project credits
For right now, we'll use this space as a test and instructions area.
Some Ways that You Can Create Visual Appeal and Enhance Usability
Similar to any basic blogging platform, this editor area in Scalar lets you do some basic stuff with text editing. For example the headline above is in H4 (headline 4) which you can select from the menu above. (You may wish to break your profile into sections with headings). You can also change the color of text, italicize, bold, and highlight. (Use these features sparingly).I recommend using the block quote feature sparingly, also.Another cool thing you can do is block quote things that either 1) are actual block quotes from one of your sources; or 2) something you want to have stand out like this. To get a block quote, highlight the section you want blocked and select the quote marks button in the editor.
Sometimes things in the edit window might look a bit different in your browser once they're saved. For this reason, I recommend experimenting: try something, and then hit "save and preview" below to check out what it looks like.
One thing you'll be doing a lot in your profile is linking out to other sites. For example, if you refer to an exhibition by your artist, you'll want to link directly to the site for the exhibition by clicking the gray (right-hand) link button above, pasting in the link and selecting "open in a new window."
Remember that whenever possible, you should link out to your sources. You'll want to link the bibliographic citations for all of your online sources at the end of your profile like this one (and by the way: the Purdue Owl is your best online source for vetted, reliable MLA citation info):
The Purdue OWL Family of Sites. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue U, 2008, owl.english.purdue.edu/owl. Accessed 14 Nov. 2017.
(You can't indent with html, so don't worry about that). For print sources, you can also consider linking your Works Cited entry to a copy online like this, or like this.
In addition to in-text citations at in your text, consider linking the in-text citation and/or the source you reference. For example, let's say I'm quoting this essay on the "necropastoral" by Joyelle McSweeney. I might want to quote McSweeney's definition of the "necropastoral," which she defines as: "a political-aesthetic zone in which the fact of mankind’s depredations cannot be separated from an experience of 'nature"' which is poisoned, mutated, aberrant, spectacular, full of ill effects and affects" (McSweeney). Note that I've linked the quote to its source. If my works cited contains more than one work by McSweeney, my citation would look like this (McSweeney, "Necropastoral").
Inserting Media
Of course, images and other media will be important for your profile, too. We'll be going over how to import and place media in class. Some quick tips in the meantime:- have your media links ready to go, all in one place. Remember: you need to use the most legitimate available media--so for instance, a high-res image of a book cover on your artist's website is preferred to a random image of that same book cover elsewhere.
- to insert media (videos, sound clips, images) you must first import them into this book's media library (see the little arrow pointing into the box up top). We'll talk over how to do this in class. For now, know that it's easy to import videos from YouTube and Vimeo, and audio from SoundCloud.
Here's Some Example Media
Media imported from Scalar's partner archives is--handily--already tricked out with all the metadata it needs for proper attribution. As we'll discuss, you'll need to carefully label other media that you choose to import. Since everybody will share the same media library, it's important to not junk it up with stuff you don't actually plan to use: plan carefully. At left is an example of a podcast by the BBC on the Anthropocene that's been inserted "inline." Consider searching your artist on SoundCloud to find interviews with them or other relevant audio.You can also integrate media on its own line, as in this example video from You Tube. This video is set to appear large; it can be adjusted to appear smaller, which would make sense especially if we wanted to wrap text around it.
