Here it is (apologies for the slight lateness)! I’m having some problems with images and formatting, so there will be more changes before tomorrow morning. The preservation-oriented pages are also forthcoming.
Overview: My essay argues, with the support of a conditions assessment, that historic cemeteries are worthy of preservation not only for their physical historic resources, but for the information they contain about the individuals that made up a community throughout its history. Drawn to the spooky atmosphere of run-down cemeteries, and perhaps frightened off by the daunting task of restoring them, people are inclined to let them deteriorate. In doing so, they put at risk valuable information about historic burial customs and memorial aesthetics, as well as data that helps construct the past lives of locals. I used the cemetery at the United Methodist Church in Haleyville, NJ, as a case study. My argument is supported by my own survey work, as well as preservation recommendations from professional archaeology firms and the federal government.
Process: I began this work for my capstone class in January, beginning with a field survey, in which I took pictures and assessed the deterioration that had already happened. I did research on the different types of problems that I noticed, as well as the appropriate ways to deal with them.
I didn’t quite know what form I wanted this to take when I decided to use this project for my digital essay, but I knew that I wanted to put together some sort of essay on what cemeteries meant to me in conjunction with pages about the more scientific methods of actually doing conservation work.
Affordances: Wordpress lends itself really well to having several different pages set up to your liking, which is how I wanted to divide up my digital space.
Constraints: I ended up not being able to do the level of survey work (mapping, videos, etc.) that I wanted to do, simply because of time and my own abilities and skill levels. Additionally, the more scientific aspects of a conditions assessment and a preservation plan are meant to be just that: scientific, objective, and not really open to interpretation if they are going to be carried out correctly. I eventually decided to just leave them be as non-subjective pieces and stand for themselves as part of the essay.
Writing in a Digital Age 