A Change Will Do Us Good

The question presented this week is how the World Wide Web changes the practice of doing history.. well in this amateur historian’s mind it changes the practice for the better because it opens up a whole new world to people who may not be able to access traditional historical resources. Now before anyone who reads this thinks I don’t appreciate or want to abandon our typical mediums of communicating history, that is not what I mean. As someone who approaches my views of history as a warrior who faces problems with a head full of steam and bluntness, we need to be honest with ourselves over just how this changes the practice for the better.

Lets be honest, History has been sometimes called an elitist field,I feel that history should not just be for elites, scholars, the well educated or those who can afford a good education. Everyone who loves history should have access to as many sources as they wish to learn from. Usually in order to access resources, either on the Public History level or on the academic level, a substantial amount of money can sometimes be required. In order to go to school one needs money(which does not grow from the ground) in order to go to Museum, you need to by admission tickets which can pile up. This roadblock leaves families that may be at lower income from allowing their children to access schools and museums.

In addition to this, there are some public schools that are actually cutting history from their schools, making young children cut off to even the most basic forms of history education. It must therefore be acknowledged that digital history may be a saving grace in enlightening our youth on the past of the world, their cultures, communities and the world around them. Children and teens who want to read some primary sources  and access scholarly work now have the option of doing so for free at local libraries, community centers or community colleges.

But what about the quality or validity of information presented on the internet? This is where historians come in. It is our job to make our research presented clearly, with as many footnotes and sources as we can. We should be sure that digital history archives are backed by universities, social programs, or individual scholars or organizations that have academic merit. We should be vigilant in looking our for badly done cites, and raise awareness of websites that are full of good information for the public, and ones that have been backed by Wikipedia and the History Channel.

So let’s do our best to support the progress of digital history and it’s potential to take the less fortunate to a new place of learning and understanding.