In digital history the reality of subjects is often overlooked. What is real? What is not real? What makes something real versus not-real?
When I was a little girl I was in love with the American Girl Dolls. Samantha was a character who grew up in 1904, and Felicity grew up in 1774. I was fascinated by the stories surrounding Samantha and Felicity, every one filled with bits of historical truth about the time periods they lived in. What made it real for me was applying things I learned from those books to real life. My parents gave me a Samantha Cook Book with recipes from 1904. I made these special biscuits all by myself following the recipe, and my dad even got me an old fashioned flour sifter to use to make it feel a bit more authentic. In one Felicity book I remembered her entertaining her younger siblings by mixing a bit of soap with water in a shell and using a reed to blow bubbles. I recreated this using a bowl, a bit of dish detergent, and a straw. I was able to use my imagination to put myself into Samantha and Felicity's shoes. I believe that's what can make history real for some people.
On the other hand, look at how popular Colonial Williamsburg and Historic Jamestown are. Visitors are able to reconnect with the past by seeing the clothes and tools, smelling the animals and cooking fires, hearing the interpreters talk about their daily lives, and touching the recreated village. At the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia, visitors can walk through actual dwellings that were taken apart in their original locations in Europe and reassembled on site to show the change in building styles in the Shenandoah Valley and how they were influenced by the immigrants' cultures. As a visitor you see the woodwork, the brick ovens, the narrow staircases, the plaster walls, and many historically accurate reproduction (or period) furniture pieces. Even though a lot of these things are recreations of what it would have been like in the 17th and 18th centuries, and not actually the historic object itself, does that make it any less real? If a little girl put on a costume styled to look just like her favorite American Girl doll's garb, would that not make it real for her?
One part of digital history that is possibly the most difficult when speaking of what is real and not real is written documents. Paper, over time, becomes very fragile and needs to be preserved - therefore, not many people have the opportunity to hold very old original documents, especially not with their bare hands. It can be very difficult to fully grasp a concept or put it into context if you cannot see what it would have originally looked like on paper. I was recently looking up old land deeds and came across many abstracts and indexes for these historic records. I found some transcripts of deeds as well. It was very difficult for me to fully understand the age of what I was reading (from 1619!), even with the old spellings and language. Perhaps if I were able to see a facsimile or scanned digital copy of the document, then I could have seen the handwriting of the clerk, and understood it in a deeper way.
I believe there are many levels of what can be real and not-real, and it could differ from person to person. For some, simply reading a transcript could be enough to make something real in their minds. Others may need a reproduction or image of the actual object to make the connection. There is a site called Digital Karnak that has computer generated images of the hieroglyphics and layout of the sacred site in a way that a visitor can explore an area that is almost non-existent anymore. When I looked at just one part of the temple wall, I was amazed at how many hieroglyphs would have been in one area, and how the grouping could tell of special ceremonies and rituals. Seeing this digital representation, being able to click and zoom in on the glyphs, made it more real to me.
While there are some disadvantages to having a simple *.pdf transcript of a historical document, there are many other ways digital technology has of making something more "real." Digital history must remember to always put things into context as much as possible and within whatever limits the current digital project has.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Project Proposal Summary
I
will be creating a blog to detail the process I go through to research the
Grubbs family of Loudoun County, Virginia. Not only will this document the
digital resources I find, but it will also give me the opportunity to digitize
any resources are not currently available in that format. I primarily plan to
use the Thomas Balch Library and other local resources to learn more about the
family farm in Hamilton, VA, the family, and more about Loudoun County in
general. The buildings on the farm are now in ruins and used as a project for
the Historic Archaeology class at Northern Virginia Community College (with Dr.
David Clark).
Ideally I would like to see where this project takes
me and develop it as I go. Realistically I know that I won’t be able to
digitize items like maps from the Thomas Balch Library, but hopefully there
will already be some more recent maps created by Google Earth on which I can
superimpose reference points. I also know of aerial maps that were created as
early as the 1920s and 1930s of Loudoun County that I may be able to locate.
There is also genealogy done on the family, so perhaps creating a visual
representation of a family tree will be possible. With permission from the
current land owners I would like to photograph the ruins as they lay now, and
hopefully locate any existing photos from the buildings when they stood.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Digital Tools
Since Rosenzweig published his textbook, digitizing historic resources was beginning to get easier and less expensive. Ten years later, I can only imagine that the process of digitizing collections may have gotten even less expensive. Technology has developed and gotten cheaper and more widespread. There are many more people that are knowledgeable in how to use the necessary technology to digitize records. The Smithsonian Institute has started using crowd sourcing in order to find volunteers to assist with the monumental task of digitizing their collections. Here is an example of one of their ongoing projects transcribing a field journal in California and Nebraska.
There are other projects attempting to digitize books, like the Gutenberg Project, which digitizes books whose copyrights have expired. LibriVox is a project whose goal is to create recorded audio for books with expired copyrights. Each project uses volunteer work and crowd sourcing to grow and expand their collections.
For my project I will primarily be working with the collections at the Thomas Balch Library. This is a small local history and genealogical library owned and operated by the City of Leesburg, Virginia. The Balch Library has a lot of searchable databases on their website, as well as many digitized documents. At no charge, they offer access to many other online databases to assist with your personal research. They have many excellent maps of the area going all the way back to the 18th century. Unfortunately not many of these maps have been digitized, but are available for viewing at the library. The time and technology needed to digitize these large maps (such as those used for the St. Petersburg Map projects) may be too expensive for the Balch. However, there are many diaries, letters, deeds, wills, and other historic documents that could benefit from being digitized.
I'll be using as many resources as possible for my research on the Grubbs farm ruins in Hamilton, Virginia. I hope that I'm able to find some photos, maps, or other visual resources that have been digitized. Mostly, I hope to see if there are any resources I can help digitize myself!
There are other projects attempting to digitize books, like the Gutenberg Project, which digitizes books whose copyrights have expired. LibriVox is a project whose goal is to create recorded audio for books with expired copyrights. Each project uses volunteer work and crowd sourcing to grow and expand their collections.
For my project I will primarily be working with the collections at the Thomas Balch Library. This is a small local history and genealogical library owned and operated by the City of Leesburg, Virginia. The Balch Library has a lot of searchable databases on their website, as well as many digitized documents. At no charge, they offer access to many other online databases to assist with your personal research. They have many excellent maps of the area going all the way back to the 18th century. Unfortunately not many of these maps have been digitized, but are available for viewing at the library. The time and technology needed to digitize these large maps (such as those used for the St. Petersburg Map projects) may be too expensive for the Balch. However, there are many diaries, letters, deeds, wills, and other historic documents that could benefit from being digitized.
I'll be using as many resources as possible for my research on the Grubbs farm ruins in Hamilton, Virginia. I hope that I'm able to find some photos, maps, or other visual resources that have been digitized. Mostly, I hope to see if there are any resources I can help digitize myself!
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Copyright and Digital History
Copyright was initially created to protect the intellectual property of its creator. As the Internet has changed culture, copyright has become even more of a complicated issue. Today, copyright has been extended for so long that the material (in whatever form it takes) will not become a part of the public domain until 70 years after its creator has died. Company copyright is even longer - over 100 years! It is clear that copyright has become less about protecting intellectual property and more about protecting profits.
When it comes to copyright and digital history, there seems to be a much wider grey area. I'll be honest, I don't completely understand the nuances of "Fair Use," and where the line is drawn often depends on the context and the particular instance the copyrighted material is being used when dealing with academic work on the web. The greatest thing about the Internet is the flow of information and knowledge, and academia has an ever-growing presence online. Some believe that academics shouldn't even copyright their work because that inhibits that free flow of information and hinders the exchanging of ideas and knowledge that furthers progress. I personally feel that copyright exists for a reason and should be used to protect the intellectual property of academics, but that there needs to be a balance with certain exemptions and permissions.
You can't copyright fact, so all the information available in a database (such as birth dates, etc.) cannot be copyrighted. However, access to a database can be restricted and only granted with permission or for a fee. This would ensure that all the hours spent compiling data and creating the database in which it's stored won't be for naught.
There is a website called TeachersPayTeachers.com where educators can sell their creations to other teachers. The most glaring problems I see right away is that there is no possible way every single one of these teachers were able to design their packets and lesson plans using the same art style and images. I'm not sure if the sellers are using a software program they've purchased with certain clip art images to design the lessons they are selling, but there is absolutely no credit given to the artist. However, there are whole pages on their website devoted to explaining the basics of copyright law, their specific policies, and terms of service.
One thing I have no touched on is the public domain. After a copyright has ended, the intellectual property goes into the public domain, meaning that anyone has the right to use it. Project Gutenberg is an interesting site. Their goal, as stated on their site by Michael Hart, is to "provide as many eBooks in as many formats as possible for the entire world to read in as many languages as possible." Anyone is welcome to contribute, and they accept any format or translation. Unfortunately there is not much control over what is submitted and shared on their site. Fortunately, the quality of submissions has gotten increasingly better as knowledge of the project spreads, and as versions of eBooks are edited. The entire project is run by volunteers.
When it comes to copyright and digital history, there seems to be a much wider grey area. I'll be honest, I don't completely understand the nuances of "Fair Use," and where the line is drawn often depends on the context and the particular instance the copyrighted material is being used when dealing with academic work on the web. The greatest thing about the Internet is the flow of information and knowledge, and academia has an ever-growing presence online. Some believe that academics shouldn't even copyright their work because that inhibits that free flow of information and hinders the exchanging of ideas and knowledge that furthers progress. I personally feel that copyright exists for a reason and should be used to protect the intellectual property of academics, but that there needs to be a balance with certain exemptions and permissions.
You can't copyright fact, so all the information available in a database (such as birth dates, etc.) cannot be copyrighted. However, access to a database can be restricted and only granted with permission or for a fee. This would ensure that all the hours spent compiling data and creating the database in which it's stored won't be for naught.
There is a website called TeachersPayTeachers.com where educators can sell their creations to other teachers. The most glaring problems I see right away is that there is no possible way every single one of these teachers were able to design their packets and lesson plans using the same art style and images. I'm not sure if the sellers are using a software program they've purchased with certain clip art images to design the lessons they are selling, but there is absolutely no credit given to the artist. However, there are whole pages on their website devoted to explaining the basics of copyright law, their specific policies, and terms of service.
One thing I have no touched on is the public domain. After a copyright has ended, the intellectual property goes into the public domain, meaning that anyone has the right to use it. Project Gutenberg is an interesting site. Their goal, as stated on their site by Michael Hart, is to "provide as many eBooks in as many formats as possible for the entire world to read in as many languages as possible." Anyone is welcome to contribute, and they accept any format or translation. Unfortunately there is not much control over what is submitted and shared on their site. Fortunately, the quality of submissions has gotten increasingly better as knowledge of the project spreads, and as versions of eBooks are edited. The entire project is run by volunteers.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Web Design
After content, design is the most important thing when creating a web site. Without solid content, there would be no need for a website, but without proper design, it can be difficult to use the website. We've all seen websites that were difficult to look at because of lack of space or a horrible color contrast.
Resources and Tools I'll be Using:
Headings and subheadings are great for breaking apart different sections of a webpage. Organizing your content into easy-to-read lists is another way to aid reading and comprehension. Changing the formatting of your text is another option (italics, underline, bold).
While a blog may serve my needs to share information about the Grubb's farm ruins, I would say a tool such as Weebly may serve me better in the creation of the site.
Canva is a tool that, while it may not be helpful to me, as my project does not seem to require too much artistic design, it may help some others. Pixlr is an online photo editor that helped me with the screenshots earlier in this post.
 | ||
| Figure 1a: Reddit's /r/nosleep forum, which is a place to share original scary stories, is the first to come to mind when I think of poor color contrast. Their use of space to separate the different posts helps navigate when they choose to make their page dark to add ambiance. |
 |
| Figure 1b: The forum also has a "Lights On" version (the light bulb icons on the right hand side of the screen) to make it easier to read (or less spooky). Again, their use of space helps break up the long list of posts to choose from. |
Project Idea
Archaeology and documents research of Grubb's farm ruins in Loudoun County, VA
I'm studying this farm for my Historic Archaeology course and would love to make a website for it.Resources and Tools I'll be Using:
- Resources
- maps
- deeds
- census records
- local archives and historians
- Tools
- timeline
- video/photos of site
- perhaps some type of basic photo editing/design to show overlays of the property to see how it has changed over time
Headings and subheadings are great for breaking apart different sections of a webpage. Organizing your content into easy-to-read lists is another way to aid reading and comprehension. Changing the formatting of your text is another option (italics, underline, bold).
While a blog may serve my needs to share information about the Grubb's farm ruins, I would say a tool such as Weebly may serve me better in the creation of the site.
Canva is a tool that, while it may not be helpful to me, as my project does not seem to require too much artistic design, it may help some others. Pixlr is an online photo editor that helped me with the screenshots earlier in this post.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Exploring the Evolution of the Digital Web
This blog post will take a somewhat different shape. While my first two entries were written in more essay format, this one will be a review of some digital history projects from the last 15 years, and some personal notes on the subject of digital history.
The Valley of the Shadow Project - Copyright 1993-2007
- Sponsored by the Virginia Center for Digital History and University of Virginia, this archive of primary resources comparing two communities on either side of the Mason-Dixon line during the Civil War has a very simply designed, but is pleasing to the eye and easy to navigate. The archive is broken down into three chronological sections, the Eve of War, the War Years, and the Aftermath, and further broken down into the two communities being compared, and different types of primary and secondary resources, such as church records, maps, letters and diaries, newspaper articles, and memories about the war.
Dickinson Electronic Archives - founded 1994
- One of the first things I saw on this site is their invitation to participate in a virtual conference and exhibit on the new Emily Dickinson Collection. This invitation was not just to scholars and archivists, but to teachers, readers, and anyone else interested. The website is pleasant to view and easy to navigate. Unlike the other projects I've reviewed, this one has a link to its original archive format from 1994-2012, so you can see the much simpler format of the archive.
Romantic Circles - founded 1996
- A collaborative project from University of Maryland started in 1996, this project is still active and hosts a wide range of media where people of all walks of life can access information and scholarly debate on literature and culture in the Romantic period. There are sections for peer-reviewed articles, teaching resources, electronic archives of materials from the Romantic period, scholarly resources, galleries of curated image collections from the Romantic period, audiocasts of Romantic literature being read and reviewed, and a blog. There's a seemingly endless amount of information on the Romantic period, and all in a cohesive and well-organized layout. The authors and site managers are all plainly displayed, giving credit to each individual collaborator at all times. It would be interesting to have seen how complicated the original site design would have been compared to today's active project. I hesitate to use the word "community," because while there seems to be a lot of information available to anybody who wishes to access it, there does not seem to be much interactivity among readers, not even a space for comments on the blog.
Lascaux - founded 1998
- Since the Ministry of Culture and Communication in France originally put the prehistoric art at Lascaux online in 1998, the website has developed into a state of the art resource to learn about the caves. Flash animation allows viewers a POV journey through the caves to see the prehistoric art they might otherwise never have the opportunity to see outside a history textbook. Computer animation will only get more and more realistic, which allows sites that are difficult to access (or need to have restricted access for preservation purposes) even more of an opportunity to share their treasures.
Hawthorne in Salem - copyright 2002
- While this site may seem out of date because of its design, its content was last updated August 26 this year. This site is a collaboration of three Salem, MA museums about Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was an endowed project for a local community college and created by professional web designers in 2002. One thing that sets this project apart from others I've reviewed is the invitation extended to anyone who would like to contribute to do so. The site contains interactive maps of Salem and the surrounding area, appearing as they would during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, during Nathaniel Hawthorne's life (author of The Scarlet Letter, about the trials), and today.
Persepolis: A Virtual Reconstruction - copyright 2003
- I was very fortunate to be able to see the Persepolis3D digital images while at the British Museum in 2009. While the website itself is underwhelming and lacking in updates since 2008, there is no denying the herculean efforts that have gone into this project. Seeing the reconstruction images in the context of a museum exhibit was much more helpful than seeing a small rendering out of context on their website.
Hurricane Digital Memory Bank - Copyright 2005-2012
- This project was organized by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media and the University of New Orleans in order to preserve the first-hand accounts of people who lived through Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. This site currently serves as a repository for photos, maps, stories, oral histories and videos. Very easy to navigate.
The Avalon Project - copyright 2008
- This project by the Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library is ordered chronologically, by major collections, and links to other Yale libraries, Project DIANA for human rights cases, and a collection of the Nuremberg Trials. It has a plain web design, is easy to navigate, but takes the historical documents out of context and denies readers a certain experience they'd get by seeing the actual document virtually. There are only transcriptions of the historical resources, no facsimiles or photos that I found, and only one PDF linked from 2003. The sources span a vast amount of time, all the way from Hammurabi's Code, to the Magna Carta, to a congressional hearing on Middle East peace progress in 2003.
Digital Karnak - copyright 2008
- This digital history project digitizes the ancient city of Karnak. Like the Lascaux digital project, a site that could have preservation issues and need to be protected can benefit greatly from being digitized. People can still learn about it in an interesting way (like Karnak's videos, Google Earth images, and photographs), and realize the importance of preserving such a site. The site is simple in its layout, but highly organized and easy to navigate.
The April 16 Archive - copyright 2011
- This is an archive of memories and photos of the Virginia Tech massacre on April 16, 2007, and its aftermath on the community. While the copyright is dated 2011, the most recent date I was able to find is from a year after the event in 2008. The site itself is simple in layout, though somewhat confusing to navigate and understand. There are quite a few places with broken code and thumbnails, but every photo I came across was still working in its original link. It will be interesting to see how this archive is maintained over the years, as well as what other entries will be made as they will rely on memory of those affected.
Amiens Cathedral Project - estimated 2012
- I knew nothing about this project before I looked at the website, and I feel as though I still know nothing about the project. I felt rather silly as I kept looking and looking for the name of the cathedral they were studying before realizing it was in the title of the project. There is no information provided on the actual project itself - nothing about who is studying the cathedral, who is taking all the photos, compiling all the maps, sketches, and text resources, who is sponsoring the study - and there is a wealth of knowledge here, but no credit given. There was once a discussion area, but it was taken down in 2012 because the platform they used to host the discussion was removed. The photos, categories, and links were difficult for me to make out - it felt like everything was too small in the design. I think they attempted to create a technically-complicated website, but sacrificed accessibility in the process.
American Memory - unknown
- Unfortunately the "About" page on the Library of Congress' American Memory site is not working, so I was unable to read about the start of the project or how it differs from the other collections in the Library of Congress. This site seems to be a hodge podge of different websites showcasing their collections. Unlike the Avalon Project, the Library of Congress has scanned copies of their collections available, which I feel adds so much more to the experience. For example, on a pamphlet of a speech Frederick Douglass, you can see where notes were written in the margins. I'm not sure whether these were by Douglass himself, someone there at the time of the presentation, or someone at a later time, but it humanizes the subject and puts it into context.
The Oyez Project - 2011 - 2015
- This blog has up to date publications of SCOTUS cases in the news. It has a more complicated web design that is very appealing to the eye, and makes it easy to process and take in lots of information as it's organized well. Because this project is in blog format, readers are able to subscribe for updates, and leave comments on posts. One thing I noticed that is different from the other projects is the use of other tools on the website, such a video posts from the faculty. Monthly archives go back to September 2011, and it seems to have been well maintained up to this current month.
Life Outtacontext, In Our Path, and Eye Level - Various - Present
- These three blogs all by the same man show the wide range of things you can do with blogs these days. First, his personal blogs, Life Outtacontext and In Our Path, showcase his personal talents as a "meta-narrator" and photographer. Eye Level is a mouthpiece for the Smithsonian Institute. All three vary greatly in design, layout, and function, and utilize different tools (such as a Twitter feed on Outtacontext).
To summarize, it seems that even with the advent of new technology and tools available to digital history projects, some won't take the opportunity to update. Appearance is very important, as is functionality and navigability. It is interesting to see the sites that have chosen to update, especially when given the opportunity to see how they used to operate, in the case of the Dickinson Electronic Archives. Funding and public interest drive projects forward, and a lack of technology no longer stands in the way of sharing information. It is impressive to see the projects that started at the beginning of the Internet's growth, and are still thriving today.
The Valley of the Shadow Project - Copyright 1993-2007
- Sponsored by the Virginia Center for Digital History and University of Virginia, this archive of primary resources comparing two communities on either side of the Mason-Dixon line during the Civil War has a very simply designed, but is pleasing to the eye and easy to navigate. The archive is broken down into three chronological sections, the Eve of War, the War Years, and the Aftermath, and further broken down into the two communities being compared, and different types of primary and secondary resources, such as church records, maps, letters and diaries, newspaper articles, and memories about the war.
Dickinson Electronic Archives - founded 1994
- One of the first things I saw on this site is their invitation to participate in a virtual conference and exhibit on the new Emily Dickinson Collection. This invitation was not just to scholars and archivists, but to teachers, readers, and anyone else interested. The website is pleasant to view and easy to navigate. Unlike the other projects I've reviewed, this one has a link to its original archive format from 1994-2012, so you can see the much simpler format of the archive.
Romantic Circles - founded 1996
- A collaborative project from University of Maryland started in 1996, this project is still active and hosts a wide range of media where people of all walks of life can access information and scholarly debate on literature and culture in the Romantic period. There are sections for peer-reviewed articles, teaching resources, electronic archives of materials from the Romantic period, scholarly resources, galleries of curated image collections from the Romantic period, audiocasts of Romantic literature being read and reviewed, and a blog. There's a seemingly endless amount of information on the Romantic period, and all in a cohesive and well-organized layout. The authors and site managers are all plainly displayed, giving credit to each individual collaborator at all times. It would be interesting to have seen how complicated the original site design would have been compared to today's active project. I hesitate to use the word "community," because while there seems to be a lot of information available to anybody who wishes to access it, there does not seem to be much interactivity among readers, not even a space for comments on the blog.
Lascaux - founded 1998
- Since the Ministry of Culture and Communication in France originally put the prehistoric art at Lascaux online in 1998, the website has developed into a state of the art resource to learn about the caves. Flash animation allows viewers a POV journey through the caves to see the prehistoric art they might otherwise never have the opportunity to see outside a history textbook. Computer animation will only get more and more realistic, which allows sites that are difficult to access (or need to have restricted access for preservation purposes) even more of an opportunity to share their treasures.
Hawthorne in Salem - copyright 2002
- While this site may seem out of date because of its design, its content was last updated August 26 this year. This site is a collaboration of three Salem, MA museums about Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was an endowed project for a local community college and created by professional web designers in 2002. One thing that sets this project apart from others I've reviewed is the invitation extended to anyone who would like to contribute to do so. The site contains interactive maps of Salem and the surrounding area, appearing as they would during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, during Nathaniel Hawthorne's life (author of The Scarlet Letter, about the trials), and today.
Persepolis: A Virtual Reconstruction - copyright 2003
- I was very fortunate to be able to see the Persepolis3D digital images while at the British Museum in 2009. While the website itself is underwhelming and lacking in updates since 2008, there is no denying the herculean efforts that have gone into this project. Seeing the reconstruction images in the context of a museum exhibit was much more helpful than seeing a small rendering out of context on their website.
Hurricane Digital Memory Bank - Copyright 2005-2012
- This project was organized by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media and the University of New Orleans in order to preserve the first-hand accounts of people who lived through Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. This site currently serves as a repository for photos, maps, stories, oral histories and videos. Very easy to navigate.
The Avalon Project - copyright 2008
- This project by the Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library is ordered chronologically, by major collections, and links to other Yale libraries, Project DIANA for human rights cases, and a collection of the Nuremberg Trials. It has a plain web design, is easy to navigate, but takes the historical documents out of context and denies readers a certain experience they'd get by seeing the actual document virtually. There are only transcriptions of the historical resources, no facsimiles or photos that I found, and only one PDF linked from 2003. The sources span a vast amount of time, all the way from Hammurabi's Code, to the Magna Carta, to a congressional hearing on Middle East peace progress in 2003.
Digital Karnak - copyright 2008
- This digital history project digitizes the ancient city of Karnak. Like the Lascaux digital project, a site that could have preservation issues and need to be protected can benefit greatly from being digitized. People can still learn about it in an interesting way (like Karnak's videos, Google Earth images, and photographs), and realize the importance of preserving such a site. The site is simple in its layout, but highly organized and easy to navigate.
The April 16 Archive - copyright 2011
- This is an archive of memories and photos of the Virginia Tech massacre on April 16, 2007, and its aftermath on the community. While the copyright is dated 2011, the most recent date I was able to find is from a year after the event in 2008. The site itself is simple in layout, though somewhat confusing to navigate and understand. There are quite a few places with broken code and thumbnails, but every photo I came across was still working in its original link. It will be interesting to see how this archive is maintained over the years, as well as what other entries will be made as they will rely on memory of those affected.
Amiens Cathedral Project - estimated 2012
- I knew nothing about this project before I looked at the website, and I feel as though I still know nothing about the project. I felt rather silly as I kept looking and looking for the name of the cathedral they were studying before realizing it was in the title of the project. There is no information provided on the actual project itself - nothing about who is studying the cathedral, who is taking all the photos, compiling all the maps, sketches, and text resources, who is sponsoring the study - and there is a wealth of knowledge here, but no credit given. There was once a discussion area, but it was taken down in 2012 because the platform they used to host the discussion was removed. The photos, categories, and links were difficult for me to make out - it felt like everything was too small in the design. I think they attempted to create a technically-complicated website, but sacrificed accessibility in the process.
American Memory - unknown
- Unfortunately the "About" page on the Library of Congress' American Memory site is not working, so I was unable to read about the start of the project or how it differs from the other collections in the Library of Congress. This site seems to be a hodge podge of different websites showcasing their collections. Unlike the Avalon Project, the Library of Congress has scanned copies of their collections available, which I feel adds so much more to the experience. For example, on a pamphlet of a speech Frederick Douglass, you can see where notes were written in the margins. I'm not sure whether these were by Douglass himself, someone there at the time of the presentation, or someone at a later time, but it humanizes the subject and puts it into context.
The Oyez Project - 2011 - 2015
- This blog has up to date publications of SCOTUS cases in the news. It has a more complicated web design that is very appealing to the eye, and makes it easy to process and take in lots of information as it's organized well. Because this project is in blog format, readers are able to subscribe for updates, and leave comments on posts. One thing I noticed that is different from the other projects is the use of other tools on the website, such a video posts from the faculty. Monthly archives go back to September 2011, and it seems to have been well maintained up to this current month.
Life Outtacontext, In Our Path, and Eye Level - Various - Present
- These three blogs all by the same man show the wide range of things you can do with blogs these days. First, his personal blogs, Life Outtacontext and In Our Path, showcase his personal talents as a "meta-narrator" and photographer. Eye Level is a mouthpiece for the Smithsonian Institute. All three vary greatly in design, layout, and function, and utilize different tools (such as a Twitter feed on Outtacontext).
To summarize, it seems that even with the advent of new technology and tools available to digital history projects, some won't take the opportunity to update. Appearance is very important, as is functionality and navigability. It is interesting to see the sites that have chosen to update, especially when given the opportunity to see how they used to operate, in the case of the Dickinson Electronic Archives. Funding and public interest drive projects forward, and a lack of technology no longer stands in the way of sharing information. It is impressive to see the projects that started at the beginning of the Internet's growth, and are still thriving today.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
The Blog, In a Nutshell
The blog (shortened from the original "web log") became one of the first venues for interactivity on the web. Over time, the blog has evolved and grown into a digital tool that can be utilized in many different ways.
Like the original web pages, some blogs are used merely to convey information and offer very little, if any, interactivity with the blog's viewers. Other blogs are used by their authors as social media - blogs being the first social media to really appear on the Internet - and invite quite a bit of comment and interactivity from its viewers. Many blogs lie somewhere between those two points on the spectrum. There are many, many blogs devoted to the study and education of history.
One problem blog readers may come across when studying history is the ability to determine the level of authority of the author. When blogs were first popping up on the Internet, the use of such a tool required at least a basic knowledge of things like HTML and coding. With sites such as WordPress, Blogger/Blogspot, tumblr, and any other blog platforms, it is incredibly easy for any layman with no knowledge of HTML or coding to create a sophisticated and professional-looking blog. I had no trouble creating an account, picking out a theme and layout, and started this blog for my class. I have almost zero working knowledge of how the Internet actually works, yet I can use it very easily thanks to tools like Blogger created by those who do have that skill set.
Fortunately, a quick Google search of "American history blog" led to some reputable sources, such as the Smithsonian Institute's National American History Museum and a site called The Junto, a blog run by early American academics. But what if somebody were to follow the link for 100 Awesome Blogs for History Junkies? It's on the website for online colleges, so it may come across as reputable, but closer inspection shows that some sites recommended are run by hobbyists and not academics. Credentials give an author credibility and authority in any subject. However, sometimes all it takes is writing with an authoritative voice to gain the trust of readers.
It is important when searching for facts to always consider the source. Who is writing? Are they conveying an opinion or facts? What are their sources?
What do you look for in a blog? If the source is credible, do aesthetics and voice matter as much? Or, do the appearance and an air of authority add even more credibility to a source? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Like the original web pages, some blogs are used merely to convey information and offer very little, if any, interactivity with the blog's viewers. Other blogs are used by their authors as social media - blogs being the first social media to really appear on the Internet - and invite quite a bit of comment and interactivity from its viewers. Many blogs lie somewhere between those two points on the spectrum. There are many, many blogs devoted to the study and education of history.
One problem blog readers may come across when studying history is the ability to determine the level of authority of the author. When blogs were first popping up on the Internet, the use of such a tool required at least a basic knowledge of things like HTML and coding. With sites such as WordPress, Blogger/Blogspot, tumblr, and any other blog platforms, it is incredibly easy for any layman with no knowledge of HTML or coding to create a sophisticated and professional-looking blog. I had no trouble creating an account, picking out a theme and layout, and started this blog for my class. I have almost zero working knowledge of how the Internet actually works, yet I can use it very easily thanks to tools like Blogger created by those who do have that skill set.
Fortunately, a quick Google search of "American history blog" led to some reputable sources, such as the Smithsonian Institute's National American History Museum and a site called The Junto, a blog run by early American academics. But what if somebody were to follow the link for 100 Awesome Blogs for History Junkies? It's on the website for online colleges, so it may come across as reputable, but closer inspection shows that some sites recommended are run by hobbyists and not academics. Credentials give an author credibility and authority in any subject. However, sometimes all it takes is writing with an authoritative voice to gain the trust of readers.
It is important when searching for facts to always consider the source. Who is writing? Are they conveying an opinion or facts? What are their sources?
What do you look for in a blog? If the source is credible, do aesthetics and voice matter as much? Or, do the appearance and an air of authority add even more credibility to a source? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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