http://historiarum.org/2007/09/11/seeing-things-differently/ Thoughts on Digital Media and History Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:15:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 http://historiarum.org/2007/09/11/seeing-things-differently/#comment-3731 Misha Griffith Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:48:30 +0000 http://historiarum.org/2007/09/11/seeing-things-differently/#comment-3731 I thought Hayes combined both a topical and a chronological organization of his material. By moving away from the pure textual analysis into a combination of visual asset and textual accompaniment, are we loosing any of the content? Or are we just retelling events in a method more appropriate to our audience? I will quite agree with you that the visual elements should not just be thrown before our viewers. First, they will most certainly come to conclusions about the visual based on their experiences, not on the historical context. And second, the visual image is too manipulative and too easy to be manipulated. Besides, we would all be out of jobs if the average student could merely pick up a primary document and understand the history. I thought Hayes combined both a topical and a chronological organization of his material. By moving away from the pure textual analysis into a combination of visual asset and textual accompaniment, are we loosing any of the content? Or are we just retelling events in a method more appropriate to our audience? I will quite agree with you that the visual elements should not just be thrown before our viewers. First, they will most certainly come to conclusions about the visual based on their experiences, not on the historical context. And second, the visual image is too manipulative and too easy to be manipulated. Besides, we would all be out of jobs if the average student could merely pick up a primary document and understand the history.

]]> http://historiarum.org/2007/09/11/seeing-things-differently/#comment-3656 Karin Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:02:03 +0000 http://historiarum.org/2007/09/11/seeing-things-differently/#comment-3656 Both of the digital sites that I looked at for maps had no historical backdrop for the maps. The maps from the University of Georgia's rare book collection that I used for my assessment at least had the year of creation and the author, so if I felt so incline, I could do some back up research. National Geographic's Map Machine had no background on its map...cool tools that let you zoom all over the place, but no context for why those particular maps were there. I had the same though about text becoming less important in the digital culture we live in. Are the fun buttons that allow us to write notes and drop tack on a digital map hindering our ability to require additional data from digital history producers? Both of the digital sites that I looked at for maps had no historical backdrop for the maps. The maps from the University of Georgia’s rare book collection that I used for my assessment at least had the year of creation and the author, so if I felt so incline, I could do some back up research. National Geographic’s Map Machine had no background on its map…cool tools that let you zoom all over the place, but no context for why those particular maps were there. I had the same though about text becoming less important in the digital culture we live in. Are the fun buttons that allow us to write notes and drop tack on a digital map hindering our ability to require additional data from digital history producers?

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