In the article, “Topography, Topology, Typography: The Library as Place, Text, and Tool in Caribbean Digital Research Classrooms,” Dr Schuyler Esprit discusses her journey in creating Create Caribbean and her interest in learning more about archives and reading patterns of the Caribbean, particularly Dominica. Through our class lessons, she has discussed certain elements of this journey and the development of her book. As a member and the current treasurer of the DSC Literary and Debating Society, one of my favourite tidbits to share is that debating societies would debate through newspapers. It is also interesting to see how this has led to the formation of the Windward Islands Debating Competition, for which I am one of the researchers assisting the Dominican team for the 2022 competition.

Moreover, although this article is 7 years old, I have been able to parallel it to my own experiences at Dominica State College. For instance, a lot of my interactions with research are usually confined to my textbooks or course outlines. Even when assignments are broadened to include Dominican or Caribbean topics, my research approaches are still limited to the Google web interface. Furthermore, the time-consuming task of locating information about Dominica due to the destruction of libraries and historical material that was not digitally preserved has made research a hated task amongst the student population.

In light of this, and with my experience with Create Caribbean, I believe this institution is important to integrate research techniques into digital pedagogy to explore human inquiry. Nevertheless, when I first learned about Create Caribbean, I was not sure what they did, nor how it worked, and even when I started my internship, I could not clearly see how the information and the research methodologies intersected. It was only after understanding what digital humanities was, interacting with digital humanities tools and learning, and seeing the range of projects that could be created, that my appreciation and realization of the importance of libraries, archives, and special collections grew. This medium reminds us of our distinct culture and experiences, which is particularly crucial given the widespread use of social media, which has greatly lowered interest in our culture.

One of my favorite classes with Dr. Esprit was when we used mapping tools to spatially explain how the small portion of land in the community of Mahaut led to the formation of a clustered community, the social problems that arose, and the role Dominica Coconut Products (DCP) played in the development of the village and the creation of a middle-class society.

Overall, although my interaction with libraries, archival materials, and special collections has been online, my appreciation for research has grown significantly as I have learned more about Caribbean social and cultural practices, as well as the impact slavery and colonialism have had on our daily practices and lifestyles. Moreover, I believe more students should be able to experience this, which is why technology is a great avenue to increase the knowledge of these events and assist in the digital preservation of documents.

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