion'

Camera and photos: 'Observation' [Image]

Picture of Claire and Joe in a frame on desk: 'Acknowledgement and appendix'
This is beginning to take shape. It's not perfect, but it's not bad. I'll need to think carefully how I arrange the different items for photographing - I need each component to be clear and for the image to be authentic but not overly cluttered. Maybe I can add some authenticity by including some of the following items into the scene:
Paper coffee cup, finished

Selection of music CDs, with Music for Writing at top and clear to see

Other stationery
That'll do for now. Maybe tomorrow night I'll have a quick go at mocking this up (with some dummy components) before I spend much more time thinking about this.
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Constellation image on dissemination front page

8/5/2013

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Struggling to stay away, but throwing this thought down otherwise I might forget it.

My front page on the dissemination: should the constellation be of artefacts that represent sound, word and image, rather than trying to find artefacts that link to particular parts of the dissertation?

Or to put it another way, should the image/constellation be reflective specifically of the title (which overlays it) rather than trying to represent all the components of the assignment?

Or can it do both?

If I decide to go for both (or just focusing on assignment components) then I can justifiably use thinglink. However its a case of simply a case of depicting image, word and sound then there's no point in having hyperlinks.

I'd like to stick with the idea (at least) of using the image as a map of the assignment. My challenge then will be to come up with a series of artefacts in the image that simultaneously represent different components of the dissertation whilst in themselves depicting image, word and sound. So the image will have components that could a double meaning e.g. a book might simultaneously depcict the 'words' part of the title, whilst also representing and linking to the literature review. 

This is going to be tricky.
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