• Introductions, syllabus review (40 min.)
• Discussion: What is media? What falls under the rubrick “new media”? (90 min.)
• Review of early computer history (80 min.)
• Discussion of Assignment #1: Distinctive Characteristics of Old and New Media. Write a short paper (2 pages) that compares and contrasts one “old media” work and one “new media” work. What are the similarities and differences? Discuss the concepts gained from Lev Manovich’s “What is New Media?” and one other reading from the group below. Due September 15. (10 min.)

To follow up on these topics and to complete Assignment #1
read:

• Manovich, Lev. “What is New Media?” in The Language of New Media. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2001. p. 3 – 61. (Required)

Also read one of the following:

• Dietz, Steve. “What is New Media Called?” Accessed 9/5/05 at http://www.yproductions.com/writing/archives/000037.html
• Murray, Janet. “Inventing the Medium” in Noah Wardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort, ed., The New Media Reader. Cambridge, MA and London: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2003. p. 3-11.
• Paul, Christiane. “Digital Technologies as a Tool” in Digital Art. London: Thames and Hudson. 2003. p. 27 – 65.
• Paul, Christiane. “Digital Technologies as a Medium” in Digital Art. London: Thames and Hudson. 2003. p. 67 – 137.
• Ross, David. “Transcript of Lecture by David Ross” in Switch Lectures, v. 5, No. 1.
  Accessed 9/5/05 at http://switch.sjsu.edu/web/v5n1/ross/index.html

Resources for computer history:

• Charles Babbage Institute Center for the History of Information Technology. “Other Resources”.
  Retrieved at http://www.cbi.umn.edu/resources/index.html
• Computer History Museum. Home page. Accessed 8/28/04 at http://www.computerhistory.org/

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Class 2: September 15

Due this class:

Assignment #1: Resources utilized in today’s class:

• Edmundson, Ray. “Preservation: exploring nature and concept” in Audiovisual Archiving: Philosophy and Principles. Paris: UNESCO. 2004. Retrieved 8/31/04  at http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=15592&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1086101143.

• Besser, Howard. “Digital Longevity” in Handbook for Digital Projects: A Management Tool for Preservation and Access. (Ed.) Maxine Sitts. Andover, MA: National Document Conservation Center. Accessed 8/31/04 at http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/%7Ehoward/Papers/sfs-longevity.html.
• Waters, Donald and John Garrett. Preserving Digital Information, Report on the Task Force of Archiving of Digital Information. Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Services. 1996. Accessed at <http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub63.html>.

Assignment #2: Resources

• Cornell University Library. “Chamber of Horrors: Obsolete and Endangered Media - Introduction” in Digital Preservation Management: Implementing Short-term Solutions for Long-term Problems. Accessed 9/2/04 at <http://www.library.cornell.edu/iris/tutorial/dpm/oldmedia/chamber.html>.
• “Whosit’s Format: The Programming Resource” http://www.wotsit.org
• “My File Format” http://www.myfileformats.com/
• “File Format Encylopedia” http://pipin.tmd.ns.ac.yu/extra/fileformat/

Topics/activities:

• Complete discussion of computer history (60 min.)
• Discussion of Assignment #1 (60 min)
• Review of basic audiovisual archival principles that we will apply to digital media, and review of problems with digital longevity, according to frameworks proposed by a 1994 Task Force on Digital Information, and by Howard Besser (60 min.)
• Begin overview of computer structures and storage including platforms, operating systems, software, programming languages, text files. (30 min.)
• Discussion of Assignment #2 Research on Storage Devices/Media/File Formats. Each student will choose one device, one media format, and three file formats, gathering information that will aid preservationists in identifying the item and determining if or how media can be accessed. For the file formats, each student will gather information that will aid preservationists in identifying the file, how it can be read, and what the risk is to the file’s longevity, such as if it is backward compatible. We will use one or more templates for this exercise. Cite all sources. Due (10 min.)

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Class 3: September 22

Please note: Class will meet in the computer lab at 35 West 4^th Street, 2^nd floor from 9:30 - 11:30, and then will move back to Room 651, Tisch, 721 Broadway.

Due this class:

• Cornell University Library Research Department. “Basic Terminology” in Moving Theory into Practice: Digital Imaging Tutorial. Retrieved 9/4/04 at <http://www.library.cornell.edu/preservation/tutorial/intro/intro-01.html>.
• Cornell University Library. “Obsolescence” in Digital Preservation Management: Implementing Short-term Solutions for Long-term Problems. Accessed 9/2/04 at <http://www.library.cornell.edu/iris/tutorial/dpm/oldmedia/index.html>.
• Smith, Abby. “Authenticity in Perspective” in Authenticity in a Digital Environment. Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Services. 2000. Accessed at <http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub92/contents.html>.
• PADI (Preserving Access to Digital Material) Selection Criteria http://www.nla.gov.au/padi/selection.html#app2

Topics/activities:

• Lab work: overview of image files: types, formats, vector vs. bitmap; still image capture (1 1/2 hours)
•  Complete overview of computer structures and storage including platforms, operating systems, software, programming languages, text files. (30 min.) (1 hour)
• Discussion of readings. Considering the range of new media work, how does one approaches selection and appraisal? What are key concepts when considering what one is collecting and preserving -- concepts of originals, authenticity, integrity and context. (70 min.)

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Class 4: September 29

Please note: Class will meet in the computer lab at 35 West 4^th Street, 2^nd floor from 9:30 - 11:30, and then will move back to Room 651, Tisch, 721 Broadway.

Due this class:

·         Assignment #2 Research on Storage Devices/Media/File Formats

• Eye-One Color. “How Well Do You Speak in Color?”. http://i1color.com/knowledge/. Follow link to The Color Of Toast and read that section as well. Also go through the “Crash Course” at http://i1color.com/knowledge/crash_course.asp
• Technical Advisory Services for Images. “File Formats and Compression”. http://www.tasi.ac.uk/advice/creating/fformat.html.

Topics/activities:

• Melitte Buchman, Digital Conversion Specialist in the NYU Digital Library will speak about image color spaces, color management, the impact of migration, and strategies and standards for maintaining high quality digital images and the “look and feel” of the original. (2 hours in lab)
• Discussion of Assignment #2. (60 min)
• Review of principles of analog audio and analog to digital conversion for audio (40 min)

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NO CLASS October 6 – Mona is out of town

Class 5: October 13

Please note: Class will meet in the computer lab at 35 West 4^th Street, 2^nd floor from 9:30 - 11:30, and then will move back to Room 651, Tisch, 721 Broadway.

Due this class:

• Dinkla, Soke. “The History of the Interface in Interactive Art”. Accessed 9/5/05 at http://www.maryflanagan.com/courses/2002/web/HistoryofInterface.html
• Morse, Margaret. “The Poetics of Interactivity” in Women, Art and Technology. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2003. p. 17 – 33.
• Iles. Chrissie. “Between the Still and Moving Image” in Into the Light: The Projected Image in American Art, 1964 - 1977. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art. 2002.

Topics/activities:

• Lab work: Capture of analog audio; recording digital audio; the potential impact of migration, identifying audio formats (2  hours)
• Discussion of reading: Interfaces and interactivity (70 min.)
• Review of principles of analog video and analog to digital conversion for video (30 min)

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Class 6: October 20

Please note: Class will meet in the computer lab at 35 West 4^th Street, 2^nd floor from 9:30 - 11:30, and then will move back to Room 651, Tisch, 721 Broadway.

Due this class:

• Reading to be announced.

Topics/activities:

• Lab work: Capture of analog video; recording digital video; the potential impact of migration, identifying video formats (2  hours)
• Producer of interactive CD-ROM to be announced and discussion following. (100 min.)

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Class 7: October 21 –  Make-up for Oct. 6^th. 1:00 – 5:00 pm

Due this class:

• Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2001. Pages to be announced.
• Beyers, Fred R. Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs: A Guide for Librarians and Archivists. Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Services and National Institute of Standards and Technology. 2003. Accessed 8/31/04 at <http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/contents.html>.
• Deborah  Woodyard, “Farewell My Floppy: A Strategy for Migration of Digital Information,” (National Library of Australia, 1997), available online at:  http://www.nla.gov.au/nla/staffpaper/valadw.html

Topics/activities:

• Group exercise deconstructing an older interactive CDROM using Diane Bertolo’s “Probing into Science” (1 hour).
• Go over Assignment #3 Risk Assessment and Structure of an Interactive CDROM. Students will analyze a CDROM work determining: What device will read this CDROM? Is a particular platform needed? What software is required? Is it available (on or off the disc)? What authoring system was used to create it? Is it proprietary? How many files does it include by type? What are the relationships between the files (diagram parts)? What “behaviors” are important to the work? Can it run on a newer system and if so, is it the same? What are the risks to this work? Due date:  November 3 (20 min)
• Discussion of readings (50 min)
• Components of animation, history, modes of production and resulting objects/files (1 hour)

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Class 8: October 27

Meet on the steps of Thirteen/WNET, 450 W. 33^rd Street. Time to be announced

Due this class:

• Additional readings to be announced.
• Recommended: Henry Lowood, "Shall We Play a Game: Thoughts on the Computer Game Archive of the Future." (Conference Paper, Fall 2002.) Retrieved 9/2/04 at http://www.stanford.edu/class/sts145/Library/shall_game.rt

Suggested:

Rinehart, Richard. “A System for Formal Notation for Scoring Works of Digital and Variable Media Art”. Retrieved 9/4/04 at http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/about_bampfa/avantgarde.html.

Topics/activities:

• Visit to Thirteen/WNET. We will meet with staff from the Graphics Department and the Archive. The Graphics Department produces motion graphics for the station. We will discuss what digital materials are maintained, how they are maintained, and the relationship of digital materials to the station’s moving image and sound archives. (2 hours)
• Continuation of components of animation and the various forms and principles of animation and sectors in which animation is used – feature films, games, TV, machinima, etc. (40 min.)
• Triage in digital collections – what can be learn from seeing how files are kept in an active production environment? What can we expect when materials come into archives? (60 min)

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Class 9: November 3

Please note: Class will meet in the computer lab at 35 West 4^th Street, 2^nd floor from 9:30 - 11:30, and then will move back to Room 651, Tisch, 721 Broadway.

Due this class:

• Assignment #3 Risk Assessment and Structure of an Interactive CDROM
• Complete HTML tutorial (to be assigned)
• Galloway, Alexander R. Protocol: How Control Exists After Decentralization. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2004. Pages to be announced.

Topics/activities:

• Lab work: Review of web production and dependencies; consideration of Galloway’s work. (2 hours)
• Reports/discussions of Assignment #2 (100 min.)

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Class 10: November 10

Please note: Class will meet in the computer lab at 35 West 4^th Street, 2^nd floor from 9:30 - 11:30, and then will move back to Room 651, Tisch, 721 Broadway.

Due this class:

• Guggenheim Museum. Permanence through Change: The Variable Media Approach. Montréal: Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology and New York: Guggenheim. Accessed 9/3/04 at <http://www.variablemedia.net/>. p. 7 – 45; 108 –114.
• Internet Archive Wayback Machine http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
• Proposal for Assignment #4 final project or paper (more information to come) that is due the last class.

Topics/activities:

• Presentation by web artist/curator (1 1/2 hours)
• Web sites: more on technical components. risks to longevity; comparison to strategies for documentation and preservation; concept of a “living will”.
• Discussion on readings.

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Class 11: November 17

Please note: We will be meeting at the Metropolitan Museum, 1000 Fifth Avenue in the Great Hall.

Due this class:

• Rothenberg, Jeff. Avoiding Technological Quicksand: Finding a Viable Technical Foundation for Digital Preservation. Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Services. 1999. Accessed at <http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/reports.html>.
• Real, William A. “Toward Guidelines for Practice in the Preservation and Documentation of Technology-Based Installation Art”. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation. Fall/Winter 2001. Vol. 40: No. 3.
• Messier, Paul. Dara Birnbaum’s Tiananmen Square: Break-In Transmission: A Case Study in the Examination, Documentation, and Preservation of a Video-Based Installation. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation. Fall/Winter 2001. Vol. 40: No. 3.
• Guggenheim Museum. Permanence through Change: The Variable Media Approach. Montréal: Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology and New York: Guggenheim. Accessed 9/3/04 at <http://www.variablemedia.net/>. p. 47 – 69; 70 – 84; 92 – 107.
• Jimenez, Mona. “The Artist Instrumentation Database Project” on web site of the Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology. 2005. Accessed 8/1/05 at < http://www.fondation-langlois.org/flash/e/index.php?NumPage=708>. 

Topics/activities:

• Visit to Metropolitian Museum to examine and discuss time-based media art installations (4 hours)

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NO CLASS November 24 – Thanksgiving recess

NO CLASS December 1 – AMIA

We will find a time to meet at AMIA for 2 hours. Topics to be announced.

Class 12: December 8

Due this class:

·         Emulation vs. Migration: Do Users Care? Hedstrom, Margaret; Lampe, Clifford  In: RLG DigiNews   (Date Created: Dec 2001)

• Emulators Unlimited http://www.emuunlim.com/
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. “Magic Bullet or Shot in the Dark?” from transcripts of the 2004 symposium Echoes of Art: Emulation as a Preservation Strategy published on the web site of the Guggenheim Museum. 2004. Accessed 8/1/05 at
  http://www.variablemedia.net/e/echoes/index.html.

·         Dimitrovsky, Issac. Final report, Erl-King project. On web site of the Variable Media Initiative. 2004. Accessed 8/1/05 at http://www.variablemedia.net/e/seeingdouble/report.html.

Topics/activities:

·         Speaker to be announced. Issues of developing and managing an emulation project, both administrative/managerial/planning, as well as technical.  What are the promises and problems for future use of emulation?) (1 1/2 hours.)

·         Discussion: Who should be involved in preservation decisions? What is gained and lost when we preserve new media? Discussion of dominant theories of documentation and preservation. (1 1/2 hours)

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Class 13: December 13 – Wrap-Up

Due this class:

·        Assignment #4: projects or papers

Topics/activities:

·         Present class projects or papers – 15 min. presentation, 10 min. discussion for each.

·         Review and critique of semester’s work

Version 9/6/05

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