Stephanie, Sheila, and I are participating in an online conference on digital history. As we prepare our presentations, we’ve put together a blog to share with everyone our thoughts leading up to the conference. Entitled “History’s Digital Past, Present, and Future,” we plan to discuss the ways in which the collecting, teaching, and publishing of historical knowledge online has changed over time. Arguing that one significant aspect of online history is its collaborative nature, we put together the blog in the spirit of collaboration, not only among ourselves but also with anyone else interested in participating. The blog is part note-collecting, part sounding board, and we hope that it can server as an example of the benefits of collaborative thinking and openness .
From our proposal:
Much of the History Web consists of sites dedicated to publishing content, collecting historical data, and conveying educational information, or some combination of the three. Our presentations critique past and present methods of accomplishing these three tasks and address future problems and possibilities afforded by new media.
This panel will be presented through a website that embodies the increasingly collaborative process of online history. Each presentation will be one “section” of the site, exploring its individual topic while encouraging participants to see the connections inherent in all three processes of teaching, publishing, and collecting history online. The panel is, in effect, collaborative. Additionally, (and in the spirit of learning, sharing, and participating) the panel will host a blog, on which the panelists will post ideas, links, and other commentary as they develop their projects. The blog will serve as a model for “making history online” by exemplifying the panel’s themes of locating, collecting, and sharing materials, and will supplement the final presentations.
We hope to get lots of participation on the blog, so please pass along this “call for pparticipants” to anyone who may be interested. The conference is being held online, April 24-27.
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