Overall What America Ate is a very well done project. Digital humanities projects are extremely complex and require many element to give them a chance at being considered immaculately done. Lacking these elements can still lead to a project that gives those who would want to use them a necessary means of assistance for their own work, although most likely resulting in the need for research that would not have been required if the project was faultless. Here we will being summing up why this project is not perfect but is still adequate.
What it does well
Values are a must when it come to digital humanities and What America Ate does a good job at acknowledging them. While the goals for this project might not be written out for us it is clear that their is one their. The project shows obvious appreciation for peer projects and collaboration. Besides the fact that the project has a long list of contributors, many articles can be found relating to the topic from outside sources on the website. The idea of participation from all levels is shown by the site giving people an opportunity to get involved by transcribing and earning badges for their work. The importance of space, place and location is one of the most well done and straight forward segments of the website. Place is one of the foundation elements to this project. There is an interactive map showing the importance of states and region for the project, every page reminds readers that the work is revolved around the Great Depression and the title clearly states that the content is solely related to America.
What can improve
This projects has many well done factors, but it also has its fair share of poorly done aspects. The first noticeable problem is there is that no where on the website says when the project was created or if it is still ongoing. Users can only assume whether or no the project is ongoing by using context clues from the website. Going along with assumptions, the goal of the project is never clearly stated other than hinting at a casual goal of creating an easy place to explore the archives of America Eats. Methodology is an immensely importance aspect of digital humanities projects. What America Ate in no way, shape or form tells those who use the website how they went about creating the project. There are statements set in the form of opinion, which does not fit the type of project they are trying to create. The site provides no transparency into its creation, that is a huge digital humanities no, no.
