Unit 11: Digital Online Archives

A PLANTATION, THE COLD WAR, AND A CHURCH

What do they have in common? I uploaded files of these to the Northern Virginia History Archive -- 4 photos of Oatlands Plantation near Leesburg, one of the Cold War Museum near Warrenton, and one of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church outside Middleburg. All were photos I took (but forgot to say that on some). The site is very easy to use. I looked at the collections and at search features.

The similarities in design between this website and Amy Bersch’s Robinson schoolhouses are clear. After reading more about Omeka for this unit, and looking at the projects by the Center for History and New Media, I’d like to try Omeka (but not for this class). Having the support at a university nearby is a plus.

Cohen and Rosenzweig write: “The massive capacity of the web means that historians can push beyond the selectivity of paper collections to create more comprehensive archives with multiple viewpoints and multiple formats (including audio and video as well as text). Given the open access of the web, it seems appropriate to cast the widest possible net …”  The Center compiled the September 11 digital archive quickly as it was unfolding, and with more primary sources, something that no print publication could do as well.

A TOOL TO FIND A TOOL

A collections database could be started for some of the research I am doing as a volunteer for the Office of Historic Alexandria on items at a historic site. As I slowly compile the information, I can see the benefits of an online database now. It could link to sources located online, such as this carpentry website I found today from the New York Public Library https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e4-50b2-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Some of the items associated with the historic site are tools, found in the basement. A carpenter told me that they are old, maybe before 1900. By using this site, I learned that one item is a planer, and that this type was used by carpenters in the 1880s. The “period of significance” for the site is still being determined. By finding out who might have used this tool, and where, the site might have a story to tell. The database could be shared with a listserv for woodworkers, carpenters, historians, and those interested in historic preservation. The outreach could be a simple comment button, even anonymous, but could lead to more details about how one tool can help explain the site’s history.

DEMOCRACY DIES IN DARKNESS

That’s the motto The Washington Post adopted during the last presidential campaign.

Cohen and Rosenzweig said on using the Internet to collect history: “… it shares democracy’s messiness, contradictions, and disorganization–as well as its inclusiveness, myriad viewpoints, and vibrant popular spirit.” Good newspaper reports strive to include all the views and make sense of a topic or event (editorial opinion pages and clearly labeled advocacy articles are the exception).  

The Post has some good digital archives that come up quickly either because the tags are good or they pay Google (doubtful). If you look under World, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/digitalarchive/index.html you get to The Cuban Missile Crisis: Reliving the World’s Most Dangerous Days, which is a timeline and newspaper accounts of the event. Most newspapers, even national ones, don’t have archivists and librarians with time to create such digital archives unless there is a special section attached (a moneymaking product). Although The Post archive is extensive, it is difficult to find specific things. Since obituaries of ordinary people are rarely printed anymore, searching a name and www.legacy.com yields better results. 

While looking for online digital archives of newspapers as an alternative to ProQuest, I found https://paperofrecord.hypernet.ca/default.asp? I did not know the Toronto Star was the first newspaper to put its papers online, from 1892 until the present. If interested in a site where international as well as historical newspapers are archived, I'd try https://databases.library.jhu.edu/databases/subject/newspapers from Johns Hopkins. It is described as an “independent” newspaper database and requires a login.

Sometimes a newspaper or lay publication may not have cutting-edge research, so you look elsewhere. ProQuest has dissertations and theses, but it is unclear how the list is compiled – who decides the order? Universities must have an account to submit work by their faculty or students. This is about scholarly research on Star Wars: https://www.proquest.com/blog/pqblog/2015/Star-Wars--Theres-a-Dissertation-for-That.html in case you are doing research on popular culture.

With all these resources, a historian’s task is made easier – but not everything is archived.

                                      PROJECT UPDATE!

          I'm working on selecting and sizing the best photos for a story map on 20 Loudoun County cemeteries with historic ties. PROBLEM: I may be recreating it from scratch if I cannot get a free account, or pay for a short time to keep an account, by July 6. (They still insist I must pay.)  Should I sign up for a free public account under someone else's name and credentials? 
          The mapping of each cemetery is being done by address, but might also be done by GPS. 
          The number of graves in each cemetery is hard to locate, and may be impossible. At one cemetery, for example, the caretaker showed me a map and explained that each numbered plat can accommodate 12 caskets. I asked how many people are buried there, such as 500, and he said it is impossible and keeps changing. Some historic cemeteries are still "active" -- still accepting permanent residents. One has been "closed" for more than 100 years might be reopened, I was told. 
          Although I am not focusing on recent tombstones, one caretaker told me that I need permission from the Board of Trustees to use any photos from that cemetery. Dr. E, what do you think? 
          Each cemetery description will highlight a few famous people or features in an engaging, respectful way. I must still take photographs of a few places this weekend. So far, I have been out 7 days doing that. Could not even find one on a badly rutted back road, and was afraid that my 19-year-old small car would get stuck. When a deer jumped in front of me, I knew it was a sign to stop for the day. I don't  want to be a in a cemetery anytime soon unless I'm alive.

THE EXAM 

The psychic who cribbed her entire Mayan architecture and art website from Wikipedia contributors must not have a conscience. What does that say about her being honest with clients?