Thursday, November 7, 2013

Digital Landscape

We live in a time where if we need information we have easy access 24/7. Using computers, laptops and cell phones we can stay connected with each other and instantly search for information. Either voice control or our fingers running across a keyboard we type in a word or phrase in search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and several others and begin our search. The task at hand is to find a digital representation of Slater Park so those who can't visit it can see it.

I begin my search on Bing just typing in Slater Park. The majority of the sites I found give small blurbs about what's inside the park or several activities they host. Several other websites actually rated the park and gave reviews based on the personal experience. One of these sites is tripadvisor.com where 22 people reviewed the park and gave their feed back to the community. Just the titles alone; "Nice way to spend an afternoon", "Just about the nicest park equipment", "Great family fun" gives a sense of the space that children and adults can enjoy. Also half of those who posted a review are not even from this state. Several people actually came from Mass and Conn. Surprisingly a few other posts came from Florida, Texas, New York and the UK. The person from Conn commented, "Nice Park, considering the location in Pawtucket." It was interesting to see how people viewed the area, considering the bad rep Pawtucket receives, especially from those who are out of state. I didn't actually expect half of those who commented to be out of state. But the search must go on.

Experience Pawtucket was another website I stumbled across. I found it to be better than the other sites I searched. Again there are small blurbs about the park and activities but they are divided into tabs by key locations and buildings of the park. There’s Recreational, Daggett Farm, Dog Park, Looff Carousel, RI Watercolor Society, Scenic Vistas and Swan Boats. Recreational lists the athletic courts and fields it provides for local sports and for public use. Daggett Farm houses the petting zoo, picnic grounds and hosts seasonal activities for their patrons. Now there’s a new space where you can let your dog roam free and meet other dogs at the dog park, which I didn't even know it existed until I visited this site. Looff Carousel is the oldest “looff stander carousel” in the world, built in 1895 and installed at the park in 1910. It even tells the readers how many seats are available to ride and dogs being rare on a carousel. The RI Watercolor Society was founded in 1896 and is the oldest Watercolor Society in America. I plan on investigation more into this society later but they meet in the boathouse where the casino use to be. Now it houses an art gallery, a library, and art studio space. Scenic Vista tab is just a reminder of the beauty of the park and around every corner there’s an opportunity for beautiful photos. The Swan boats is another feature that returned last year. They plan on bring them back early next year along with dragon boats. This site was useful because it gave the reader information about several points in the park involving either history of that area or operating hours and fees of activities.

I continued my search with little luck. Any other site just gave the address, a Google Maps view of the park or the same information I have already provided form these sites or from my past blog posts. Content with my search I will leave you the links to both websites so you can see them for yourself and get a sense of the community.

Tripadvisor.com :

Experience Pawtucket


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