I think since elementary school, teachers have been teaching us how to use Google and databases to narrow down sources for big essays, which is something that older generations did not have access to. It helps filter down information that may have taken hours to look for in a physical library before text searching existed. The secondary sources that are found during text searching help find primary resources that are necessary for some research projects or questions to support the argument. I think that in a less academic way as well, using search engines has become such a daily activity to answer quick questions or look for information in everyday life that it has made knowledge accessible to almost everyone with internet.
Digital projects can help make the way someone or an audience comprehends the topic it is trying to target. Referring back to last week’s project, “The Knotted Line” used an interactive timeline to engage the user in the history of prison reform and strides of freedom in the U.S., in addition to allowing the user to add their own personal experiences to comment section of the timeline. To me at least, as confusing as it was, it made me want to look for the next box on information and made me want to keep reading and I feel like that should be a goal for someone creating digital history project. It keeps the reader engaged and wanting to get informed on whatever topic it is referring to. In reference to social change, the more people find interest in the topic, the more it is talked about and something gets done about it.
In terms of something being gained, whatever topic of history is being talked gets a more modernized sense of being, therefore making it more relatable and understandable for the user to absorb the knowledge. It also reaches a larger audience than keeping it in a set location, which can also tie back to the first paragraph that talks about how it can help us engage with information.
References:
Guidone, Tony. 9 Sept. 2019.
Milligan, Ian. “Illusionary Order: Online Databases, Optical Character Recognition, and Canadian History, 1997–2010 .” Project Muse, Dec. 2013, https://muse-jhu-edu.mutex.gmu.edu/article/527016.
