Due to the increase of online databases and collections of newspaper articles and other artifacts, resources have never been easier to find. In fact, the ease of using databases allow sources to be accessed from all over the world. However, because of how easy it is to find and view these sources, researchers tend to take for granted the actual value of them.
During Tony Guidone’s presentation 1, he brought in several artifacts including a German coin and several newspaper articles from the past. He told us that the way that we interact with these coins or papers in person are different than how we would perceive them online.
Being able to actually see the details of a coin, the dirt, the corrosion, the intricacy of the design, is different than seeing a mere picture of it on the internet. Holding the artifact in one’s hand allows a greater connection to the history behind the coin. Questions can cross one’s mind as to where it has been and who this coin has encountered before. The novelty of this item just simply isn’t the same when seen online through a picture.
Likewise, the newspapers that were brought in allowed the class to get a greater feel of what was going on at the time. In an online data base, doing a simple key word search can highlight the paragraph that needs to be read while allowing the researcher to ignore everything else in the paper. Seeing a newspaper from the early to mid 20th century brings about a sense of nostalgia for the older eras. There were campaigns talking about rationing for the war and there was also an ad for a Model T2 one of the first affordable wide production cars in America. Being able to see small things like ads or rationing campaigns really allows the researcher to connect with the newspaper more.
Although seeing an artifact or other source in person is more meaningful, the practicality of being able to use sources outside of the web is low. According to Ian Milligan in an article from Project Muse 3 the increase of the citations of newspaper articles has increased dramatically since the rise of online newspaper databases. Due to this fact, it is easy to see that accessing sources online can be more practical albeit less of an experience.
Overall, digital projects can create social change by allowing information to be viewed and processed anywhere in the world. They allow artifacts to be known to not only the country it originated from, but in hundreds of other countries as well. Information can be spread, and even though some of the novelty for the item can be lost online, that does not diminish the importance of the information it displays.
Works Cited:
History.com Editors. (2010, April 26). Model T. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/model-t
George Mason University Central Authentication Service (CAS). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://muse-jhu-edu.mutex.gmu.edu/article/527016
- Tony Guidone came into class to give a presentation on historical artifacts and their significance in digital history with respect to online databases
- History.com Editors. (2010, April 26). Model T. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/model-t
- Ian Milligan, “Illusionary Order: Online Databases, Optical Character Recognition, and Canadian History, 1997–2010” https://muse-jhu-edu.mutex.gmu.edu/article/527016
