For this week’s blog entry I selected World History Sources and DoHistory both of which are currently managed by the Center for History and New Media. They represent opposite ends of the historical spectrum. DoHistory focuses on the use of primary sources to study the lives of ordinary individuals while World History Sources literally covers the world and contacts between cultures.
The DoHistory website uses the Martha Ballard diary that was made famous by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich who interpreted and published the diary of the late eighteenth-century midwife. The Pulitzer Prize winning book led to a PBS film documentary. This website was created to help answer the numerous requests for more information and research advice.
The website introduces its viewers to techniques used in conducting historical research on “ordinary” individuals through studying their diaries or personal papers. The entire Martha Ballard diary is available, viewable both in her original hand written script and through print transcription. While the diary is the center piece of the site it also acts as a launching point to study other topics such as midwifery and translating eighteenth-century hand writing. It includes hundreds of documents in its archives including court records, maps, newspapers, letters, and eighteenth century books. In addition there are several articles describing how to conduct historical research, interpret documents, grave markers and maps, search deeds, record oral histories, and make timelines. In short the site is as much about conducting historical research as it is about Martha Ballard.
The site is a companion to the book and film and as one might expect offers the opportunity to purchase both (although the link to the book is broken). After having read the book I found it interesting to be able view and search the entire diary. Two topics from the book are used as case studies that can be investigated further by students using the diary and other primary sources available on the site. I found the best part of the site, however, had little to do with Martha. The essays on doing research and the collection of documents offer opportunities for students to dive into primary sources. The site offers specific questions and sources in which to find the answers. This is a manageable amount of material that could prevent students from feeling overwhelmed. After gaining some experience through these exercises students may be more likely to examine other tools and sources and go off on their own historical explorations.
If the site has any drawbacks it’s in its organization. Like the image on the introductory page the materials and tools are arranged in a somewhat jumbled fashion. It is not very intuitive from looking at the site what one can do outside of the Martha Ballard material. In fact “What is this site?” is the smallest link on the main page. While one can read the entire diary online Ulrich’s book is not available here. Having read the book I can’t imagine getting much from the Martha Ballard materials without having read it first. Other issues include a lack of a “last updated on…” date and the “On this day…” was over a month off. These are small concerns that are greatly outweighed by the site’s usefulness as a teaching tool in the right hands.
I selected World History Sources as my second site because it too is a teaching site. It does not use a central story such as Martha Ballard to act as a case study and popular draw. It is purely a teaching and research tool that tries to fill a specific role for teachers of world history. It attempts to address the need for primary sources and deals with world history through examining comparative issues rather than through countries in isolation. It focuses on contacts between cultures and the economic, social, and cultural consequences.
Like the DoHistory site it offers essays on research techniques on numerous source types such as maps and documents, but unlike the other site it also offers comments on music and material culture. The essays offer questions to ask and additional resources. One of the best portions of the site is the website review area. It contains hundreds of reviews that are searchable by regions and time periods. This section also contains an essay that examines some of the issues surrounding using online sources. It discusses their reliability, quality, and translations. Together this section forms an important tool for those looking for quality historic websites.
There are few negative aspects to this site. The About section that offers an introduction to the site is located at the bottom of the main page and so is not placed in the most useful position. The three introductory paragraphs at the least should go on the main page. The layout of that page is jarring to the eye and could easily be redesigned to make room for the intro paragraphs. Without those paragraphs there is no real introduction to the site or what its purpose is. This arrangement is probably due to the fact that World History Sources is a sub-page of World History Matters which does contain a brief paragraph on the sources page. Nevertheless the page would benefit from a redesign.
Like the DoHistory site World History Sources provides a great starting point for examining the multitude of materials available on the web along with excellent short essays that introduce historical research methods. Teachers could make excellent use of these resources by introducing one or two issues at a time. After becoming comfortable with the site and its organization one could see how students would return to it on their own for future projects. I know I will.