Tony Guidone gave a great informative presentation on digitization and keyword searches. Before this presentation I had never thought about how digitizing an artifact can make a difference in the way we interpret a scenario. For example newspapers that have been digitized. Not every newspaper that has been published online. When looking back at a certain time period, this has to be accounted for. 1. Tony made a great point when asking the class “ did the Toronto Star deserve to be cited?”. It brought up the topic of availability. This doesn’t mean that the paper is the best source of information but rather it is the source that is most easily available.
One of the ways text searching has changed the way we engage in information is that it speeds up the process. If we are looking for information on a specific topic, person or date we can quickly find it rather then reading through pages of information. I think word searching can also cause a negative outcome in research if not done correctly. Before conducting a word search I think an individual must be familiar with the language of the time period and understand context surrounding a person or thing. These two factors play a huge role in relaying information correctly.
Although artifacts online are great because they are easily accessible there is a downfall in them. Digital artifacts can lose original meanings conveyed by touch. For example in Tony’s presentation he passed out two coins. One coin was made from a heavier and thicker material than the other. This shows that the older coins were made better as opposed to the newer ones which felt more cheap. This element would be lost if there was only a picture of the coin online.
I think digital projects have the ability to make significant social change. Everything these days is online. Newspapers and magazines are sold as much and billboards don’t generate enough attention like they used to. Digital products are the new way to relay information. Social movements in a digital project would generate more of a response and effect than anything else.
Milligan, I. (2013). Illusionary Order: Online Databases, Optical Character Recognition, and Canadian History, 1997–2010. The Canadian Historical Review 94(4), 540-569. University of Toronto Press. Retrieved September 16, 2019
