About

Since 1994 under the founding direction of Roy Rosenzweig, the Center for History and New Media (CHNM) at George Mason University has used digital media and computer technology to democratize history—to incorporate multiple voices, reach diverse audiences, and encourage popular participation in presenting and preserving the past. The center itself is a democratic, collaborative space where over fifty scholars, technologists, and researchers work together to advance the state of the art.

CHNM uses digital media and technology to preserve and present history online, transform scholarship across the humanities, and advance historical education and understanding. Each year CHNM’s many project websites receive over 20 million visitors, and over a million people rely on its digital tools to teach, learn, and conduct research.

CHNM’s work has been recognized with major awards and grants from the American Historical Association, the National Humanities Center, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the U.S. Department of Education, the Library of Congress, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Mellon, Sloan, Hewlett, Rockefeller, Gould, Delmas, and Kellogg foundations.

Awards

CHNM’s work has been recognized with major awards and grants, including:

  • Omeka, $50,000 Mellon Award for Technology Collaboration for the development and release of the Omeka cultural heritage collections Web presentation system.
  • Zotero, among PC Magazine‘s “Best Free Software” in 2007 and 2008.
  • World History Matters, recipient of the James Harvey Robinson Prize of the American Historical Association, for “the impressive depth and breadth of its primary sources, the comprehensive geographical scope and transnational approach, and the user-friendly site design,” 2007.
  • Zotero, Best Instructional Software of 2007 by the Information Technology and Politics section of the American Political Science Association.
  • Zotero, recognized by AI3 as a Jewels & Doubloon Winner, 2007.
  • Hurricane Digital Memory Bank, Award of Merit for Leadership in History from the American Association of State and Local History (AASLH) to CHNM and the University of New Orleans, June 2007.
  • U.S. History Matters, co-recipient of the James Harvey Robinson Prize of the American Historical Association for its “outstanding contribution to the teaching and learning of history,” 2005.
  • U.S. History Matters, New York Public Library “Best of Reference 2005″ website.
  • CHNM Website, as one of the 101 Best Web sites for Secondary Teachers by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), 2005.
  • Award from Alexandria City Public Schools for “commitment and dedication to the students of Alexandria City Public Schools” for work with ACPS teachers through the Creating a More Perfect Community project, a Teaching American History grant awarded to Alexandria City Public Schools and funded by the United States Department of Education, 2005.
  • CHNM Website, inclusion in the National Endowment for the Humanities EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web, 2005.
  • CHNM Director Roy Rosenzweig was presented with the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities’ Award for Excellence in the Humanities, 2004.
  • Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution, inclusion in the National Endowment for the Humanities EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web, 2004.
  • The National Humanities Center presented CHNM Director Roy Rosenzweig with the second Richard W. Lyman Award, which recognizes the innovative use of information technology in humanistic scholarship and teaching, 2003.
  • U.S. History Matters, inclusion in the National Endowment for the Humanities EDSITEment: The Best of the Humanities on the Web, 1999.
  • Who Built America CD-ROM, co-recipient of the James Harvey Robinson Prize of the American Historical Association, 1994.

Affiliated and Hosted Sites

Contract Services

Folks at CHNM spend most of their time working on cutting edge, grant-funded research projects like Zotero, Teachinghistory.org, and the Papers of the War Department. However, as a leader in the growing fields of digital history and digital humanities, CHNM is also eager to assist other historical, educational, cultural, and governmental organizations meet the challenges of the digital age. Whether your institution is looking to manage its research activities more effectively, build a new teaching website or its next online exhibition, or improve its overall web and social media strategy, CHNM can help with a range of custom contract development, consulting, and support services, including:

  • Zotero Custom Development
  • Zotero Deployment Consultations
  • Omeka Custom Design and Development
  • Omeka Custom Data Import
  • Web Design and Development (including Omeka, WordPress, Drupal)
  • Web Presence and Social Media Strategy Consulting and Assessment

Please contact CHNM to learn about the work we have done for partners ranging from the Smithsonian Institution to Emory University to the National Museum of American Jewish History to the National Science Foundation and what CHNM can do for you.

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