Have at it and let me know what you think.

The Future of Teaching the Past: Digital Technologies and History Education in the 21st Century (http://chnm.gmu.edu/staff/sharon/workspace/OmekaEd/)

The copyright notice provides that images can be used for educational ventures by students and teachers, but not for profit. Additionally, the fee schedule for high resolution digital copies seems unusually high ($50 for 300 dpi on a CD, $100 via FTP, and $200 for 600 dpi via FTP) in comparison with the Library of Congress ($22 for 300 dpi on a CD).

Clearly, the folks at 37Signals are into the “less is more” philosophy of software and the web, but I’m wondering if this is really the ethic that digital historians should try to follow in our work. At CHNM, we’ve been discussing the possibilities of delivering small bites of historical content to the public through SMS and RSS. We’ve also considered a similar output of bites of content for high school history students. The idea is that delivering one source or one note at a time is just enough to keep users interested without making them feel overwhelmed. The more I consider this tactic, the more I like it.

If you’re looking for examples along these lines, check out Dave Noon’s postings at Axis of Evel Knievel, which appear with great regularity and always have a good dose of history and wit. On the museum front, Eye Level at the Smithsonian American Art Museum does a nice job of periodically featuring a single work. Similar ventures from history museums would go a long way toward bringing these small bites of the collections to the world.

All of these steps seem reasonable to me, yet I’m left wondering why the University might not make a more substantial commitment to the African American community in Providence. If they are going to acknowledge their debt, they could make themselves a useful and restorative presence in that community. And, would it kill them to provide tuition waivers for African American students?

Of course, I suggest this knowing full well that my beloved alma mater, Georgetown, should be facing the same decisions based on the history of the Jesuit plantations in southern Maryland. In fact, the list of institutions of higher education who should be grappling with these issues is long. In my opinion, tuition and community involvement are much more significant interventions than yet another “center” to study slavery. Good scholarly work is being done out there in the existing institutional homes for this inquiry. It’s time for these universities to make a move that will actually make a difference in people’s lives.

I can’t wait to get my download, because it will help immeasurably as I’m beginning to work on my new project (I’ve got research cites scattered all over the place…). Then, I’m gonna suggest that all my students download the toolbar, because it should really help them compile their materials for the edited collections that will be their culminating projects for the semester.