Planning for a Brighter Day

In developing a research project about the history of the US Consular Service (1789-1924), it has been clear to me that the project�s potential to yield various kinds of digital products�from maps to datasets to an interactive website�is considerable. The need for a more traditional monograph is there, too. The challenges abound, though: a lack of technical support, unfriendly promotion and tenure guidelines, mismatch between student research assistantship terms and the needs of the project, among numerous other things. So far, those challenges have led me to modify my plans for what the elements of my project will be, but I am working to organize and document my data in ways that will hopefully allow others to use it efficiently and responsibly. In my presentation, I will focus on that process of organization and documentation and how it has sharpened my teaching, archival, and administrative skills.