It's been a long day, but I am excited to return to narrowing down the search for a topic. I have been considering the merits of each of the topics and begun to rule out a couple.
Family genealogy: This is very specific research into my family's history. There is some compilation in spiral bound collections in the family, along with an assortment of photographs and old documents--unfortunately this is all back in Washington state and scattered among the many relatives on my mother's side of the family. Time for collection and analysis would exceed the time I have for this project. I have to rule this one out.
Preservation of historical artifacts: This one may actually have merit. I have a small collection of artifacts here in my apartment, and need to read up and learn some good practices for preserving, cataloging, and displaying them to avoid damage. There is a wealth of information by fellow collectors on the forums I have joined, which hopefully will be helpful in directing me toward articles and sources. I'll keep this one in mind.
Travel tips for the first-time traveler: This would be a fun one. I would be able to use guide books and my own experiences to draft a list of travel tips. This is a broad topic that may be heavily influenced by my own experience. I have a travel-oriented blog already; will this be a challenge? I will consider it.
Learning the basics of a foreign language: This could be fun also. I enjoy learning conversational basics--mostly for the aid of traveling. I would need to narrow down to a specific language, and then to the parts of speech that are important to know. I don't particularly enjoy these mechanics and find that what people need to know and want to know can vary by their learning style and the experience they are seeking. I think I am going to discard this one.
Veterans' stories/histories collection: This is a project I would really like to work on someday, and that's why it made the list. It would be a great project to work on with a Social Studies class with access to a VA hospital. I would enjoy working on methods to transcribe stories and experiences, pair them with background/parallel history, and present them electronically archived for research. This undertaking seems too large for this project and I do not have access to a group of students or veterans to begin.
Running health topics: I do not currently subscribe to magazines, running articles and forums online would provide a great deal of information. And how have I been able to stay healthy and run for 14 months straight? I could certainly weave a lot of my own practice and experiences into this topic. I think that I would be approaching a field of study much too broad and variable.
History through popular movies: I love this one. When I was in high school and college, teachers and professors would use films to help illustrate events. They would point out (or I noticed) anachronisms and inaccuracies. Which movies are best for depicting history as it happened? What artistic license was taken to make the movie profitable or interesting? I would need to narrow to a genre or specific time period, and then select movies from my own knowledge or recommended by others. This can be very tedious in order to gain 1-2 minutes of footage from several motion pictures for analysis. I think this one will need to wait.
American propaganda in wartime: This was a favorite topic of several of my peers and I while in college. A recent purchase of a few WWII-era
Life magazines at the local used book store and the time I've spent reading the ads and articles have led me to photograph many ads and share them electronically. I am not sure what question I would come up with on this topic, but I would like to share with others how the US created just as much propaganda to influence opinion as the Axis powers did. I think I will discard this topic, as I think I have selected one from the list at this point.
I have selected my topic:
preservation of historical artifacts. I am going to use my collection as the sample group for research. I feel that I am the steward of these artifacts and that it is my responsibility to preserve them for others to learn from and enjoy well into the future. I will look into best practices for different types of material, and prepare for my upcoming move by researching storage/transportation methods for optimal protection. Finally, I intend to research cataloging methods and ways to electronically archive and share this information. I am thinking at this point that I will produce a brochure, wiki, blog or website to document my research and provide this information to others.
