{"id":133,"date":"2026-04-14T15:40:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/classprojects.digitalwcu.org\/DietCoke2\/?page_id=133"},"modified":"2026-04-14T15:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:40:21","slug":"evaluation-of-project-analysis-of-best-practices","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/classprojects.digitalwcu.org\/DietCoke2\/evaluation-of-project-analysis-of-best-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Evaluation of Project: Analysis of Best Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Technical Standards & Interoperability<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Whitman Archive is often cited as a “gold standard” for best practices because it prioritizes sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Adherence to TEI\/XML:<\/strong> By using the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) standards, the project ensures that its data is not trapped in a proprietary format. This allows the “data” to be read by other systems and preserved even as web browsers evolve.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Persistent Identifiers:<\/strong> Each manuscript and letter is assigned a unique, stable URL. This is a critical best practice in humanities scholarship, as it allows other researchers to cite specific digital objects reliably without fear of “link rot.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Accessibility<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    An evaluation of the archive’s interface reveals a focus on scholarly transparency<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    • Transcription vs. Image:<\/strong> A best practice in digital archiving is providing the “diplomatic transcription” (exactly how it looks on the page) alongside the high-resolution image. The Whitman Archive excels here, allowing users to verify the digital text against the original artifact.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Searchability:<\/strong> The site employs faceted searching, allowing users to filter by “genre,” “date,” or “repository.” This follows the best practice of reducing “information overload” for the researcher.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Open Access<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      In the humanities, the ethical handling of cultural heritage is paramount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      • Creative Commons Licensing:<\/strong> The project follows the best practice of “Open Access,” ensuring that these foundational American texts are available to the public and not behind a paywall.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Institutional Collaboration:<\/strong> The archive is a partnership between multiple universities (such as the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Virginia). This “distributed” model is a best practice for long-term project survival; if one institution loses funding, the collective data remains secure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-133","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/classprojects.digitalwcu.org\/DietCoke2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/classprojects.digitalwcu.org\/DietCoke2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/classprojects.digitalwcu.org\/DietCoke2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classprojects.digitalwcu.org\/DietCoke2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classprojects.digitalwcu.org\/DietCoke2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/classprojects.digitalwcu.org\/DietCoke2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134,"href":"https:\/\/classprojects.digitalwcu.org\/DietCoke2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/133\/revisions\/134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/classprojects.digitalwcu.org\/DietCoke2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}