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I agree with Ian Milligan’s quote because the digital age has given us access to and the platform to which we can provide access to a wide array of digital histories. Never before have we ever been able to get quick and easy access to information using platforms like google and even wikipedia (sorry if you don’t agree it is a good enough source). For this reason alone, I agree that websites and the internet as a whole will develop into a platform into a significant source for social, cultural and political historians. This not-so-distant future may already be here… historians are using websites, Internet platforms and social media to connect and share ideas. Although they may not be considered sources, the infamous saying “I saw it or heard it on the internet somewhere” may turn into “good enough”. Maybe at that point Wikipedia will be officially deemed RELIABLE…
This is a late response, but just catching up with my work!! #sorry!
I do agree that the digital age does involve more work, in comparison to the age of paper and ink because of all the accessible resources available to us the technology-centred world we all live in.
Previously, it was sufficient enough to scribble with ink on paper to communicate and share knowledge and ideas. Nowadays, we almost have a responsibility to use the internet and technology as a platform to share and amplify our knowledge, resources and skillset, in an effort to continually boost access and accessibility.
With social media, for example, we are given a “free” platform to which we can share and learn new information. By simply creating a post, you can spread the “word” and have access to the “words” that have already been spread. Similarly, google is a free search engine that gives us access and answers to anything we simply type into the search bar. But in order for your work to pop up on the search engine, you must have knowledge in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or Google AdWords. Without this technological knowledge base and one of many extra steps after creating your work, your work might not even get found. Thus, digital historians, content creators, and people alike, are almost bound to the responsibility of creating unique content, exploring new ideas, and creating captivating research and findings that will interest and be found by people from all around the world.
What I find most interesting, is that we all have almost a responsibility to be technologically inclined and go the extra mile to put in the extra work, just in the hopes that others who do find your work, research, etc., will care and find your research valuable.
I know I am late on the discussion question but just haven’t been feeling my best & completely overwhelmed with this busy time of year. So here it is…
If I were were to design a search engine for historians, I would model it after the “JSTOR” website’s search engine. First and most importantly, it would have features including different filters to help better find documents or materials. These filters would include things like search by document type, name, author, date created, keywords, etc. Second, it would be efficient in displaying quick results when searching. Third, it would be secure backed-up to a secure server to ensure that if it crashes, the search engine itself or the documents would not be lost. Fourth, it would include an accessible way of creating citations pertaining to the documents that can be accessed from the search engine. Fifth, it would include a way of also doubling as an archive by adding documents to the site that can be found through the search engine!
Metadata is essentially data about data. It can give us information such as when the document was digitized, the format in which it was digitized, size of the file, by who it was digitized and if it was edited, etc. This information is extremely important in organizing and cataloguing historical documents in large databases and can help us draw conclusions to any questions we many have pertaining to the document. Furthermore, I believe metadata is important for the digitization of historical documents because it can help us not only sort our data and keep organized while helping us to track changes to the document.
I believe a vital characteristic of a website is DESIGN. Design encompasses a wide variety of characteristics like colour, proportion/scale, unity, balance, alignment, emphasis, etc. Furthermore, A well-designed website should have a good colour scheme, cohesive theme, interactive elements (picture slider, search bars, etc.) and cool graphics, pictures and videos.
Check out one of my favourite websites to see exactly what I’m talking about! (Sorry if you aren’t a huge fan of online shopping)
I believe that accessibility is a huge component in forming a stellar history website. Accessibility encompasses the following elements:
– Easy to use and organized user interface: a good website should be easy to understand and find information on visual design and organization.
– Accessibility plugins for users including a translate option, where the webpage and content can be translated into another language, referencing/citation plugins, text enlarging and shrinking plugin, mobile display feature, and others.
– Advanced search engines on the webpage and tags on the content/information to help users find information more effectively.What do you all think? Anything else we can add to expand on accessibility in digital history?
Hello Everyone!
My name is Christina and I am in my fourth year of undergraduate studies in Art History. I took this course because I am enrolled in a Public History Certificate Program and not only was it an elective option, but it seemed super interesting. I cant wait to get started and learn about the impacts of technology on history!
