So the school year has come to a close. Amidst writing my final essays, I am compelled to complete another blog entry. First of all, I would like to comment on my blogging experience. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed it. Although I am clearly not the best or most interesting blogger, I did find it nice to write about certain issues that I found to be relevant. I have come believe that to being an effective blogger is really a skill. On the bright side however, it is in most cases a skill that can be acquired. To be an effective blogger one must be entertaining as well as insightful and witty. After reading Bill's blog as well as Rob McDougall's, and then comparing it to mine, you can see a difference with respect to the content as well as the approach. All things considered however I believe that the blogging portion of this course is very beneficial. It allowed us to express ourselves on various issues with the ability to be analyzed and critiqued by our peers. It has been a fun and effective way to relay many of our ideas which we were perhaps unable to in class.
With respect to the course itself? Well, again I found much of the material to be very useful and the ideas discussed in class to be interesting to say the least. I really think there is something to this art of Digital History. When I first began the course I had no idea what we would be learning throughout the year. How can history be digital? What is digital? Well the answer to these questions is not an easy one, but it is addressed many times throughout the course. The idea of Digital History is not a new one but has become increasingly important in today's world. With the creation of the w.w.w. the amount of information available has grown exponentially! What are we going to do with all this information and who will organize it into useful and not useful. I am left with believing that the answer to this question is quite complex. My personal belief as maintained throughout the course is that this is a wonderful thing, the internet. The fear has often been that technology is moving to quickly or that we are becoming lazier. The book in paper form will soon be replaced by scanned copies and there will be no incentive to write. Well quite frankly I disagree with these beliefs. I love using the internet, it is truly a great resource, but it is a limited resource! It is a great starting point for many individuals looking to begin their research about various topics. It is a great way to mesh many ideas and bring other new ones to the fore. But again, it is only a limited resource and it will stay that way. People will continue to publish books and they will continue to be sold. There really is something to buying a new book and cracking its spine for the first time. With regards to some of the other technologies we discussed throughout the year many of them proved to be interesting to say the least. It really is difficult to determine what the future of our digital community is, it will be useful and relevant but not threatening.
Finally, the Harvey Project. Besides sort-of learning how to program ( I say sort-of because I think it's impossible to fully learn how to program) this project taught me quite a bit. Clearly there is a continuity between Harvey's work and that of his predecessor Galen. That is not to discredit Harvey however who made perhaps one of the biggest breakthroughs in medical history! Overall I think the project itself was a complete success. Although our visitor turnout could have been more significant I believe those who came really enjoyed the exhibit. We really worked hard on each of our components and feel as though we were all somewhat surprised to see that they turned out as well as they did. The exhibit is a great reflection of how one can utilize a historical event, and express its content and significance through a digital means. I really think we did that! I enjoyed working with everyone in the class this year and I recommend this course to anyone looking to learn more about the significant digital world and how it applies to history through a hands on approach. Although I myself am in the course based program, I can see how much of what we have done throughout the year pertains to what I am involved in throughout my research as well. For those in public history, programming as well as learning how to make an effective exhibit is invaluable.
Thanks for a great year!
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