Helpful Articles

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Tutorial: Exhibit Project and Process Series

by Madrone Athenaeum Webster March 31, 2021 No Comments

Taught by Dame Cristiana de Huntington

Dates & Times:

Wednesday, April 7, 2021 7PM (PST)

Wednesday, April 21, 2021 7PM (PST)

Wednesday, May 12, 2021 7PM (PST)

Wednesday, May 26, 2021 7PM (PST)

Tutorial Description

This is an ongoing series for some project definition and approach ideas from Dame Cristiana, former Kingdom Minister of Arts and Sciences.

Zoom link will be provided the evening of the event in the Artist’s Facebook Group. If you aren’t a member of that group yet, please contact us so we can fix that.

The links to each recording will be available here afterwards.

Previously Recorded Tutorial Sessions

Video Tutorial 04/21/2021: Building Your Exhibit – Week 2

Video Tutorial 04/07/2021: Building Your Exhibit – Week 1

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Participant: View your Personal Calendar

by Viscountess Kerij-e June 25, 2021 No Comments

After logging in, Participants (non-exhibitors) can view a personal schedule. If you are an Exhibitor, use the Bookly App on the Athenaeum site to view your calendar. Go here for instructions.

  1. On the Athenaeum site, under “Event Schedule”, click “Personal Schedule.”
  2. Log in, if needed.

or follow this link:
https://athenaeum.baronyofmadrone.net/personal-schedule/

3. The schedule displays the details and status of your appointments. On the day of the appointment, a Zoom link or phone number will be added to the calendar.

4. To cancel an appointment, click “Cancel”. The exhibitor will be notified by email.
TIP: Exhibitors – To cancel or reject appointments, go to Bookley.

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Exhibitor: View your Calendar

by Viscountess Kerij-e June 25, 2021 No Comments

Exhibitors use Bookly App on the Athenaeum site to view your calendar. If you are a participant, follow this link for instructions to view your schedule.

Exhibitors – To view your calendar in Bookly, please follow these steps:

  1. Click on the link in the email or go to the Exhibitor Dashboard.
  2. Log in, if needed.
  3. Click on the Menu item on the left side that says “Bookly” (it has an orange square icon and a popup menu will come up with two options: “Calendar” and “Profile”).
  4. Click “Calendar” under “Bookly”. You should see your calendar.
  5. Make sure the date range is June 21 – 27, 2021. On the right, click “List.”

Exhibitors – To cancel 1:1 conference, please follow these steps:
Note: Do not delete the appointment.

  1. On a appointment, tap the green edit button.

2. to the left of the red trashcan, is the status icon. It changes depending on the current status.
TIP: To change the status, click on the icon and select the new status. Do not delete cancelled or rejected appointments.

3. Make sure that the “Send Notifications” checkbox is selected, and then click “Save.”

4. Confirm that email is sent to the participant and then click “Send”.

Participants – To View Your Personal Schedule with Zoom Links

After logging in, Exhibitors and Participants (non-exhibitors) can view a personal schedule. Exhibitors go to Bookly to view your calendar (Don’t forget to select the correct date range.)

  1. On the Athenaeum site, under “Event Schedule”, click “Personal Schedule.”
  2. Log in, if needed.

or follow this link:
https://athenaeum.baronyofmadrone.net/personal-schedule/

3. The schedule displays the details and status of your appointments. On the day of the appointment, a Zoom link or phone number will be added to the calendar.

4. To cancel an appointment, click “Cancel”. The exhibitor will be notified by email.
TIP: Exhibitors – To cancel or reject appointments, go to Bookley.

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Athenaeum Zoom Experience

by Madrone Webster June 21, 2021 No Comments

Be sure to check for updates and update Zoom on your computer or device shortly before the June 26-27 event, so that features being used at this event will be accessible to you.

The live event Athenaeum on June 26 & 27 will have these activities via Zoom:

or go directly to Tips for an Event on Zoom

General Information

All Zoom links will be accessible on the Event Schedule page on Saturday morning. Zoom conferences will have breakout rooms. You will see a button to click to get to breakout rooms; click the name of the room to be routed to that room. Be patient, it takes a few seconds and a blink of the screen for Zoom to shift a user into a breakout room. Use “Leave Breakout Room” to exit and return to the “lobby” where you’ll find the Administrator for that Zoom. Use “Leave” to exit a Zoom conference. Use “Contact Host” if you need to communicate with the Zoom Manager running the overall Zoom conference.

No conferences, presentations, or Salons will be recorded.

One-on-One Conference with an Exhibitor

Participants register on the Athenaeum website so they can use the Scheduling tool to schedule a 1:1 conference with an Exhibitor to talk with that person about their subject. A Participant in a scheduled 1:1 meeting will find the link to their Zoom conference on their Personal Schedule page (must be logged in). Exhibitors will find the link to their 1:1 meetings in their Bookly calendar (must be logged in).

Exhibitors should think ahead about being prepared with notes, books, objects, and links to references. See Tips below for further suggestions for setup. Exhibitors will be able to share screen if they wish to use that capability to show other websites, or images on their computer. If sharing video or a sound clip, select the “computer sound” option.

The 1:1 time is up to 45 minutes. Expect to see a five-minute warning at 40 minutes. Generally, there will not be a moderator.

Exhibitor Presentations

Remember what it was like to attend the live, in-person Athenaeum event? Each Exhibitor prepared their table with the materials they wanted to display. Attendees walked among the tables and stopped to talk with Exhibitors. Our “Exhibitor Presentations” are intended to emulate that experience. At their assigned time slot, an Exhibitor will enter Presentation Room 1 or Presentation Room 2 on Zoom using the link in the Event Schedule page. Exhibitors should think ahead about being prepared with notes, books, objects, and links to references.

All Athenaeum attendees can check the schedule to see when an Exhibitor they’d love to talk to is in a Presentation room. Attendees use the Exhibitor Presentations Zoom link to enter the Zoom, then Attendees can navigate to Presentation Room 1 or Presentation Room 2 using the breakout room list. An Exhibitor may have multiple people in their presentation room at the same time. A moderator will be present.

Exhibitor Presentation Rooms will be open for 45 minutes for each Exhibitor per the schedule. Not every Exhibitor chose to have an Exhibitor Presentation timeslot.

Salons

Athenaeum Salons are Zoom sessions with a focus of discussion is various cultural and artistic themes. These sessions are not presentations by Exhibitors, they are general discussion groups where anyone interested in the subject can talk with others who have joined the Salon. There will be a moderator in each room.

Access Salons with the “Salons” Zoom link, and then check the list of breakout rooms for the room assigned to the salon you’re interested in. Click the name to take your Zoom connection to that breakout room.

Social Room

There will be a Social room Zoom open during event hours 9:30 am to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday (start the day with Breakfast the the Baroness at 9:30). Click the link in the schedule and join a Zoom conference where you can hang out and talk about all the things. No specific subject. A moderator will be present.

Tips for an Event on Zoom

What to wear: Wear your garb! Be comfortable.

Camera placement: If you’re joining Zoom on a desktop computer, place your webcam at eye level or just above, if possible, and straight in front of you. If you’re using a laptop or tablet, prop your device on a stack of books or a tall stool so the camera can be near eye height, if possible.

Webcam sound: If you haven’t had a Zoom conference before, have a test session with a friend so you can be sure the microphone on your device works with your Zoom conference connection. You can also test your audio connection and view of background using a Test Meeting available on the Zoom website: here’s a YouTube video with instructions.

Location and background: Pick a room or space to settle in for your Zoom sessions. You can “dress the set” of your background with a banner or other display items, or investigate if your computer has enough processing power to use “backgrounds” on your Zoom connection – it’s in the menu down-arrow next to the video icon when you are in an active Zoom. Try to be in a space where interruptions and sounds of pets can be minimized. Notify people in your domicile of the times of your activities.

Change to your SCA name in the Zoom window: Here’s a YouTube video, go to 2:00 minutes for instructions. You can also change your name in the Zoom window right after you join your first Athenaeum Zoom session; click three dots in the upper right or, for the mobile app it’s in the bottom right corner of your own Zoom window, and click Rename.

Using Chat: Chat is a good way to share links to websites during a discussion, or clarify what’s being talked about. While in a Zoom session, click the icon labelled “Chat” at the bottom of the screen to open a Chat pane in addition to the Zoom window. Remember that if you do not choose a specific person who is also in the Zoom room, everyone in the Zoom room will see what you type. Don’t treat Chat as a private thread, please.

Setting an SCA-appropriate profile image: When you elect to turn off your video during a Zoom session by clicking the Video icon, you’d like an image of you, or about you, to show in the Zoom window. Here’s an article with instructions on how to change your profile image: https://allthings.how/how-to-change-your-profile-picture-on-zoom/ The image you select does not have to be a “headshot” – it could be your device, or your cat. We encourage you select an SCA-appropriate image. If you don’t upload a profile image, your Zoom window will show your name on a black background when you turn off video.

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Request a One-on-One Conference with an Exhibitor

by Viscountess Kerij-e June 15, 2021 No Comments

On June 26 and 27, 2021, Athenaeum is hosting 1:1 Zoom meetings with exhibitors. Scheduling opened June 12 and will close on FRIDAY, June 25th at 9 a.m. PDT.

To sign up for a one-on-one conference, follow these steps.

1. Register as a participant.

Athenaeum site: Participant Registration.

Please use your SCA name and a valid e-mail. After your registration is approved, you will receive an email notification.

  1. Log in to the Athenaeum site and review the Exhibits.
  2. At the bottom of the exhibit, use the “Request a one-on-one Conference” form to select the date and time for the appointment.
  3. When your request is processed, an email will be sent to you.
  4. You can view your requests and the status of your “Personal Schedule” when you are logged in on the Athenaeum site. The link is directly under “Event Schedule”.
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Set Up Exhibitor Availability in the Online Booking System

by Madrone Athenaeum Webster June 9, 2021 2 Comments

To set up your personal availability, please follow these steps:

  1. Log into the Exhibitor Dashboard.
  2. Click on the Menu item on the left side that says “Bookly” (it has an orange square icon and a popup menu will come up with two options: “Calendar” and “Profile”).
  3. Click on “Profile” under “Bookly”. You should see your name, email address, username, user category and an “Edit” button.

4. Click on the “Edit” button. You’ll see the following popup window with tabs that say “Details”, “Advanced”, “Services”, “Schedule”, and “Days Off”. You’ll start on the “Details” tab.

Make sure your Full name is your SCA Name, that your email address is correct, and that your phone number is correct if you are willing to accept phone conferences (the default is Zoom conferences).

Your Visibility should be set to “Public” or no one will see the booking form at the bottom of your exhibit.

Your category should be set to Exhibitor.

Most likely all of these things will be correct when you view this information for the first time. YOU DO NOT NEED TO UPLOAD A PHOTO. I uploaded one to test it out but it will not be displayed.

5. Click on “Advanced” to go to the Advanced tab. You don’t have to hit “Save” yet.

The only thing you might need to change here is your Timezone if you live outside the Pacific Timezone. Pacific is the Default.

6. Click on “Services” to go to the Services tab. You don’t have to hit “Save” yet.

If you’d like to accept Phone Conferences, please check the box. Otherwise, make sure the Online Zoom Conference box is checked and that the price is set to 0.00. This way, price won’t be shown on the booking form.

7. Click on “Schedule” to go to the Schedule tab. You don’t have to hit “Save” yet.

Use the dropdown/select menus to choose “OFF” for Monday through Friday.

One on one conferences will be available from 10:00am to 4:00pm Pacific Time. Set Saturday and Sunday to 10:00am to 4:00pm for the default availability. If you want to change the times you’re available one or both days, please do so.

PLEASE GIVE YOURSELF AT LEAST ONE BREAK! To add a break time, click the “add break” link and a popup will open. Choose the times you’d like to set yourself unavailable and click the “Save” button inside that new popup. You’ll see your break time appear next to the day’s schedule.

Note: If you book a one-on-one appointment to speak to another Exhibitor, you will need to add a break for yourself during that time. Bookly isn’t smart enough to block out both of your calendars.

8. Finally you can click that “Save” button in the lower right hand corner of the window to save all your changes. You do not need to change anything on the “Days Off” tab.

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If You Want to Use Video in Your Exhibit

by Madrone Webster May 15, 2021 No Comments

Whether or not you’re an experienced videographer, you may decide to make a video showing your process or progress. Shooting video takes practice but it can add a lot – especially if your exhibit is a demonstration or focuses on performance art.

A smartphone or camera mounted on a tripod and pointed at what you want to record, with enough light to show what is happening, might be all you need to shoot video.

Placing Video in Your Exhibit

When you have a completed, rendered video file that you want people to be able to click on and watch in your exhibit, first you need to upload the video to a website that will host the video, where the video will play when someone clicks on the thumbnail in your Exhibit. YouTube is the most common platform to use. Vimeo is another platform suitable for hosting video of original performances.

The Athenaeum website cannot host video files, so video files should not be uploaded to the Media area.

If you don’t have a YouTube channel or Vimeo account, please go to one of those websites and follow the instructions to establish a channel, and upload your video.

“Embed” the video in your exhibit using the url of the video.

The Athenaeum Tech Team has access to a YouTube channel where video can be hosted, for those exhibitors who want to show video but are unable to manage a channel.

Please feel free to add links to helpful resources in the comments on this post.

Video Tips

The video camera and the sound pickup on your smartphone is fine for shooting video of your project. You can start by checking out this video for some advice: How to Record Art Videos with Your Phone. Feel free to search for other advice videos or articles.

The camera and microphone on your laptop, a DLSR camera, video camera or GoPro on a tripod or a gorilla pod, is another way to record video. You may need to add a microphone. Here’s a video with some advice: How I film my videos. Feel free to search for other advice videos or articles.

Editing Your Video Footage

Look up how to transfer a video file from your phone or camera to your computer.

Perhaps you shot video of your project or performance that is exactly what you wanted, starts where you wanted it to, and ends neatly. (This might happen if you have a camera operator while you perform or demonstrate.) Most of the time, when we shoot video, segments need to be stitched together to show a logical progression, or some of the video of a process is great and there are parts that need to be omitted: walking into the frame after turning the camera on, the dog starts barking in the background, or there’s a lengthy bit of process that you want to shorten. You will likely need to edit video.

Video editing takes practice. If you have never used video editing software before, expect that you will have a learning curve. Shoot some practice video and start learning basic processes like clipping and rendering. Start now; exhibit publish date is approaching! Alternatively, reach out to a friend who has done video editing and ask for help.

Check for video editing software that came loaded on your computer: for Mac it’s iMovie, and some Windows computers come with a basic video editing program. Some other video editing software that you may see recommended in advice videos or articles and that are available for download are: Adobe Premiere ($$), DaVinci Resolve (free version and $$ version), and OpenShot (free). We cannot make a recommendation; everyone has different needs and computer specifications.

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Zoom 101

by Madrone Webster May 11, 2021 No Comments

Video Tutorials Taught by Viscountess Ynesen Ongge Xong Kerij-e

Be sure to check for updates and update Zoom on your computer shortly before the June 26-27 event, so that features being used in Salons and 1:1 meetings will be accessible to you.

Practice using Zoom videoconferencing software! We recorded Zoom Tutorials in 2020. To view the tutorials from last year, please click the links below. There is a final screen with other trainings that were in 2020.

This tutorial covers where the controls are and what they do including how to change the name people see on your video, how to change your background, muting/unmuting, chat, sharing your screen, and going into breakout rooms.

Videoconferencing etiquette, how to connect with other devices are also discussed. Viscountess Kerij-e also shares some curated online resources for more Zoom tutorials.

Recorded Tutorials

Video Tutorial 07/02/2020: Zoom 101 (1)

Video Tutorial 07/05/2020: Zoom 101 (2)

Image of Wells Cathedral with trees and grey sky
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How to Edit and Manage Images

by Gera Gangolffin May 2, 2021 No Comments

Taking digital images, editing them, and using them in your exhibit is an easy-to-learn skill. Tools, support articles, and help from the Athenaeum tech team abound!

Let’s start with the important information. Scroll down for more on understanding image size and file type.

Athenaeum Site Standards

Profile Image

250px x 250px head shot

Your profile image should be a 250×250 px head shot. If you are uncomfortable putting a photo of yourself on this site, consider using your device or an image that shows something about your art or craft. Remember it will be small when viewed. You can consult with Athenaeum tech team staff for alternative profile image ideas.

Featured Image

1300px wide x 300px tall horizontal format

Your featured image, a horizontal, banner format image, will show in the “exhibit catalog”, which is the directory of exhibits. You can see this catalog if you navigate to Exhibits>Past Exhibits. The image also appears as a representative banner at the top of your exhibit page when a viewer opens it.

This image needs to be 1300 wide x 300 px tall, with a possible 350 pixels if necessary. Why no more than 350 pixels tall? Because we want both your chosen featured image AND the title of your exhibit to show in the browser page when the exhibit is first opened. Please crop, resize, or edit an image into that format. If you don’t have an image suited to a banner format, consider a creative layout, or contact Athenaeum technical staff for help. If you happen to insert a featured image that is beyond requested size, Athenaeum technical staff will make changes to align with the guidance.

Page Images

Maximum 1200px in any one dimension, maximum file size 2 Mb.

Presenting your exhibit online using a WordPress template should incorporate lots of images to break up your text. LOTS of photos! Even so, please consider this guidance on image size to keep page load time reasonable, and our storage requirements manageable. Also, please remove any unused or duplicate images from your media folder.

Image Naming

In order for us to easily manage images across the site, please rename your image files using this convention: <Year>_<Your Name> <Image Title>.

For example, my picture on the Athenaeum page is titled: 2020_MacEveny_staffphoto.jpg.

Image Compression

We’ve all seen web sites which take forever to load. Often this is due to the use of oversized images or a slow connection. Compression of the image can reduce the size of your image files, while not sacrificing apparent image quality. Many photo editors have tools inside of the program to compress and preview your images. Often you can compress an image to half the original size or better without noticing any image degradation. You may find it best to save your original file, then compress a copy and compare the image to the original to determine if image quality is still acceptable. Continue to do this until you find one which is not acceptable, and then go back to the last acceptable version. Remember to compress copies of the original image, as compressing an image which is already compressed can give you distorted results.

Alt-text

Also called “alt tags” and “alt descriptions,” alt text is the written copy that appears in place of an image on a webpage if the image fails to load on a user’s screen. This text helps screen-reading tools describe images to visually impaired readers and allows search engines to better crawl and rank your website. Accessibility matters; please use this capability for each image! WordPress gives you a text block to easily enter alt-text content.

Basic concepts

Pixels vs Inches

Digital images consist of thousands of tiny individual squares, called pixels. When discussing image size for website photos, ultimately all that matters is the number of pixels contained in the file. Do not pay attention to the PPI/pixels-per-inch count, nor the inch/cm measurement from your image editing software. 

We want to keep image resolution (as measured in pixels) reasonable, and file size in Kbytes or Mbytes small, for optimum page load time and storage management.

File Size

Your file size is measured in kilobytes or megabytes. While dimensions of your image or one factor contributing to file size, other factors include level of detail, compression, and file type.

A late model phone cam takes 12 megapixel photos. That is 4000 x 3000 pixels, which is a large file with an incredible amount of detail. By comparison, my MacBook Pro screen is 2560 x 1600 pixels, and my phone screen is considerably smaller.

We suggest that for website photo purposes a maximum 1200 pixels in any dimension is a good maximum size, and our file size upload maximum for the site is 2 Mb.

Actual file size is also determined by the file type and the level of compression. Most cameras default to a JPEG format, which also compresses your image and loses some data and quality in the process. PNG files are the other commonly used format, and they do not compress and instead create fairly large files. Here is a comparison using the same image in different dimensions/formats:

Image DimensionsImage format & qualityImage size in Kb
3024×4032PNG/best18,200 Kb (18.2 Mb)
3024×4032JPG/best3,800 Kb (3.8 Mb)
3024×4032JPG/med2,100 Kb (2.1 Mb)
800×1200 pxPNG/best2,000 Kb (2 Mb)
800×1200 pxJPG/best1,300 Kb (1.3 Mb)
800×1200 pxJPG/med215 Kb

File Type

In general, we would recommend a JPEG format for your web images. That has been the standard format for web images for quite a while now. Other formats are available for specific needs. A image format decision tree I’ve shamelessly swiped from this web site, Best image sizes for websites in 2021: tools, speed testing & FAQ (foregroundweb.com), is below:

Cropping vs Resizing

When you are editing your image, you have two options to reduce image size.

Cropping: If there’s a particular part of the image that’s important, vs extraneous image detail you can trim, cropping is your best bet. You select a rectangular subset of the photo, and by cropping, you remove everything else. Most artisans use cropping a lot to focus in on their subject matter!

Resizing: If your image works well to illustrate your subject as a whole, but it’s just too large, you can resize it smaller. There’s generally a “constrain proportions” box that keeps everything to scale when you do resize.

Cropped to 1200x900pxResized to 1200x900px

Still vs Video

Most digital cameras and phone cameras can take both still photos and video. We encourage that you use both! Still photos can be uploaded to your media library on the Athenaeum site. We would prefer that you upload any video content to YouTube and embed the video in your exhibit page. If you do not have a personal YouTube account, we can work with you to upload it to our branch account.

Releases and Waivers

See our release form article for more information:

Release Forms vs Citations

SCA release form FAQ and forms (these are the same as the forms we’re providing on the Athenaeum site):

https://www.sca.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ReleaseFormsFAQsWEB.pdf

https://www.sca.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ReleasePhotographerFillable.pdf

https://www.sca.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ReleaseModelFillable.pdf

Please rename your releases as you save them using the “fillable” form. For example, 2021_MacEveny_Creative.pdf. Waivers and releases should be uploaded through the Upload Tool at the bottom of the Exhibitor Release page, or emailed to our Exhibitor Wavers and Releases Mandalorian, The Honorable Aurora Rose Prindel, at athenaeum@baronyofmadrone.net.

Photo Tips

Digital Photography

https://www.volusion.com/blog/how-to-create-high-quality-product-photos-with-your-smartphone/

https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2019/02/26/product-photography

Photo Editing

https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/how-to-edit-your-website-photos/

https://www.elated.com/make-awesome-looking-images-for-website/

Editing Tools, Apps and Sites

https://www.techradar.com/best/free-photo-editor

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-free-photo-editing-software/

https://www.goodfirms.co/blog/best-free-open-source-photo-editing-software

https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-photo-editing-software

Image of Wells Cathedral with trees and grey sky
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Tutorial: Editing Images for the Web

by Gera Gangolffin April 26, 2021 No Comments

Taught by Meisterin Gera Gangolffin

Dates & Times:

Wednesday, May 28, 2021 7PM (PST)

Tutorial Description

We’ll discuss editing and managing images for your exhibit.

Specific subjects:
* digital photo basics
* Athenaeum image standards and recommendations
* image editing tools and demos
* image Q&A

How-to reference page is here:
https://athenaeum.baronyofmadrone.net/uncategorized/how-to-edit-and-manage-images/

Video recording of this class is located here:

Previously Recorded Tutorial Sessions

Video Tutorial 06/25/2020: Exhibit Pages and How to Create Them (1)

Video Tutorial 06/28/2020: Exhibit Pages and How to Create Them (2)

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Tutorial: Writing for the Web v.2: Research Paper Transformation

by Madrone Athenaeum Webster April 25, 2021 No Comments

Taught by The Honorable Lady Alicia du Bois

Dates & Times:

Tuesday, May 18, 2021 7PM (PST)

Tutorial Description

There are several differences between writing content for a web page and writing content for something like a research paper or piece of documentation to accompany an Arts & Sciences project.

This tutorial focuses on transforming the structure, voice, and content of a research paper to an online audience. We will cover things like audience selection, user reading behavior, and how to capture your audience’s attention throughout your post.

Alicia du Bois may appear as though she is from the late 14th century, but she has another identity as a modern Web Technology professional. With over 20 years in the field, she has seen a lot of good, bad, and ugly writing on the web and is always trying to improve her own writing.

The link to the recording will be available here after the class is complete.

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Tutorial: Writing for the Web v.1 Writing from Scratch

by Madrone Athenaeum Webster April 25, 2021 No Comments

Taught by The Honorable Lady Alicia du Bois

Dates & Times:

Sunday, March 14, 2021 7PM (PST)

Tutorial Description

There are several differences between writing content for a web page and writing content for something like a research paper or piece of documentation to accompany an Arts & Sciences project.

This tutorial focuses on the planning, organization, and writing style considerations you should understand before writing a web post. Then we talk about the editing process so you can be sure you are publishing quality content your readers will actually read!

Alicia du Bois may appear as though she is from the late 14th century, but she has another identity as a modern Web Technology professional. With over 20 years in the field, she has seen a lot of good, bad, and ugly writing on the web and is always trying to improve her own writing.

Previously Recorded Tutorial Sessions

Video Tutorial 03/14/2021: Writing for the Web v.1 Writing from Scratch

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Tutorial: WordPress Basics

by Madrone Athenaeum Webster April 24, 2021 No Comments

Taught by The Honorable Lady Alicia du Bois

Dates & Times:

Saturday, March 13, 2021 7PM (PST)

Tutorial Description

This tutorial introduces you to WordPress as someone who might create posts or pages (content). It covers the following topics:

  • What is WordPress?
  • What can you do with WordPress?
  • Creating a post
  • Creating a page

Previously Recorded Tutorial Sessions

Video Tutorial 03/13/2021: WordPress Basics

Reference Library

How to Participate in Virtual Athenaeum in 2021

by Madrone Athenaeum Webster March 15, 2021 No Comments

Virtual Athenaeum is the second web-based and virtual presentation of An Tir’s popular non-competitive Arts and Sciences exhibition, following on the success of the web-based and virtual Road to Athenaeum held July 18, AS LV (2020).

For those not familiar with the in-person Athenaeum event, see what a day at Athenaeum 2019 was like in this video tour.

The second virtual Athenaeum event takes place June 26 and 27, 2021 via Zoom with Exhibitor one-on-ones, salons, and social rooms. This year, our online event provides the opportunity to showcase the work of An Tir’s artists, artisans, and Laurels to creative minds not just in our local area, but around the world.

We would be overjoyed to have you participate.

Ways to Participate

There are three main ways to participate:

  • Visit the first virtual Athenaeum’s exhibits. You do not have to have a user account to participate in this way. Artists and artisans who want to exhibit at the upcoming second virtual Athenaeum will be able to sign up this spring and each exhibitor will build a new exhibit.
  • Register for an account on this website as a Participant, and you will have the opportunity to schedule a 30 minute one-on-one conference with any artist and talk to them about their project after it is completed and published. All conferences for the upcoming virtual Athenaeum will be scheduled to take place between 9 AM and 5 PM (PST) on June 26 and 27, AS LVI (2021).
  • Attend our hosted, themed A&S discussions over Zoom on June 26 and 27, 2021.

When you’re ready to get started, visit the exhibits that have already been published or watch this how-to video which walks you through these processes, which have not changed since last year:

  • How to register as a participant
  • How to browse/find exhibits
  • How to schedule a one-on-one conference
  • How to leave a comment
  • How to update your profile photo

More information relevant to participants is available in our FAQs. View this video from the previous virtual Athenaeum to view how to register as a participant

2021
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Resources for Exhibitors

by Madrone Athenaeum Webster March 13, 2021 No Comments

There are a lot of pieces and parts to creating your Exhibit page. The Athenaeum team is here to help your art get onto your page! Here are some resources we thought you would find helpful.

If you have any questions, please use the Exhibitor Feedback form or ask us in the Artisans of Athenaeum 2020/2021 Facebook Group.

Photo Resources

I’ve been receiving a lot of questions about images/photos. The size of your images matters! Below is a handy article that explains how to make the images that come from your phone (or other digital camera) smaller without sacrificing quality. If you’ve tried uploading and gotten an error that suggests making your image smaller than 2500 pixels, then this is for you!

How to Understand Pixels, Resolution, and Resize Your Images in Photoshop Correctly

If you’re having trouble resizing or uploading your photos, please let us know. This article talks about Photoshop but other image editors (such as The GIMP) can be used.

WordPress Tutorials

2020
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Joining Athenaeum by Phone

by Viscountess Kerij-e July 2, 2020 No Comments

The main technology for the Virtual Athenaeum in 2021 is Zoom meetings. But Zoom isn’t for everyone. Maybe you don’t have a good internet connection, or a computer with a camera and microphone, or you don’t trust Zoom’s security. You can still participate!

Zoom has a phone-in feature, in conjunction with viewing the Exhibit on a computer, you can still have a very productive conversation.

Making the Call

  1. Ask the Athenaeum team for a phone specific invitation. If you have a smart phone, you can do a one-tap call, otherwise you will need to manually dial in and enter the meeting ID and password.
    1. Dial the number from the invitation. For example, Tacoma is +1 253 215 8782
    2. At the prompt, enter the Meeting ID, and then press #.
    3. At the prompt, enter the phone-specific password, and then press #. (It’s usually at the bottom of the invitation.)
  2. If the meeting has not started, press # to wait.
  3. If asked to enter your participant ID, press # to skip.
  4. When the host lets you out of the waiting room, you can speak and hear the conversation.
    • *6 to mute or unmute
    • * 9 to raise your hand.
  5. When the moderator starts the breakout rooms, you will be notified and moved to the break out room automatically.

While in a Breakout Room

You will be able to mute and unmute like you can in the main session. Use *6 to mute or unmute.

You will not receive any of the chat notifications from the moderator. Ask your Exhibitor to relay any information from the moderator.

You can leave the room at any time by pressing #.

When the host has ended the meeting you will be notified and returned to the main room in 60 seconds.

To leave the meeting at any time, you can simply hang up!

Quick Cheatsheet

  • *6 – MUTE/UNMUTE
  • *9 – RAISE YOUR HAND
  • # – Leave Breakout room immediately

Top Image: Center panel “Annunciation Triptych (Merode AltarPiece) ca. 1427-32, Workshop of Robert Campin. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed 7/2/2020 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/470304 This image is Open Access.

2020
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Release Forms vs Citations

by Viscountess Kerij-e July 2, 2020 No Comments

Your Road to Athenaeum exhibit is a page in the Barony of Madrone’s website, which is an official SCA website. The SCA requires that official SCA websites follow modern copyright rules, including using releases and citations.

Releases

When you registered as an exhibitor you agreed to this statement:

I must sign and upload a Photo Release Agreement and a Creative Works License Agreement before my display will be published.

Exhibitor Agreement

Releases give the Road to Athenaeum website permission to DISPLAY your creative work (your Exhibit) and the related photographs, illustrations, and other images on the page. There are three kinds of release forms that you MIGHT need DEPENDING ON THE CONTENTS OF YOUR EXHIBIT:

  • Creative Work Grant of Use Form
  • Photography Release of Use Form
  • Model Release(s)

At a minimum, you will need to submit the Creative Work Grant of Use form to give us permission to display your exhibit. This form assumes that your exhibit only has text without any original photographs, but may include your original art or illustrations, poems, songs, maps, or stories. It may, however, also have free clip art, cited photographs, and cited illustrations. We will talk about citations in the next section.

If your Exhibit includes photographs you or someone else has taken of your work, then you will also need a Photography Release of Use form filled out by the photographer.

For the steps to fill in the Creative Work Grant of Use form and Photography Release of Use forms, go to the Exhibitor Release page.

When to Submit a Model Release

If you include a photograph in your exhibit of a person (for example, modeling clothes or assisting with a project) and they are identifiable, you probably need to submit a signed SCA Model Release Form. If you are the model, then you need to submit a release form for yourself.

If the picture is not “portrait-style” (showing one or a few people posing for the camera) and the model is not identifiable, or if it was taken in a public space (such as at an event or at court), then a model release is NOT required. The Athenaeum staff may review your photographs and decide a Model release form is required. If so, we will contact you before publishing your page.

Fill out the form with the same information as the Photography Release of Use form, and submit it on the Exhibitor Release page.

Citations

When you registered as an exhibitor you agreed to this statement.

I acknowledge that I am responsible for citing any copyrighted materials I use or refer to in my exhibit and for checking the usage rights for any copyrighted material.

Exhibitor Agreement

You can think of “citations” as acknowledgement that you are referencing or using other people’s work in your Exhibit, such a photo from a museum website, articles from journals, or passages from a book. The goal is to give credit where credit is due and for your audience to be able to go to that source and find out more!

Ideally, for every source you reference, there should be two parts to the citation. First is the inline citation which appears in the text following an excerpt/quote, or under an image in your exhibit. It can be as simple as author, book, and page # or the caption under an image with the source. The rest of the detail should be in the Citation section at the end of your Exhibit page.

The second part, the Citation section shouldn’t be confused with a bibliography, though there is a lot of overlap. Technically, a bibliography is any work that you referenced or used in your research whether or not you actually include it in your exhibit. For our purposes, we are asking you to write citations for anything you include in your exhibit.

There are many different ways to write citations and many people have strong opinions. They differ in the information included, the order of the information, and the formatting.

Find one you like and be consistent. Some common styles are:

  • APA style
  • MLA style
  • Chicago (Turabian) style

To keep it simple, here are some examples you can follow using the MLA Style in a rather loose and informal way.

Websites

Creator Last, First Name. “Title of Web Page.” Website Name, Date accessed, URL

Handyman. “Multi Strand Finger Loop Braiding.” Instructables, July 1, 2010, https://www.instructables.com/id/Multi-Strand-Finger-Loop-Braiding-or-How-to-braid-/

Website Image

Artist’s name [first name then last], title [italicized], date. Medium. Website name. URL. Date Accessed.

Circle of Rogier van der Weyden, possibly Vranke van der Stockt. Men Shoveling Chairs (Scupstoel). 1444–50, Pen and brown ink over traces of black chalk, Metropolitan Museum of Art . July 1, 2020 www.metmuseum.org

Book

Author(s) Last, First Name. Title. Publisher, Year Published

Hu-ssu-hui, , Paul D. Buell, E N. Anderson, and Charles Perry. A Soup for the Qan: Chinese Dietary Medicine of the Mongol Era As Seen in Hu Szu-Hui’s Yin-Shan Cheng-Yao : Introduction, Translation, Commentary, and Chinese Text. Kegan Paul International, 2000.

Article

Author(s) Last, First Name. “Article title” Publication, vol., number, page #s

LaBouche, Alexis and Greydragon, Rhys Terafan, “Observations of a Joust”. Tournaments Illuminated. 3rd Quarter 2008. # 167

Online Video

Last, First Name. Video title. Website name, host site, Date Accessed, URL

Donner, Morgan. Easy FingerLoop Braiding. Morgan Donner’s Sewing Party, YouTube, July 7, 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQpEcGfv-rY

External Resources

SCA Websites: Release Forms FAQ
SCA Model Release Form
How to Cite Anything

Top Image: Example of Martin Luther’s handwriting, a passage from “Dass diese Worte Christi, ‘das ist mein Lieb,’ &c. noch feststehen”, a manuscript published in 1527. From the Royal Library at Copenhagen. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, this image is in the Public Domain.

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