ASSIGNMENT:
(a) Examples of blogs that are used in different ways for the study of history.
1. https://blog.oieahc.wm.edu/the_octo/
This site seems to be an aggregator. It is unclear what the Omohundro Institute is from the blog, except that it is to study Early American history and culture. This site has recipes and the first gay cookbook and articles about reproductive freedom. https://oieahc.wm.edu/ tells me it is William and Mary College. That is not prominent -- QI identified on site as an independent research organization at the school. Great to see that some schools allow discussion of topics that may offend some.
2. While searching for these, I came across http://rogerws1.blogspot.com/ which is incomprehensible. I also saw some such as http://livinginwilliamsburgvirginia.blogspot.com/2010/10/native-americans-in-colonial.html which have not been maintained for awhile (2010), but is listed under http://mastersinhistory.org/2010/top-50-american-history-blogs/(bad links)
3. https://afterthoughtsblog.net/2016/02/history-different-perspectives.html -- I'm not even sure what this is. History light? History for dummies? A Christian perspective on history? Different, yes.
4. https://americanrevolutionblog.blogspot.com/ Bad URL. Blogs die. Content good, but blogger moved on. Bad links exist with nowhere to go.
5. http://www.musicalpassage.org/#about WOW! Explores early music. Text almost secondary. Merging sound and image makes for a very effective site. Wonder if this changes much.
(b) Follow two different historians or historical organizations/associations/entities etc.
1. https://www.facebook.com/MosbyHeritageArea/ - Mosby "the Gray Ghost" was a big influence in Fairfax County, too. This Loudoun group is a nonprofit. Mission is very broad (too broad?):
Our mission is to educate about the history and advocate for the preservation of this part of Northern Virginia, remarkable not only for its history and natural beauty, but also because it retains so much of the landscape and landmarks of three centuries of our past. We have Native American, colonial and Civil War historic sites. We can travel land George Washington surveyed, visit quaint villages and small towns, see farms and open spaces as well as the grand homes of Chief Justice Marshall, President Monroe, the Carters and the Lees.
Me: Former Yankee celebrates a Civil War hero's of the South's accomplishments. View changing after years of residence here. Embrace it.
2. https://www.facebook.com/wetatvfm is what I got when I followed Boundary Stones https://blogs.weta.org/boundarystones/ (a nice local blog -- I'd like to know more about the contributors). DMV area coverage, most stories in District so far. Looks like the basic WETA site is what you follow. Watch some of these local stories on TV, so will follow this. Some better than others. Hmm....Guess I'll get more fundraising letters in the mail and maybe email now, too.
FROM THE SUGGESTED WEBSITES:
Not a blog, but looks like one: Security ALERT!!! Clicked on a sub-area in The Lehigh Valley Railroad site. Microsoft shut down my laptop and said the Zeus virus was a threat.
Thoughts on some other sites:
- WWI Veterans - is really oral histories, memoirs. Describes itself as "not so much a blog, rather a snapshot of history" on work started in 1980s. Labels section is confusing; alphabetical or thematic would help. Why are links to Public Records search there several times?
- Women of History womenofhistory.blogspot.com/ links to newspaper articles. Not much original content, and "reactions" -- interesting, alarming-- are underutilized and add nothing.
- WWI Experiences of an English Solider: Odd IMO but well done, based on a dead man's letters. This is clear at the outset, yet readers made comments that sound as if they are expressing sympathy in the present. Emotional content. Effective blog but more of a website.
- In Our Path goes to another site by Jeff, "a recovering academic" who links to his projects. This is more of a website showcase for his work. Seems he Tweets more these days than add other content. Love the Contact: If you're trying to sell something to him, you won't get a response.
- Virtual Architectural Archaeology: Those black buttons on the right are jarring. Some type seems cut off. Great site idea.
- The Virginia Historical Society blog is the site for the newly named Virginia Museum of History and Culture? No longer used? Putting current info as a longish story here with directions and a map seems to result in a heavy page.
- Philly digital history -- a good idea with supposedly 10 contributors, 9 of whom seem to have not done anything. Prime and goals stated have overlap. Who exactly is the audience?
- History blog: Love the way it looks like an old book. Left-side content extensive. Bookmark this for all future work! BUT some links (such as to primarysourcebook.com) are no longer in public domain.
- Great Depression site reached through UNV link because it has been archived. Well written. Subheds, length, white background, contributors all credited. If I were teaching the Depression, I'd have students use this site. I felt compelled to read one area after another. Liked photos.
More bad links -- these are the WordPress ones for this unit that I emailed about the other day:
Jan Abdallaj https://byteofhistory.wordpress.com/
https://en.wordpress.com/typo/?subdomain=his218 - Amy's blog
Well done on this. As you see, blogs come and go, and I think that more are going than coming these days. For sure, fewer allow commenting. In fact, when I still worked on my blogs, I didn't allow comments because they were basically pointless.
ReplyDeleteYes, Boundary Stones is done by WETA. I think that because it is done by an organization, it has better prospects for continued success.