0.2 Authoring connexions modules related to timea

Teachers, researchers, librarians can not only use resources in the Travelers in the Middle East Archive for classes and research projects, but also create their own educational modules in Connexions and contribute them to the Content Commons .

Just register with Connexions, learn how the system works , join the TIMEA community in Connexions , and get started writing. TIMEA has a growing collection of over 30 modules covering topicssuch as performing historical research and using Geographical Information System (GIS) resources, but there are many areas leftto explore. For instance, you could use TIMEA’s museum catalogs to explore the history of Egyptian museums and Egyptology, or examineTIMEA’s travel guides in a module analyzing Western attitudes towards the Middle East in the nineteenth and early twentiethcenturies. Likewise, you could draw on TIMEA’s rich images of Egypt in a course on the history of photography, or explore the genre oftravel literature through a module that references TIMEA’s many travel narratives.

All Connexions modules are encoded in CNXML , an XML -based markup language that allows information to be exchanged, presentedon different platforms, and output in different ways (such as online and in a PDF). There are several ways for you to produce aConnexions module:

1) You can write your module using Microsoft Word, then import it into Connexions. Some tweaking will be necessary, but this is probably the easiest methodfor novice writers.

2) You can use Connexions’ edit-in-place and full-source editors, which allow you to write your module online. (If you have an unstable Internet connection, this can berisky, but the edit-in-place feature is useful for making quick edits.)

3) You can use an external XML editor such as XMLSpy or Oxygen , then import the XML file into Connexions. This method will expose you to all ofthe XML tags that structure the document, but it also allows more control.

If you want to create a TIMEA module but are confused by the technical details, please contact us at timea@rice.edu . We’ll do our best to help.

Creating timea modules and courses

In order for your module or course to be considered a TIMEA resource, it should do the following:

• Address topics that relate in some way to TIMEA : For instance, your module could provide background to TIMEA materialson Egypt in the nineteenth century or examine how to conduct research in the humanities and social sciences. We hope thatauthors will use texts, images and maps from the TIMEA archive in their modules; see “Bringing TIMEA Content into Connexions” for instructions on how to do this.
• Include TIMEA Metadata: Include “TIMEA” and “Travelers in the Middle East Archive” as keywords in the metadata section of your module. You should also add keywords that describe the topics your module addresses, such as “Egyptian history” or“stereographs.” By providing metadata (or cataloging information), you make your module easier to discover and let readers quicklydetermine what the module addresses. You can use a controlled vocabulary such as Library of Congress authorities or your own terminology; if you do the latter, try to be consistent so that there is a not of proliferation ofclosely related terms.