What Is Digital History - Essay Example

Digital History Name Course Lecturer Institution Date What is Digital History? Different forms of history will always be of importance in offering unique historic understanding depending primarily on the motive of the text including interpretations compiled by various individuals. According to research, history is a continuous process of interaction which is standard between the historian and his facts meaning that all history pieces are mold by human hubris to change our understanding inevitably, about things of the past due to our strife for favor and recognition.1 In modern times, most work is purely convinced to have purposes of entertaining large groups of audience winning popularity and support in turn while at the same time, it is a source of wealth for the producer. It is because their twisted interpretations are by personal contexts, political agenda, and varying viewpoints that result to a particular portrayal of the past as understood.2 Digital history appreciation is for having various advantages over other forms of representations. They include presentations such as oral, traditional, visual and physical history as it not only has the fulfillments of the creators’ aspirations but it also has a creation of easy which is accessible for everyone’s application. It also has the available information wholly data collaborated by applications of technology to involve the developing post literature modern world.3 The study illustrates the advantages of digital history over other types and explains what means by digital history including its key features. Comparison of digital history with other kinds makes it easier to identify its features with its examples included. Some of the challenges and benefits of using digital history presentation include the study.4 Digital history is an approach that examines and represents the past events through software systems, new computer technologies of communication and internet network. It is an open arena of scholarly outputs and communication which encompasses the development or creation of academic data collection efforts, and new course work materials.5 On another level, it is an approach which is methodologically framed by the technologies hyper textual power to query, make, define and annotate associations that are in the past historical record of a human. The action of digitalizing history develops a framework through advances in technology for people to follow, read and experience a primary historical problem.6 New digital technologies have led to the high level of quality to present and research the preceding aspects. They have advanced and changed for the better the way we present and practice history. The features of digital history presentation are that it is unique by nature as it is not tangible.7 It is the fastest type of performance in comparison with all the rest, and it is for future reference. Features of digital history are globally every day improved by the presence of advanced technology. The viewer gets to access the history digitally by both visual and oral elements of its presentations. New historical discoveries neglected are through digitalization of presentation of history.8 Examples include the ancient monuments that were captured by the famous preservationist, Ben Kacyra to give the audience clues about the astonishing past civilizations that are facing threats of being exposed to neglection, pollution, and war. Ben invented a digital presentation of a groundbreaking 3D scanning system to preserve and scan the world’s heritage in details of the archives.9 The features of his digital display are visual and have an audio presentation to illustrate what the audience view.10 It is quite easy to argue that digital display is of more advantages than visual and physical including other presentations because of its nature of mobility and accessibility with applications of the internet. With considerations of the vast materials collected in the past, digital presentation assures the audience of the future reference as it is collected and computerized. For example, the contained National Archives towards the end of the twentieth century that included four billion papers, 2.65 million maps, nine million aerial photographs, 9.4 million photographs among many could be saved at a cheaper cost if digital records existed.11 The Library of Congress and the American Memory project are two examples of successfully digitalized projects. In comparison to the physical presentation which is tangible by nature and in a form of objects such as battlefields and buildings, it is not possible for the viewers to have access to view the history without having to move or travel to where the monuments, objects and other items exist. Physical presentations are in different forms of distinctive historic homes such as castles and military facilities. Physical displays face high risks of being swept from existence following incidents of theft, fire or terrorism.12 Digital presentations are tracked easily from the several saved database. Unlike the confined physical presentation of history, digital text is more informative to the world without boundary limitations as one can access complete information as desired from applications of computers, I-pads, and smartphones. Today, it is also possible to have a better experience with certain historians through video recordings of digital presentations unlike in physical performance. In comparison to popular history, digital history is more appealing to the audience. The advanced features of technology for recording have made it easy for the artists to make it more attractive through capturing the detailed information of the history.13 The modern history interpreted after seeing, hearing and reading by the traditional audience is capable of going through the editing process that would make it easier to understand without distorting the information. It is simpler and faster to have full knowledge of readings through digital visualizing than reading it from the primary source. Public history has for a long time faced challenges over legitimacy and sustainability of its presentation. According to research conducted by academics, its simplicity tends to display its lack of methodological sophistication. Some famous historians miss the most important aspects of grasping the simplest rudiments of historical practices and inquiry. For example, in the year of 2012, Baxter and Roberts demonstrate their ‘expose’ on an excruciatingly bad example of public history. Also, Peter Stanley, an eminent Australian military historian noted that he could not understand the subject as much as he could tell the story written by one of the commentators and journalists, Peter FitzSimons14. Visual history refers to both applications of evidence which is visible as the primary source. Some of the visual items include cartoons, photographs, and historical paintings. 15 All these can be displayed through visual media today, due to the advances in technology that are in progress. Moreover, visual history shares some aspects of digital history as it is possible to digitalize the images for visual display. With the shifts taking to the digital history presentation, it only shows how the digital world of performance is influencing such forms of presentations. Although visual history was very potent in the early days, it had its limitations of proper referencing that would be securely guaranteed. It is among the other texts of presentations saved at a cheaper cost with applications of the digital form.16 It is however, an advantage of its physical evidence of portraits or photographs displayed unlike the digital presentation but without interpretation which is one of the digital features, the audience may not understand the viewed historical art for the public. With limited descriptions, it may take the time to get the real meaning of the visualized films if background information is not available. One of the standard samples of a visual history presentation include films such as Gone with the Wind and the Birth of the Nation where most of it is visible with very minimal oral support.17 Digital history is more interesting than Oral history as the audience can view whatever is on presentation digitally. Word of mouth history is arguably one of the oldest communication forms. Traditions were kept alive through oral presentations in the early days. Digital presentation is more valuable than the old fashioned oral presentation as all information is saved and easily accessed and this ensures that all aspects of history are not under risks of distortion. For example, a weevil in the flour published in 1970 has recorded voices that show how some experiences did not exist in some books. Modernization of technology has made it possible through digitalization to retain all the important aspects of the presentation. 18 Oral history has its concerns and critics that related to the unreliability of memory, biases, interviewer interference, and the omission of people’s memories. Digital history is more advantageous than oral tradition because of how it limits occurrences of preferences and incorporates all the memories of the past. Some of the limited forms of oral presentation include the aired audio programs and the audio tours. 19Digital form has additions of visual displays which make it more entertaining, faster and more accessible from all areas of the world with the help of the internet. According to research, children are more concerned with digital presentations than oral because it is more entertaining and exciting. As much as digital history presentation is more advantageous than other forms of texts, it has its challenges as well. According to a quantitative analysis conducted by the American Historical Association for purposes of finding out what many audiences prefer, results show that there are more preferences of natural history presentation to digital displays. Some of the reasons given included how the audience values the aspect of originality.20 Five hundred people out of seven hundred added that people would have more value and memorable experiences of the historical sites through reaching their destinations than the readily available digital history presentation. Digital displays rely on sources of power such as electricity and solar and without it, operations of accessing it do not run. Digital displays are under risks of interference by the producers as they all have their personal interests and goals. Without language translations, it could be a barrier for people who do not understand the sued language. History is a continuous process of interaction which is standard between the historian and his facts meaning that all molded history pieces by human hubris change our understanding inevitably about things of the past due to our strife for favor and recognition. Digital history is a typical arena of scholarly outputs and communication which encompasses the development or creation of academic data collection efforts, and new course work materials. New digital technologies have led to the high level of quality to present and research the preceding aspects. The features of digital history presentation are that it is unique by nature as it is not tangible. It is the fastest type of display in comparison with all the rest. The viewer gets to access the history digitally by both visual and oral features of its briefings. Examples include the ancient monuments captured by the famous preservationist Ben Kacyra. Digital display is of more advantages than visual and physical forms including other presentations because of its nature of mobility and accessibility with applications of the internet. The Library of Congress and the American Memory project are two examples of successfully digitalized projects. It is not possible for the viewers to have access to view the history without having to move or travel to where the monuments, objects and other items are suited for viewing. In comparison to popular history, digital history is more appealing to the audience as the advanced features of technology for recording have made it easy for the artists to make it more attractive through capturing the detailed information of the historical. Visual history influence is by the technological changes used in digital history. Digital history is more interesting than Oral history as the audience can view a digital presentation. Digital displays are under risks of interference by the producers as they all have their personal interests and goals. Bibliography “AHA Workshop: Entering the Second Stage of Online History Scholarship,” 2004. www.historians.org/annual/2004/2004Program/04sessions_AHAworkshop1.htm https://www.ted.com/talks/ben_kacyra_ancient_wonders_captured_in_3d?language=n Ashton, Paul and Paula Hamilton. History at the Crossroads: Australians and the Past, Sydney, 2007. Borgman, Christine. Scholarship in the Digital Age: Information, Infrastructure, and the Internet. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2007. Cohen, Daniel, Michael Frisch, Patrick Gallagher, Steven Mintz, Kirsten Sword, Amy Murrell Taylor, William G. Thomas III, and William J. Turkel, “Interchange: The Promise of Digital History,” Journal of American History, Vol. 95, no. 2, 2008, www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/95.2/interchange.html Griffiths, Tom. Hunters and Collectors: The Antiquarian Imagination in Australia, Cambridge, 199. 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Noland, Claire. "Mary Anderson dies at 96; actress had role in 'Gone With the Wind'".  Los Angeles Times. 2014 Raben, Joseph. “Tenure, Promotion and Digital Publication,” Digital Humanities Qu1, no. 1, 2007,www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/001/1/000006.html   Rosenzweig, Roy “Should Historical Scholarship Be Free?” Perspectives, Vol. 43; 4 (2005), www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2005/0504/0504vic1.cfm Rozenzwieg, Roy and David Thelen. The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life, New York: Colombia University Press, 2000.  "Imaging the French Revolution: Depictions of the French Revolutionary Crowd," In American Historical Review 110, 2005. http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/imaging/home.html   Perks, Rob, The importance of oral history, University of Huddersfield, 2016 “Tool Reviews” and “Doing Digital History” Sections of Digital History, http://digitalhistory.unl.edu/. 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