HHS 126, US History since 1865
Prof. Russell
Spring 2015

Some thoughts on Digital History from Roy Rosenzweig and Dan Cohen, Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web
Full text available from http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/

- The notion of a “Digital Revolution” has provoked euphoria from many, but also skepticism.

- We need a sober assessment: In what ways can digital media and digital networks allow us to do our work as historians better?

Seven qualities of digital media and networks:
Capacity; Accessibility; Flexibility; Diversity; Manipulability; Interactivity; and Hypertextuality

Five dangers of digital media and networks:
Quality; Durability; Readability; Passivity; Inaccessibility

Five main genres of digital history projects:

1. archives (containing primary sources)
2. exhibits, films, scholarship, and essays (secondary sources)
3. teaching (directed at classroom use)
4. discussion (focused n dialogue)
5. organizational (info on a particular historical group)

Of course, these are loosely followed and frequently blurred.  But by thinking about genres you also think about how sites connect with their audiences—a fundamental aspect of communication—and you can be in a better position to think about your own effort.  Knowing the existing models and categories is a good first step.

The Internet “is undoubtedly a more democratic form of history than found in selective physical archives or nicely smoothed historical narratives, and it shares democracy’s messiness, contradictions, and disorganization—as well as its inclusiveness, myriad viewpoints, and vibrant popular spirit.” (188)

We have a responsibility to use these tools to make history more democratic, reflects different voices, encourages people to participate in writing their own histories, reaches diverse and multiple audiences.