Monday, January 3, 2011

Simple Digital History II

Here's a follow-up on an early post about simple digital history



Everyman the archivist, and yes that includes Benjamin Franklin Gates!

Simple digital history enables us all to be archivist. Just point, click and use.

Simple digital history makes use of ubiquitous digital devices (cell phone, digital camera, laptop, etc) to capture pictures or video of historical artifacts or historical resource (e.g. photographs, letters, and records). Images have been uploaded along with an annotation to a public online digital history website such as our Teaching Digital History ning, Flickr, or Footnote.

There is no minimum requirement with regard to the number of items in a simple digital archive, but the work should be focused on something plural. This might include multiple pages from a book or multiple correspondences. The work might also focus on artifacts or possibly even historical structures. Another important aspect of the work is to be creative and personal in the work.


A collection of 6 soda bottles found buried in the floor of the backyard shed, posted by Erin Klein.

Simple digital history should be scalable on a number of levels. For one thing, we should be able to pick up the process and apply it in different context with a different collection of materials. We should also be able to do the work with people who have a range skills and access to a range of technologies.

A simple digital history discussion forum on the Teaching Digital History community Ning (http://teachingdigitalhistory.ning.com) offers some examples of simple digital history projects with annotations that summarize the content of the historical materials and set the context for their original use and use in developing a related historical understanding.


A collection of religious items from the Roman Catholic Church posted by Lindsey Dowling

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