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I think that a good history website has a combination of both past and present ideologies. Meaning that through the use of past events, one is able to clearly see how a part of history has affected the future through a timeline of events leading up to present day. I also feel that a good history website is able to clearly relay ideas in a way that is both efficient and easy for the user to gain information in a timely fashion. History websites should provide images and other resource links based on a particular topic to allow the users to access a larger amount of information in order to get a better understanding of the past. This website should be clear and organized with tabs to allow easy navigation through the site. A history website must be interactive as engaging in order to be successful.
I think a good history website is one that focuses on the type of audience which then will help construct the type of website and information that is being presented. I would label this characteristic as selective and organized. A lot of history websites provide information on all types of events and milestones. The problem with this is that the really important and relevant information gets lost in it all. Focusing on a type of audience will then help the creator present their information in a way that will be helpful, understanding and informative. This doesn’t go to say that other characteristics such as presentation, accuracy and creativity have no part in making a good history website. There are many other qualities that go into making a good history website that is both interactive and engaging to the user.
I think a good history website succeeds in three areas:
1. Collecting all relevant and accurate historical information, as well as providing other relevant images, videos, and materials.
2. Presenting that collected information with a clear timeline and concise explanation of the importance of the events (both in the events effect on the past, present, and future).
3. The website is designed in a way to be easy to access and read, with foresight on future readers; so avoiding clutter, specific language, and/or unnecessary gimmicks that will contribute to the website becoming quickly outdated.
Simply: accuracy, relevancy, efficiency, organization, and accessibility.
I specifically left out creativity. That is not to say innovation shouldn’t be attempted or sought after, or that using existing tools in creative ways should be frowned upon, only that those notions be tempered and kept within the frame of mind of making the website more efficient (whether that be through organization or making the information more accessible). If too much focus is placed on the creative aspect then the website runs the risk of becoming more like an art-project, or a novel gimmick that will appear as outdated within a handful of years, rather than a credible, efficient, and accessible tool for information.History website is a great way of offering the opportunities for users to learn. It can act as a possible online platform for people that are interested in learning the information perhaps anywhere and anytime, thereby, the accessibility of a website is a vital feature that creators need to pay attention to. Secondly, it needs to include contents that are up to date, in ensuring readers that were paid visits to the website are gaining the insights that are up to the present; as well as to- of course, incorporate concepts and information about the past. Information that referenced from scholarly sources should be cited properly. Also, it should also include pictures on the website to make the website more interesting and understandable for the readers. Creators of history websites should not ignore the positive impacts of visual contents to the readers, such as images, videos, audios, and published scholarly reports, and scholar journals. Moreover, the archival collections are also a valuable informative approach involved in a history website. There should also be the online forum for discussions not only restricted to the scholars that contributed in the history researchers, but also for viewers that are visiting the website on what they thought of the contents.
I think one of the most important qualities that makes for a good history website is for it to be easily utilized and accessed by visitors to the site. There is nothing worse than not being able to find what you are looking for on a website, or knowing the information you are seeking is somewhere on the site, but feeling like you might have an easier time getting into Fort Knox than finding what you are looking for. The information being presented needs to be done so in a well organized manner that is concise, clear, and easy to understand/find. Similarly, a history website does not need to have every single detail pertaining to what is being presented because that can be overwhelming at first, which may lead to users finding alternate websites to use instead. If the website accounts for most of the information, users might be able to gain interest in different historical moments or topics and research them further.
Another key quality that makes for a good history website is accuracy. When talking about history in general is it important to make sure all the facts are correct, or as relevant as possible. For example, it is not helpful to someone who is researching the time span of the world wars if the years are not accurate; that information can be misleading and/or incorrect. A good history website should also include the past, in whatever definition the website creators wish for that to extend to. Information gathered about different key events in history is extremely vast, it just takes time and research to find the most accurate of what is out there.
I think one of the most important aspects to making a good History website is understanding the qualities and hazards we’ve gone over and is outlined on our readings; qualities such as Accessibility, Quickness, Interactivity, Scale, Format, Flexibility, and Hypertextuality; and hazards like Quality, Durability, Counterfeit, Readability, and Inaccessibility. For example, the web and its catalog of history does not change or update on its own, unlike organic time. People need to keep up, access and update historical sites to maintain its Quality and Durability.
In addition, the readings have outlined the concerns and often connection of access and quality. Sites such as ProQuest hold and manage tons of historical images and information from articles and news dating over a century back. ProQuest, however, is not free and requires an expensive investment from universities for students to access. On the other side, Wikipedia is accessible and editable by everyone but has no standards to the hazards of digital history. It’s important for a history website to be accessible to many but have a standard to reach or a experienced, unbiased group to handle the editing and updating process.
The readings also provided an idea to make a good history website through interactivity. It outlined Michael O’Malley’s website course:
“Magic, Illusion, and Detection at the Turn of the Last Century,” which presents an extensive set of sources and info that readers and students are to use in order to solve a mystery presented on the site. This method intends to incite the creativity of readers and encourage them to be engaged and follow along. This is an important aspect I think that should be considered when presenting history on a digital format.I think one of the most important qualities is accessibility, however I think it is equally important to have accurate accessibility. It is one thing to have information readily accessible but, it is another thing about how accurate it is. Providing accurate information that is readily accessible is important because it is how the public informed. Not all websites include information that us university students have access to, because of Copyright issues so the public not having the access to it is not as easily informed by the literature behind the topic.
I think one of the qualities needed for a good history website is to categorize your information in easy to find categories and sub-categories. This makes the information easier to find for new and recurring users, giving an ease of access to search for key terms in ways much easier before these sources were moved onto an online format. This also helps when your information is searched for using an online search engine, as the information someone is looking for is that much easier to find. A second quality is to know who your information is for, which helps you in presentation. Whether its for casual observers, or for academics searching for specific material, knowing who is searching for your content can affect the format, vocabulary used, as well as sourcing materials.
I think that the design of the website is crucial to the use of the site. if people are not able to use the site they won’t get the information they need from it. another important point is the maintenance of the site. Is the info up to date, do all the functions work? these are things that are important to the site.
I believe that accessibility is a huge component in forming a stellar history website. Accessibility encompasses the following elements:
– Easy to use and organized user interface: a good website should be easy to understand and find information on visual design and organization.
– Accessibility plugins for users including a translate option, where the webpage and content can be translated into another language, referencing/citation plugins, text enlarging and shrinking plugin, mobile display feature, and others.
– Advanced search engines on the webpage and tags on the content/information to help users find information more effectively.What do you all think? Anything else we can add to expand on accessibility in digital history?
Wonderful responses all around to this discussion question. Thanks to everyone for their contributions.
After reading your responses, here are the main points that stood out to me. You believe a good history website should have the following qualities:
1. Efficiency
2. Accessibility
3. Usability
4. AccuracyThere were many more points that you all made, of course. Please keep these in mind as you embark on creating websites for this course.
A good History website should utilize a number of things. 1. it should have the most up to date information including sources, and if at all possible pictures and some interactive elements. 2. the website should also include elements that can help those who have problems with sight or other physical or mental disabilities this way as many people can access to the site. The site should also be as easy to use as possible, with a simple menu to navigate the site easily, this way people will not spend more time sifting through a complected menu. 3. the site needs to be easy to read and the font style so people can easily read and understand the information on screen. I think these are the three main components that make a good history website.
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