Link 5 – Task 8: Golden Record Curation

Linked to Rebecca Hydamacka

Linked to

Task Review

I chose to link Rebecca’s Golden Record Curation assignment to my own because I immediately felt connected to hers. She spoke in painstaking detail about how much this task was necessary. The same emotions that I felt when I first read about the mission. I took it seriously as though it was my job as a researcher to find the most unbiased, logical method. Rebecca quickly saw through that impractical reasoning with this impactful statement,

“What does one include, and what does one exclude? Are we looking to represent all cultures? Or countries? No . . . not countries as they are often defined by arbitrary borders that change with conflict. Styles and genres of music? Rhythms? Voices? Instrumentation?”

Along that same line of thought,

“Back to the task, whose view do we go from? A Euro-Western perspective? Who’s history are we telling, and who’s, are we leaving out? Should the recordings be taken from a more contemporary stance of the recognition and inclusion of cultures?”

Review

Many of the points expressed made me reflect on my approach. Her delivery was introspective, insightful and relatable. She referred to the post as rambling; however, I would have to disagree with her sentiment wholeheartedly. I wish that my delivery could have been more personalized and less professional. Perhaps I took more of a role-playing approach due to the older nature of the project. Would I have had more emotional attachment if I had had to sort through songs from my childhood? Each of Rebecca’s reasonings was just as valid as any other student’s thoughts and feelings. This was a subjective task, and her strength in communication presented well through text. The only song that I chose to include that was not based on geography or any other strict criteria was Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.  Her description and my own were quite similar as we spoke about the song’s structure and appealing nature.  As someone comment on my page, does this song sound threatening?  Perhaps stronger notes and crescendos should be avoided?  This was something to consider, however in the following assignment, I am not sure our class considered that point of view as it was the one that was found on the most lists.

User Interface Differences

The blog itself is hosted on the UBC WordPress blogging platform. The template she chose was center-aligned with a top menu, which allowed for clear navigation through the course’s components. She included a section at the bottom of each post for comments. She maintained her presence by responding to any additions from our classmates.
Her cover photo was of water and the tip of a kayak. It reminded me of just seeing the tip of an iceberg and how there is much more below the surface of Rebecca Hydmacka. Her homepage is similar to my own UBC blog site. This is a scrolling, continuous feed of all of her contributions since the beginning of the course. This allows participants to easily see the progression of thoughts or utilize the top menu for quick searches for specific items. The colour scheme is calming, and the font is large to highlight the insightful musings of text and technologies. I recently had the opportunity to spend a week-long summer seminar with Rebecca, and it was refreshing to see how accurately her personality is replicated through her writing. She portrays herself clearly throughout various aspects of this activity and her entire blog.