weisner

First of all, I went ahead and played around on Wikipedia for awhile, searching for some way to contribute/edit. It’s amazing how much stuff is on that site…and it’s really funny that anyone can contribute anything they want. Being able to write an entry myself, I now understand how ridiculous it is that anyone would attempt to cite Wikipedia as a “scholarly source” (as some of my students in the past have done on papers). While I made my post as accurate as possible, clearly others do not take the time to check facts, nor really care. However, it is a great starting point for research topics or general background information! Anyway, I thought I would contribute/edit the post about my alma mater, Notre Dame. However, Wikipedia has a HUGE entry already and I didn’t see any openings… so I ended up creating a small reference site for my old dorm at ND. The  link was on the page, but no one had tackled it yet. Here it is…Pangborn Hall. It’s pretty short, but a good starting place for anyone with more time/motivation!

While all three site were interesting to browse, I was most attracted to the last two. To begin with, I was fascinated by the Pepys’ diary, especially since I’m planning on using it as a loose model for my own website. I love that reading someone’s diary can really transport you to a different time, and the web makes it so accessible for anyone to check out. I can’t imagine how many more people are using this web version than the one in print. Additionally. it provides you with the opportunity to move outside just his story and into more history (via the links). This is a format I hope to copy in my website. The annotations at the end of each entry also provide a great way to insert my own voice for clarification or other neccessary info. that I can’t include in an entry. While Samuel’s diary is amazingly thorough and possesses a ton on information, I can hopefully make a similar, smaller version.

I also loved the history carnival website. It seems to be well managed and reliable, as each post has to be submitted to the host or the co-coordinator. (Although I’m not sure if actual historic content is edited so it may not be totally dependable). It’s also a huge network which is incredibly well organized to handle numerous submissions. I think it’s great that the carnival welcomes such a broad range of applicants…you do not need to be a professional historian or scholar, you must only have an interest in history. This certainly widens the audience as well. Each carnival I checked out contains a ton of links and information, although the presentation varies. Some (like the Tigerliy Lounge: History Carnival XX) are a little more ambitious from a design standpoint while others have a much simpler format (Musings of a Grad Student). However the high level of content remains in each edition. What a great resource.