Thursday, August 23, 2012

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.
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 30, 2012 at 4:26 AM

    What do you think it means if everyone can post "history" on the web? Dr. Cox

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  2. annaboyerAugust 30, 2012 at 10:34 AM

    I think that it means that both scholars and casual researchers need to exercise caution when they are reading information from any given website. Since anyone can post, there is tons of false information, which is both frustrating and inevitable. I say "inevitable" because not everyone is a careful researcher and not everyone cites their sources. When doing research, I have learned that it is best to consult several sources on the topic, preferably sources leaning toward the scholarly side. I am not claiming to know everything about "history" on the web, whether in text or collection form, but I can speak as an academic researcher who wants accurate information.

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