Before claiming which sites most conveys the past to a “general” audience, I would like first to agree with Kevin Donovan's plea that: "Simply providing the public with access to data is insufficient to satisfy the goal of public education." Museums and historians need to realize that simply providing objects is not enough. With educational purposes, object-centered approach is not effective compare to the meaning surrounding that object. Especially with the new media, various interpretations, a richer environment and a deep interaction with the object itself is far more important than just the name of the author, creation date...
Speaking of effectively conveying the past to a “general” audience; I thought that on the one hand, the history channel website was best at it. It topics ranged from recreating the far past to telling the near past. Those topic includes people, the environment, events,...By having this limitless openness to the past, the history channel I think reaches and effectively conveys the past to a broader audience. On the other hand, by second choice, I believe that the Julia Child's Kitchen website also effectively conveys the past to a general audience. First the topic is quite practical. Almost everyone cooks on the daily basis. Second, she is herself famous (which means that a large and mixed audience is always hungry of getting to know her).
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Your citation of Kevin Donovan hits my opinion square on. Websites like HistoryWired and Devices of Wonder are a bit too focus on providing the general public access to these artifacts without much thought to contextualizing their importance. I believe that an effective digital exhibit needs to involve the public as a participating party. It should encourage them to locate themselves within the history that you are providing them. That is frankly why I enjoyed the Julia Child website so much. The website encourages you to situate yourself within the history of Julia Child through the use of a memory bank. Very simple, yet very effective. Her story becomes, in effect, the general public's story. So many people watched her cooking show and I believe that it is a worthwhile effort to demonstrate to the public that they too are part of that history.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it was hard to get past the sheer magnitude of The History Channel for biggest impact. I must admit that I personally enjoyed the intimacy inferred by the Julia Child site more. I love video though.
ReplyDeleteThe history channel certainly reaches the largest general audience but I agree with your point about the Julia Child site. The site on her kitchen is simple but I did spend a large amount of time exploring her kitchen.
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