For the past few months, WIDE and MATRIX researchers Liza Potts, Bill Hart-Davidson, and Rebecca Tegtmeyer have been working on an innovative approach to solving problems relating to the detection and treatment of food-borne illness. The team has developed a tool that uses social media bots to detect self-reported instances of food-borne illness made through common social media channels (i.e., tweets, Facebook status updates, etc.). This data is then compiled and arranged into a dashboard view that is shared with local health department officials. Based on the patterns they see in the data, these experts can then decide how best to respond to the outbreak.

This project was started due to the inefficiency of the current food-borne illness detection process. Presently, the only way health officials are alerted to outbreaks of food-borne illness is through hospitalization records. This means that an outbreak isn’t reported until an individual’s symptoms have become severe enough to require medical attention. The problem here is that by the time there are enough individual reports to warrant declaring an outbreak, it is too late to contain or do anything but allow it to run its course, leaving vulnerable populations at risk. Also, for every reported case of food-borne illness, and estimated twenty-eight cases go unreported, leaving health officials with either vague or dramatically underestimated data by which to determine the spread and danger of a food-borne illness outbreak.

Using social media as a way to monitor and mitigate food-borne illness helps solve some of these challenges. Each status update or tweet gives not only a rough description of the symptoms being experienced, but also links that data to a specific time and geographical location. If a certain pattern starts emerging (i.e., a lot of updates about “puking” centered around Albuquerque, New Mexico), the bots can then ask important follow-up questions that would normally be asked by a medical professional, such as: How long have you been experiencing these symptoms? What was the last thing you ate? Is anyone else in your family experiencing similar symptoms?

As this data is collected, health officials can monitor the data inputs and use their professional skills to determine a) whether or not the pattern constitutes a food-borne illness outbreak and b) the response procedures most appropriate to the situation. In this way, health officials have a larger, quicker, and more efficient way to detect and respond to food-borne illness.

While still in the developmental stages, the framework developed around this project is already being slated for future work in a number of projects related to the digital humanities. Because the core software and user interface can be used to find patterns in data, the foundation for this project could easily be customized to answer questions in other contexts. Slight modifications could, for example, allow users to track the sale of antiquities, the migration patterns of individuals or objects, and the existence and spread of human trafficking in Michigan.

MATRIX is excited about the current and future plans for the food-borne illness project. We see both the impact this project will have on health and human safety as well as the potential of this methodological and technical infrastructure as it applies to other projects and applications. To learn more about the food-borne illness project, we encourage you to contact Rebecca Tegtmeyer, Liza Potts, or Bill Hart-Davidson.

Episode 74 of Africa Past & Present was released on May 14.  Special guest is Prof. Abdi Samatar, Professor of Geography at the University of Minnesota and current President of the African Studies Association (ASA) in the United States. During his visit to MSU, Samatar gave the African Studies Center Annual ASA Presidential Lecture titled “The Politics of Piracy off the Somali Coast.”

In the podcast interview with Peter Limb and Peter Alegi, Samatar explores the social, political, and economic complexity of pirates in Somalia. He describes four different classes or types of pirates operating in Somalia and their impact on Somali culture and society.  Samatar also examines common misconceptions and misrepresentations about pirates in both the media and the academic literature. The interview ends with a reflection on “Africa’s First Democrats” and the future of Somalia.

In an article released by MSU Alumni Magazine, MATRIX was recognized for its role in building and maintaining Michigan State University’s long-standing connection with Africa. Michigan State University is internationally recognized for its ongoing partnership with African institutions to solve challenges and conduct research related to Africa and the African diaspora and MATRIX is proud to be a significant contributor to that partnership.

MATRIX’s work with the African Online Digital Library (http://www.aodl.org) demonstrates the Center’s commitment to the preservation of African cultural heritage and the continued collaborative relationships MATRIX has been able to develop with both MSU-based partners— such as the African Studies Center and the Department of History —and with international partners and independent scholars. MATRIX is currently home to more than 20 collections of Africa-based materials, such as digital images, oral history interviews, archival video footage, original podcasts, and more. This focus and commitment to African scholarship and cultural heritage preservation is both a strength of MATRIX and a passion for future development.

The MSU Alumni article also talked extensively about how the partnership between Michigan State University and African countries is often rooted on the idea of building capacity amongst African partners and institutions. MATRIX has recently modeled this type of relationship with the Goreé Island Archaeological Digital Repository. This project— aimed at creating online, virtual 3D animations of artifacts from the Goreé Island dig site —demonstrated a reciprocal relationship between MATRIX and Senegalese partner institutions. In exchange for the Senegalese students’ and scholars’ subject matter expertise, MATRIX trained the same students in basic 3D visualization techniques, benefiting both parties and resulting in a more robust and sustainable final repository.

MATRIX has been delighted to be a part of preserving and promoting African history and cultural heritage and is thankful to be part of an institution where this interdisciplinary and internationally collaborative work is recognized and rewarded. We are indebted to many, many project partners who have made our work possible. We have enjoyed collaborating with them and look forward to future partnerships and projects. To learn more about MATRIX projects that focus on Africa which were not mentioned earlier in this article, please feel free to browse our “Projects” page at http://www2.matrix.msu.edu/projects.

This Monday, April 8^th, marks the 2013 Day of Digital Humanities. For the next twenty-four hours, digital humanists from across the world will document their DH-related work and activity through tweets and blog posts. This data will then be shared in an open-sourced repository that is accessible to all scholars. The goal is to collect a representative data set that will a) help demonstrate the breadth and variety of the DH and b) make steps towards answering the age-old questions, “What are the digital humanities?” and, “What do digital humanists actually do?”

If you classify yourself as a digital humanist, we would encourage you to participate by either joining or following the conversation about the day of DH on the project site (http://dayofdh2013.matrix.msu.edu/activity/) or on Twitter at #dayofDH.

By David Wiley and Christine Root

The world is a poorer place with the loss in February of Phyllis Naidoo, a defender of humanity, a protector of people in the midst of apartheid oppression, and a loving and responsive humanist in a society of growing materialism and bourgeois consumption of the global West.

Phyllis lived a lifelong struggle against the apartheid system as a member of the African National Congress (ANC), the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK, Spear of the Nation) ANC underground, and the South African Communist Party. She was a prominent target of the apartheid regime that wanted to assassinate her for her passionate work.  Phyllis harbored escapees from the regime and helped them escape to Swaziland.  She was banned and therefore without a job while her husband was in Robben Island prison.  When the regime broke one of her cell members, she fled into exile to Lesotho where she cared for refugees and children and where she was riddled with shrapnel from an apartheid parcel bomb.  She then escaped to Zimbabwe, took care of hundreds of movement members in her home, and then learned that an apartheid agent in Zambia had assassinated her son.

Phyllis went to great effort to find employment for ex-Robben Island prisoners, even employing five of them as messengers at her law office—including Jacob Zuma, the current South African president.  Throughout the struggle, she fought fiercely and paid dearly for her commitment.

In recent years, Phyllis continued her care for persons by hosting many—rich and poor—and celebrating living and dead heroes of the liberation struggle in her books Footprints in Grey Street (2002), 156 Hands that built South Africa (2006), Footprints beyond Grey Street (2007), and Enduring Footprints (2009).

All the while, she lived in a small apartment on the exhaust-filled Umbilo Street in central Durban where she was a center for so many friends and for the needy of the neighborhood.

Phyllis Naidoo was a great defender of liberty, a guardian of the soldiers of the resistance, a hero for so many, a political warrior, and, most of all, an immensely principled but compassionate human being.  To the end, she knew the cause of justice and humanity for which she cared for so many people and for which she gave all of her life and treasure.

Hamba kahle (go well), Phyllis.

See a number of documents, photos, and a video interview with Phyllis Naidoo on www.overcomingapartheid.msu.edu – and read her history at: http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/phyllis-naidoo

The newest episode of the GradHacker podcast, hosted by Alex Galarza, is now available online at podcast.gradhacker.org. The episode begins with conversations between Alex Galarza, Andrea Zellner, and Ben Sawyer as they discuss issues common to the graduate community, such as: common defense errors and preparation processes; responding to aggressive students who protest grades; and graduate school “imposter syndrome.”

The second half of the interview contains discussions between Jason Heppler, Miriam Posner, and Tim Carmody. The conversation begins with a conversation about #altac, or alternative academic careers, and what the #altac community looks like. The participants also discussed new methodologies for training graduate students and how those new training programs should be implemented.

MATRIX is pleased to continue to support the work of GradHacker and its commitment to discussing themes and concerns within the graduate school community. We encourage you to browse through this most recent podcast as well as the thriving GradHacker blog.

Here at MATRIX we are delighted to have Rebecca Tegtmeyer join us as our newly appointed (and newly named) Director of Visual Design Projects. Tegtmeyer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design and specializes in projects involving graphic design, information design, and infographic visualization (see portfolio here). She recently worked with MATRIX associates Bill Hart-Davidson and Liza Potts to create the above-pictured poster for their food-borne illness project.

Rebecca Tegtmeyer graduated from the University of Kansas with a BFA (emphasis in Visual Communications) and from North Carolina State University’s College of Design with a master’s in Graphic Design. In addition to her teaching role at Michigan State University, Rebecca is also an active member of the AIGA and has served as the Education Director for the Detroit Chapter of the AIGA over the past two years. As a tenure-system professor, Rebecca continues to do work influenced by her graduate thesis, Spatial Mapping and Navigation: Physical and Online Environments, which analyzes the interactions between online and physical environments and the use of technology in our experiences of both.

Tegtmeyer brings to MATRIX the unique skill set of being able to convey large amounts of technical information while, at the same time, incorporating a visually arresting design. Her abilities are most welcome here at MATRIX and we are excited to continue partnering with her on future projects.

MATRIX is pleased to announce that Anthea Josias will be joining us as a post-doctoral scholar / researcher. She will be splitting her time between MATRIX and the MSU Department of History where she will work to support the production of online history courses, assist the development of  a public history component within the Department of History and— more broadly —think of ways that technology can be incorporated into history pedagogy.

Anthea comes from a scholarly and professional background that suits her particularly well to face these challenges. She recently received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan School of Information where her dissertation focused on how collective memories are produced and transmitted into the public realm in post-apartheid South Africa, and how these processes contribute to ways of thinking about and practicing archives. She is particularly interested in the dynamic relationships between 1. the people whose memories are being recorded; 2. sources of memory in the form of documentary evidence or first-person accounts; 3. producers or mediators of memory; and 4. the receiving public— along with the implications of these multi-dimensional relationships for archives. During her Ph.D. studies, Anthea was also a graduate instructor for classes in Archival Appraisal, Digital Government, and Practical Engagement in Digital Preservation. Her other scholarly interests are in archives, information and cultural heritage policy, and in how digital technologies can support participatory modes of memory making and archives. She received her undergraduate and masters degrees in Library and Information Science from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa.

Anthea has spent a significant portion of her career in the archives and cultural heritage sector in South Africa. She has served as a Senior Project Officer for the Nelson Mandela Foundation where she contributed to setting up the foundation’s Center of Memory and Commemoration project. She has also worked as Head of Collections Management and Archives at the Robben Island Museum and the Mayibuye Centre for History and Culture in South Africa. Anthea’s relationship with Matrix and the MSU History Department began during her work in South Africa, through her participation in a series of collaborative programs that included an African Internet Connectivity Workshop held at MATRIX in 1999. In addition to MATRIX, the Department of History’s depth of experience in working with African partners in African history and culture was compelling to Anthea and will form the foundation of her work here at Michigan State University.

MATRIX is excited to partner with Anthea and leverage her talents here at Michigan State. We encourage you to browse Anthea’s CV or contact her with more questions about her work. Welcome to the team, Anthea!

The Library of Congress through The Signal: Digital Preservation blog recently posted an article about Doug Boyd, director of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries. In the post, Boyd talks about using digital technology to collect, curate, distribute, and preserve oral histories.

Boyd recently partnered with MATRIX on the Oral History in the Digital Age (OHDA) project, hosted by MATRIX and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The site connects users to the latest information on digital technologies pertaining to all phases of the oral history process, including information copyright, ethical issues, microphone selection, lighting set-up, and more. To learn more about the intersection of digital technology and oral history, check out the LOC article and explore the OHDA site.

The Lansing State Journal recently posted an article entitled MSU, the CIA— and Vietnam. This article contains portions of interviews with the primary investigators for the MSU Group Vietnam Project Archive, a digital preservation and access collaboration between the University Archives & Historical Collections at MSU and MATRIX. This project, which has received significant NEH funding, seeks to digitize and make available online a number of primary source documents, photographs, and maps which detail a Michigan State University nation-building program in South Vietnam from 1955-1962. MSU worked with the American government in South Vietnam for the purpose of producing a stable, non-Communist country in the Cold War era. Although their efforts eventually failed, the MSU Vietnam Group Archive project contains rare and valuable data about life in South Vietnam immediately prior to the Vietnam War. MATRIX is working with the University Archives & Historical Collections to digitize and archive these primary source materials and their accompanying metadata using KORA, an open-sourced, browser-based digital repository developed by MATRIX. To learn more about the project, browse this description of the archives or an older blogpost by MATRIX which introduces the project.