We are pleased to announce that Sheila Brennan will be joining us in Orlando for THATCamp in February. She will be leading a Workshop on using Omeka on Saturday the 18th. Dr. Brennan will draw on her wide range of interests and experience in the digital humanities. Below is a brief description of the Workshop she will lead. We are excited to have her join us.

Introduction to Omeka

This session will introduce participants to Omeka, a web publishing system used by libraries, archives, museums, and universities for building and sharing digital collections and creating web exhibits. We will begin by viewing a variety of sites built in Omeka to illustrate its flexibility. We will then tour the administrative backend, choose and configure a design theme, and build a small digital archive using Dublin Core metatdata to describe items. We will build a simple exhibit with those items and explore Omeka’s enhanced functionality through its plugins.

Finally, we will discuss the differences between the hosted version of Omeka and the server-side version of Omeka and reasons for using both.

Details: This is a tutorial. Please bring a laptop or tablet, but we will not be installing Omeka during this session. If you do not already have an installation up and running, I recommend that you sign up for a free basic Omeka.net account , or use one of our demonstration sites during the session.

The application process has opened at THATCamp Florida and you can submit your application here. We will be accepting applications on a rolling basis until the time of the event or we reach our maximum size of seventy-five, which ever comes first. If you are interested in attending this year we encourage you to apply as soon as you are comfortable so that we can prepare for an event that best suites the needs of our campers. We are currently working on a number of different Workshops (aka “Bootcamp” sessions) and would love your input on what you would like to see covered in a Workshop format, so please be sure to include that information in your application.

For campers that are coming from out of town we have reserved a block of rooms at the Sheraton Orlando Downtown for Friday and Saturday night, the 17th and 18th of February. In order to receive the group rate you need to make your reservation by calling 800.574.3160 and asking for the THATCamp discount. You need to make those reservations by 20 January in order to receive the group rate.

We are pleased to announce THATCamp Florida 2012.  The History Department and the RICHES program at the University of Central Florida will be hosting a regional THATCamp on the weekend of February 18-19, 2012 in sunny Orlando.  The gathering will involve about 75 people drawn broadly from the Humanities and will include Professors, Librarians, Graduate Students and interested parties (writers, musicians, etc.) who are engaged in sorting through the many and varied ways that our broadly shared disciplines intersect with emerging technologies.  It is our hope that the two-day affair at The University of Central Florida’s Center for Emerging Media will offer a stimulating and energizing atmosphere which will foster a fruitful exchange of ideas as well as foster collaborative work among attendees.