Collecting History Online by Daniel Cohen
In his article Cohen begins by stressing the importance of interactivity via the Internet between professional historians, their colleagues, and history audiences. Along with means of personal and group communication (e-mail, messaging services, discussion boards and social media) the author talks about using the internet to reach out and collect artifacts and images hither to yet gathered from around the globe, emphasizing the reach of the internet and incorporating amateur historians and personal recollections and collections.
Cohen discusses the ethereal nature of the internet as formats rise and fall, as personal accounts and even news articles are lost in the backlog or due to inactive websites and abandoned platforms. The internet also provides new tools to reach out and collect personal stories, often without the historian having to travel in person to each location. Major museums have developed programmes involving internet access to record various stories, from immigration to wartime memories, to be collected, curated, and later exhibited. A multitude of factors need to be considered when designing an online projects, especially one involving individual participation and interest. “Online collection efforts tied to a real-world event, institution, or social network have a good chance of attracting and sustaining involvement.” Cohen also stresses the importance of tailoring your collection efforts to the community you are attempting to reach. While he suggests that younger people might prefer instant messaging over more “traditional” email, I find this assertion a bit silly, as email is used by both young and old, and instant messaging is far more transitory than email. He also emphasizes that when designing your website that you include both an easily accessible way for patrons to view other contributors’ stories as well as clear and easy links for them to submit their own in order to continue the project. This would mean having a large enough collection to prove interesting when setting up the initial website.
The Road to Xanadu: Public and Private Pathways on the History of the Web by Roy Rosenzweig
Rosenzweig begins his article talking about the history of the internet and its early adoption, before transitioning into the popularity of amateur historians creating and curating content online, from Civil War enthusiast and reenactors to family genealogy. He states that the multitude of hands and eyes have helped to transcribe countless census records and upload mountains of images to the internet. He discusses the professional organizations such as the National Endowment of the Humanities and other university and museum collections that have created more professional content, without negating more grassroots or non-profit projects. Privatization of content through monetization is covered, with the most likely being online subscription services. The argument that larger and social and scholarly goals should necessitate that the content collected should be free for all to access is deliberated as well as what other alternative revenue models they might employ to allow them to continue in their work. One of the most popular solution appears to be site advertising, not unlike how newspapers and earlier and other internet revenue systems work.
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