About this project

This project highlights how open-source digital tools can transform the way we research, learn, and share history. It provides a collaborative platform where students and faculty work together to explore and publish research on the history of the UNM campus and create a sense of shared space and community. Instead of Word docs that get discarded after the course ends, students do coursework that resonates outside the classroom.

Our approach shows that course projects can be public, collaborative, and sustainable. The platform not only showcases student research but also serves as a model for how open-source values and digital humanities tools can expand access to knowledge and strengthen academic communities.

Digital Literacy + Agency

Building a website collaboratively—even just with pseudocode to format digital essays—teaches valuable digital literacy skills. Planning site structure, thinking through data organization, and drafting how content will flow introduces students to the logic behind digital platforms. This shifts participants from being passive consumers of digital content to active creators, helping them understand not just what digital tools do, but how they work and why certain design or technical decisions matter.

Through open-source workflows, students gain hands-on experience with version control, collaboration, and scholarly publishing, learning how to share their work in ways that invite peer-review, feedback, reuse, and continued growth. Our approach shows that scholarship can be public, collaborative, and sustainable. The platform not only showcases student research but also serves as a model for how open-source values and digital humanities tools can expand access to knowledge and strengthen academic communities.

Web Technology

At it’s core, this site uses GitHub Pages, a free and straightforward platform that allows you to create and publish websites directly from files in a GitHub “repository”—just a fancy name for a shared online folder for your project.

For course projects, it can serve as a low-barrier entry point to digital project publishing without needing to manage servers, install complex software, or pay for hosting.

Why It’s Useful for DH Projects

• Free & Sustainable: Your project can live online at no cost, which is great for grant-funded or short-term research projects.
• Version Control: GitHub automatically tracks changes, so collaborators can experiment without fear of losing work or overwriting each other.
• Easy to Share: Publish essays, images, data visualizations, syllabi, or exhibits. The results are accessible on the web with just a URL.
• Collaborative: Multiple people can work on the same project, review changes, and keep a clear record of contributions—great for student involvement or interdisciplinary teams.
• Minimal Coding Required: Many templates already exist, so you can start with something that looks professional and adapt it gradually as comfort grows.

Why It’s Less Intimidating Than It Sounds

You don’t need to be a programmer. If you know how to work with folders of files on your computer, you already understand the basic idea. GitHub provides a simple web interface and visual editors, so most of your work feels like uploading and editing documents—not coding. And once set up, updates are as easy as adding a file or editing text.