Update: To make the session run smoother, some lines of code we’ll need are in this Google document so people can just cut and paste

Perhaps in conjunction with the Omeka workshop or as a session for those who want to go further with Omeka, I can teach a small group how to create your own instance of Omeka running on Amazon Web Services. The same basic principles apply to starting a WordPress site. AWS provides the first year of web hosting free, making it an ideal environment for those who want to experiment with creating their own site free of charge. This will allow you to take full advantage of all the available plugins for Omeka, such as Neatline.

Anyone who wishes to participate should have their personal laptop. If you have a Mac, you won’t need to install any additional software. A windows machine requires installing Git so that you can access the server via bash (I can explain what this means later).

I have previously written a blog post about the process, so you can see what it would entail. If you’d like to learn, it may be best to do the basic sign-up process with AWS before coming, which requires providing a credit card number and going through a phone number verification process. I’m also working on putting together some screencast videos of the process, and I’ll provide those for anyone who can’t participate.

Omeka.net is a web-publishing platform that allows anyone with an account to create or collaborate on a website to display collections and build digital exhibitions (“About,” Omeka.net).

In this workshop for THATCampers with no previous experience with Omeka, we will:

• talk about use cases for Omeka
• look at some Omeka projects
• describe the difference between omeka.net site and running your own instance of Omeka
• talk about plug-ins
• add items to an archive
• assign metadata

If there is interest, following this workshop will be a session dedicated to running your own instance of Omeka through Amazon Web Services (which is free for a year). If you are interested in this, please see my session proposal which has information about what you will need to participate.

If you are interested in creating an Omeka.net site, please sign up for and activate a Basic (free) Omeka.net account before you arrive. You might also bring a laptop with some practice files to upload to your new Omeka.net site!