Digital: The Last (Historical) Frontier
Although many historians are in denial, digital is the future of history. Digitization solves many common problems, particularly dealing with space and access, but creates new problems as well - permanency, validity, integrity. Because of the importance and sheer magnitude of digital questions in historical research and teaching, I've broken the topic into two workshops.
Where You Get IT
This workshop will explore and assess the value of digital primary sources. Academic archival websites, news sites, and popular sources such as Wikipedia and YouTube will be evaluated. The pros and cons of the digital approach will be examined including contextualization and access issues. The integrity and mediation of source material, including the validity and usefulness of “on-the fly” sources such as Twitter and Facebook, will be discussed.
What You Do With IT
Modern history education demands the integration of multimedia and digital sources into presentation. This workshop will introduce tools for developing a sound historical narrative in an evolving media landscape. Course management tools such as eCourseware and Blackboard will be evaluated, as well as web-based presentation methods which allow incorporation of multimedia sources.