Early in the 20th century, Virginia Woolf argued a room of one’s own gave women the figurative and literal space necessary to become writers, A Domain of One’s Own (DOO) is in a web hosting platform that gives Bryn Mawr College faculty, students, and staff the 21st century equivalent: a digital domain where they can host web sites and web apps, develop digital competencies and pursue digital scholarship or creative work.
Before you start, you will need access to the following:
Sign up for a domain
- In a web browser, go to digital.brynmawr.edu.
- Click Get Started.
- Log in using your Bryn Mawr username and password.
- When prompted, choose your domain name by typing it into the box provided and clicking Continue. If you choose a name that has already been used, you will be prompted to pick another. (See What Name Should I Use? below for more details.)
- You will be asked to confirm that you will abide by the College's Acceptable Use policy before continuing. Be sure you have read and understand this policy before moving on. (See Privacy and Acceptable Use, below for more information.)
What name should I use?
Important things to consider when choosing a domain name.
Your domain name is a unique web address (e.g. yourname.digital.brynmawr.edu) that can be used to build out your own digital presence. As you make your choice, there are a few considerations to keep in mind:
- It must be unique. You will be unable to use a name someone has already picked on digital.brynmawr.edu.
- Choose a name you can live with. Think about all of the things you might wish to publish with this domain, and choose something that "future you" won’t find too embarrassing. A good rule of thumb is to pick a domain that you would be comfortable putting on a future job application.
- Should you use your own name? It depends on what you plan to publish. You are not required to use any part of your real first or last name; you can use a pseudonym or a completely unrelated string of characters instead. You might wish to use your own name if you want it associated with content you publish here, but keep in mind that the URL is not the opportunity to do so -- you can typically identify yourself as an author within the websites themselves in different ways (such as an "About the Author" page).
- Don't limit yourself unnecessarily. You can multiple websites and apps on this same domain, and each of those sites or apps will also have a name. So for example, if might use your domain both to host a professional digital portfolio for job hunting and to self-publish a fan fiction series, you'll want to choose a domain that works for both.
Privacy and acceptable use
You have complete control over and complete responsibility for what you publish on your digital.brynmawr.edu domain space, and you must adhere to certain college policies.
- The College's Acceptable Use Policy governs all use of digital.brynmawr.edu. Failure to abide by the terms of this policy can result in the penalties outlined in that policy, including loss of access to the platform and content you've stored there.
- Information you publish through Domain of One's Own should be public data as defined in the College's Data Handling Policy.
- Websites you create for courses, college events or programs, and public audiences need to meet the College's Web Accessibility Policy standards. ("Sandbox" sites and other experimental content that is not visible to or discoverable by the public do not require the same level of accessibility.) Web-based course materials and software used in academic courses are also subject to the Accessibility Policy for Classroom Instruction.
- FERPA regulations governing the privacy of student educational records may apply to publicly visible web content that students create for academic course assignments. Instructors can contact the curriculum committee, the registrar, or provost, or consult with an educational technology specialist for guidance.
Next steps: Your dashboard or "CPanel"
One your domain is set up, you will see your your Domain of One's Dashboard or "CPanel," which provides a centralized interface for managing your domain and any applications or files you install there.
- One of the easiest ways to build a website in Domain of One's Own is to install an application. Commonly used applications include:
- WordPress for blogs and basic websites.
- Omeka for digital collections and exhibitions
- Grav to create minimal computing web sites using Markdown that can integrate with GitHub.
- Scalar for non-linear digital books and publishing.
- Click All Applications to see additional open-source applications that can be installed through CPanel.
- To access your Dashboard in the future, go to digital.brynmawr.edu, click Dashboard, and log in with your college credentials.
Questions?
If you have any additional questions or problems, don't hesitate to reach out to the Help Desk!
Phone: 610-526-7440 | Library and Help Desk hours
Email: help@brynmawr.edu | Service catalog
Location: Canaday Library 1st floor
