Entering the Wayback Machine

Have you ever heard of the Internet Archive Wayback Machine? This online tool allows people to look at how websites from all over the internet have changed since they first appeared under their current address. While it is fun to just play around with the website, one can also look at it as an example of digital history. Since the 1990s, when the internet was introduced to the public, websites have grown to be extraordinarily sophisticated. Looking back is interesting because it allows us to consider what roles the internet and technology play in our everyday lives.
I chose to look back at the website of the North Carolina Museum of History. This website first appeared on February 20, 2001. Over the past eleven years (yes, it has been that long), the NCMH has made many changes to it's website, both in terms of content and appearance. In fact, many of the programs that were in common use back in 2001 no longer work on newer machines! For example, the version of Java that was being used in 2002 would not operate on my computer. The website looked more or less the same until March 2004, when it was made to look more colorful with more interactive menu options. The site continued to look very similar through 2008, but continued to become more sleek and less "clunky". The 2009 version was more modern with external links and click-throughs available on the home page. As of July 2011, the site has an online archive and other public resources. The internet has only existed for a fraction of human existence, but it has already changed the way we look at and develop ideas about history and its significance.

What is Digital History? Part II

In response to the Introduction and first chapter written by Daniel J. Cohen and Roy Rosenzwieg, technology has changed radically in the past twenty years, and these changes have reached academia, an area not typically known for its tech-savvy participants. Technology, while it has every aspect of society in some way, it has hardly been a revolution. Now, this is the opinion of the authors, and I do not entirely agree with their assessment. While I do not want to tear down the opinions of other scholars, I will say that I think that technology has been revolutionary, especially speaking in terms of the study and analysis of history. Instead of hunching over books in a dusty library, historians are now clicking away on computers and other devices, attempting to engage in a personal way through the screen. The authors throw lots of information and ideas at the reader, making reading the information almost overwhelming. However, I think that these are the key points:
1. While digital history might be more interactive, it is also more passive
2. The Digital Divide could create a serious learning curve in terms of educating the general public about history
3. Digital history materials can be of very high quality, similar to any other written or recorded resource
4. Digitalization makes history more accessible to the public, not just to scholars with access to more resources than ever
5. The internet moves unimaginably quickly, forcing historians to keep up and find ways to keep their general and scholarly audiences engaged
6. The History Web is vast, with all kinds of resources, making categorizing these tools very difficult, especially in terms of unveiled primary sources
7. Digital history does not just utilize the internet and its ability to host exhibits and vast databases; it also uses films, archival software, photography, and RSS feeds, among many others

What is Digital History?

Digital history is becoming a very common practice in the field of history, but many people do not know what it is. What on Earth do I mean when I say "digital history"? At its root, digital history is the practice of using digital media resources for historical presentation, analysis, and research. This is quite a chance for historians, since history is normally seen as a book-based discipline. Moreover, new methods for preserving and studying history digitally are always in development and therefore might be difficult to define and place into a definitive category. Not everyone can write a book on a historical topic,but nearly everyone has the ability to post something online for thousands of people to see. While it is true that digital history may be easier to preserve, it is certainly not fail-proof, and somewhat takes away from the authentic meat of what is being studied from digital media. On the other side, technology is a great tool that allows historians and other interested in history to delve into topics from nearly any location and from nearly any machine. The world has become more and more wired, and now we have great ways in which to share our history and exchange ideas and information.