Human Computers at NASA
Reviewed by: Tuka Al-Sahlani
Review start: February 21, 2024
Review updated: April 2, 2024
Site Link: https://omeka.macalester.edu/humancomputerproject/
Archive Link: https://archive.ph/ZCTlj
Data Sources
- Digitized images (places, people, documents. maps)
- Videos (Interviews and movie trailer from YouTube)
- Timeline
- StoryMap
- Lesson plans
Processes
- Curated digitized artifacts from NASA, Library of Congress, project author
- Used artifacts and research to create TimeLine and StoryMap
- Used tags to index artifacts
- Applied metadata to digitized artifacts
Presentation
The project is classified as a website in the About page. It presents as a website with the landing page being the TimeLine. The Browse Items or the artifacts page is searchable. Including About and Browse Items, the other tabs are Timeline, Map, Resources, Videos, and Lesson Plan. The presentation is clean and the website is simple and easy to navigate.
Digital Tools Used
- Omeka
- StoryMapJS
Languages
- English
Review
The Human Computers of NASA memory project aims to tell the story and spotlight the lives of the African-American women mathematicians who worked at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. The stories of these women came to light in the popular consciousness in 2015 when Katherine Johnson, one of the lead mathematicians, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work and solidified in 2016 when the movie Hidden Figures told her story along with the stories of her colleagues. The project spanning from 2014 to 2016, based on the grants and funds awarded, is a collaboration between undergraduate students, faculty, librarians, and consultants. The collaborators and contributors are “ Professor Duchess Harris, Margot Lee Shetterly, and their research assistants Lucy Short and Ayaan Natala ‘18. The digital archive was created with the assistance of the Macalester College Library staff: Johan Oberg, Lizzie Hutchins, and Terri Fishel. Additional assistance was provided by Rebecca Wingo” (About).
This timely project provides the history of Langley, NASA documents, and biographies of the mathematicians to engage a wide range of audience from middle schoolers to adults interested to learn about the “buried stories of African American women with math and science degrees” (About). The site is easy to use with clear metadata and tabs to direct the users while they browse. Beyond telling the story, this project aims to assist K-12 teachers by including lesson plans and resources that these teachers may use in their classrooms. This addition to the archive is, unfortunately, either inaccessible due to broken links or the links direct to a different resource.
This is an important project that meets its goal to shed light on the stories of these African-American women mathematicians and scientists.It would be sad to lose this site or some of its features.Since this project was a collaboration with undergraduate students (as evident by the undergraduate funds and grants listed on the About page), one of the challenges it faces is its maintenance. This is evident in the broken links or inaccessible videos listed.
How does this project address information?
The information in this project is curated to spotlight the history surrounding the Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA and the stories of the women who made its success possible. The information is gathered by the lead researcher, Professor Duchess Harris, and from digitized artifacts found in other archives such as NASA and The Library of Congress.
How well does this project handle information?
The information in this project is presented clearly and does not overwhelm the user. The use of a timeline and story map help disperse the information in manageable and comprehensible chunks.