I found "Collecting History Online" to be a fascinating composition of important points. It describes how so far, our readings in this book have covered one-way use and interaction, but that the Internet is much more than that. Although many historians have embraced computer and Internet technology in many aspects, such as communication (email, instant-messaging) and professional discussion groups, such as H-Net, of which I am a member and frequent contributor, and of course there are thousands of forums and sites where passionate amateurs can discuss and respond; in this respect, we see how well suited the Internet is to fast and free flowing discussion and exchange of information.
One way in which the Internet can play a role, but is not playing as yet a substantial one right now is research. The Internet is a wonderful, and inexpensive tool to investigate, collect historical information, contact historians across the globe for help in tracking sources, e.t.c... I whole heartily agree in this because I do believe that this isn't used very much, or if it is, then as Dr. Cebula was saying, some Historians try to hide it as much as possible.
The most important subject in this chapter for me is modern history! As it said, a huge amount of modern life and living exists in digital form. What about blogs, chatting, email? All those are very relevant, and provide huge amounts of data on modern life, who people are, what they do, what they believe in, what they think about events. Recently for example, there were several discussions in the news about White House digital records. President Bush and his cronies expunged many emails and other such records to cover up their "allegedly" illicit activity. Now President Obama is in favor of open access to those records and past records, and has ordered a comprehensive preservation of all White House communications for posterity. I myself have found references to emails in various books, like when a Historian is pointing out a particular email in the Clinton administration in their book, just as Historians referenced paper memos further in the past.
Another point worth mentioning, since I love typing so much, Is the audience a forum like a blog has, or lack thereof. If I spend all my time working hard on a discussion forum on a particular topic, I need to know, or would like to know what kind of audience I can expect. If I worked so hard on it, or if I received funding for it, then wouldn't it be a shame if it fell flat, with little traffic? For example, a forum around the topic "History of
Fritos Chips"? Perhaps not the best topic to be spending grant money on, as opposed to a topic like "The Failure of The Bush Administration" which would undoubtedly stir up debate and yet it is also very broad, and instead of serious academic discussion, you might get inundated with responses, both serious and off color, and so this might represent the other side of that coin.
We think of preserving digital materials, and some of us might go what??? After all, once
that rare manuscript has been scanned, even if it crumbles into dust, it's immortal isn't it? Well, what if a nuclear attack came? Lets pretend that somehow those servers holding that information aren't blown away, then wouldn't what is essentially magnetized information be wiped clean by the
EMP pulse? Or what if that information degrades overtime? Worse still, what if those important documents are stored on discs? Discs can decay, and fade over time, and even the best of them only last perhaps 300 years under optimal conditions, and even that isn't known for sure. An even more important point is that even if a 2000 year old papyrus scroll has been deteriorating for so long, we have techniques that will retrieve that information, whereas with Cd's, the first hint of deterioration, and they are rendered useless, in no time at all. It is interesting that this chapter mentions how the fact that Cd's and other such mediums are so perfect, allowing endless copies, is also the curse, because even one little error, and it's gone. Moreover, any equipment that could specialize in retrieving this damaged information would extremely expensive and time-consuming.
The type of information that the
LOC has available is actually impressive, given the current bureaucracy, and includes veteran eyewitness documents, a section on the performing arts such as dance and theater. It is also housing an excellent collection of newspapers online, eventually hoping to cover all newspapers in America up until 1922, as well as all information on legislation like copies of bills, Senate committee documents and so forth. There is also a collection of "American History & Culture" which I enjoyed. In the newspaper collection, I read an article in the "Stars and Stripes" about Col. John "Gatling Gun" Parker, who commanded the 362Nd infantry in the Argonne, and was severely wounded there, this issue being published February 7, 1919. I enjoy how I can search for particular issues, and even just search for something, I found this article on Col. Parker by searching for the term "Gatling Gun"! There doesn't seem to be much room for a forum on here, but then it is a broad and huge collection so perhaps that is just as well. I'm not sure if this is my fault, but I couldn't find any link to create a "
myLoc" account, so feel free to point that out if anyone else spots that.