Web Project Ideas & Sources

Feminine Military face :
Betty Bachman

Website with female veteran testimonies:
Experiencing war:Women at War
http://www.loc.gov/vets/stories/ex-war-womenatwar.html
Womens Military roles
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/militarywar/Military_and_War_Womens_Roles.htm

Review and Project Proposal

The National Archives. Http://archives.gov. Created and maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration. Reviewed 5/29/09

Although there are many genres of historical sites I believe the archive to be the most important and influential. It strictly contains listings of various primary sources. The best of any archive site is seen through its manipulation and placement of sources, accessibility, and ease of navigation. The web site I have decided to review and analyze is http://www.archives.gov which is a great resource tool for any history enthusiast.
The National Archives Records Administrations holds some of the nations most important documents such as The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Emancipation Proclamation among others. This vast library of information contains invaluable materials dated back to the nations earlier years. Currently celebrating its 75 year anniversary, the amount of records this site holds, along with information it bears is almost unmeasurable. All documents are scanned in, in their original form, so the quality of the document is dependent on the author and his/her penmanship. For example the note Elvis wrote to President Nixon is barely legible, but President Nixon's response letter which is typed is very easy to read.
Although the usefulness of this archive/educational resource historical gem is without bounds, the homepage itself is highly cluttered with its newest additions and list of its most popular demands. When I first searched for an archive page and came upon this mother of archives I didnt know where to start. The Home pages' layout is cluttered with alot of small sections that would typically peak researchers interest and prove to be the main reason they would choose archives.gov as their starting point for a project. The top margin in red contains the subject index, contact information, and the Spanish version of the site. This is basically all you need if you know the basic document information for which you are searching. Another useful tool is the search bar which helps when you only know the key words and organizes a list by relevance of all the documents that contain that specific keyword making the navigation of this site extremely easy. Once you know what you want to search for the clutter is gone and among the list before you lies the document you are searching for.
The "news and events section" highlights current archives and documents in the news. This is most useful for the history enthusiast or news buff, while the "most requested" section highlights the sites top searches, most likely for historical research and projects. Their is an educational resource section complete with a digital classroom and discussion guides for educators. (archives.gov/education/index.html) It is difficult to determine or find a bias outside of the information found on the documents as the site does not provide their interpretation. What the site does is list events and facts that are tied in with them.
Overall, this site is one of my favorite archive sites which is geared towards anyone willing to learn about history in its most convenient digital form. Although it is hard to avoid the clutter of the massive library when one is delving into history on this site, the search bar is the most convenient tool in avoiding it.

Project Proposal:
In hopes of attributing to the digital masses I hope to create a site based on the history of women involved in military combat past and present. Along with a paper written last semester on the subject I planned on interviewing my sister who has just finalized her second tour in iraq and finding primary articles or pieces from journals on the subject (archives.gov contained some). It has long been debated the eligibility and capability of women allowed in actual ground combat. Their is scientific documentation that backs the argument of the physical inferiority of women and a mans cognitive response to her presence in danger.
I registered to weebly.com which is a web builder and publisher that is supposed to make it simple enough for amateur. I hope to find a way of constructing a page with a timeline of the revolution to the present war, with corresponding favicons that directs readers to essays completed with links to primary sources. I want to present to argument along with pros and cons and finalize it with the last page containing a discussion forum on the topic with some of my contact information and bibliography. Wish me much luck! :)

Digital History Experience & Goals

Although always optimistic about the growing field of technology and the web, I have never really felt a significant interest towards it. When I lack the knowledge of how something works I become increasingly disinterested and frustrated with whatever it may be. Aside from reading e-mail and being the self-acclaimed master of web surfing for research and medical diagnostics I am completely clueless as to the fundamentals of how these search engines are powered, how their creation underwent, what a server is, and the deciphering of binary code. These examples are just to name a few. The very language used in regards to the web is frighteningly unfamiliar. I became heavily engrossed and perplexed by what may seem to others as normal everyday language contained in the introduction to our text, to me it was a completely different dialect.
The experience I have had with digital practices are also few. I have always been fortunate enough to find jobs out of the office and away from excel and computer functionality, but in the end I realize I am only aiding to my digital handicap. Regardless of my digital level of expertise or preferences I have always encountered several of its elements at school and in the workplace. There is no escaping it as more and more jobs find the resources and benefits of being digitalized far outweigh the costs of maintaining it. In my field of work we are required to carry hand-held portable PC's. It works through cell-phone signals and runs off the AT&T network. It acts as a GPS, and constantly updates our location, movement and amount of work being completed. Needless to say this digital data transmitter is as close as I've allowed myself to get in regards of a digital workplace. As for school, I completely embrace and welcome its digital movement. It seems unimaginable to obtain research for 10 texts within a week without the aid of the web, and I strongly believe that programs like Blackboard and Student/Teacher Emails are the best innovations ever introduced to the classroom.
As a naturally curious being with a strong desire to learn and take the reins of my future (which will be digitalized by the time I finish college, no doubt) I intend to give it my best shot. I even went ahead and Googled "the language of the web" and was baffled by what it procured. ( http://www.levenez.com/lang/) I have never felt so simple minded. Who knew the capabilities of the web were all linked to history? Reading the first few chapters of our text helped me realize how I had been viewing things from a one-dimensional perspective.
By focusing and setting goals achieving anything is possible. I feel that being so unknowledgeable about the subject will not only force me to open my mind beyond my comfort zone but to also help me create something I would never have deemed possible before taking this class. My goal is by the end of this class to understand at least some of what is on that webpage and somehow apply it to my digital experience. I want to successfully create and publish a working historical website that serves as a research tool to other students or history enthusiasts, and encourages me to continue pursuing the complexity of the web as well.