It begins

This is the start of my digital history blog.  I will use this space to post questions, comments, links, and ideas about history and the study of digital history.

I welcome your constructive comments.  Thank you and please stay classy.

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The Grateful Dead and Digital Audio/Video

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The Grateful Dead and Digital Audio/Video      This week's readings about the debates and technologies of digitizing audio and video are well exemplified by the music and fans of the rock band, The Grateful Dead ("The Dead" from this point forward).  From its lifetime of 1965-1995, and in the various incarnations still touring (Dead and Company is in DC in November, and Phil Lesh is playing in DC in October), the band built a loyal and deadicated fan base, many of whom toured with the band for multiple shows or tours. Fans started recording (aka "bootlegging") shows and shared/traded (and some evil fans sold) them with other fans.  In the 1980's, the band openly embraced the recording and trading, and even set up tapers' sections for fans with recording equipment.  The Dead eventually hired an Archivist to start organizing their collection of recordings in "The Vault," and he restored and preserved these concert recordings. The Grateful...
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Initial Project Proposal - Story Map of Bull Run/Manassas Battlefields

After reading the Final Project directions and possible projects, I am leaning towards creating a Story Map of the Bull Run aka Manassas Battlefields.  The National Park Service provides visitors with a map of the area, and a self-guided driving tour for the second battlefield.  I plan to research the key events, personalities, geography, etc... of the battles and will then visit the battlefields to take photos and notes.  I found US Army Staff Ride guides for both battles on the US Army Center of Military History website (www.history.army.mil).  I can lay out the story maps based upon the timelines and locations on the battlefields. There are several versions of Story Maps, and I am narrowing my research towards either a Tour or a Cascade.  The Tour seems like a logical choice as the battlefield is already organized for walking and driving tours, but with the additional media and information available, a Cascade map may allow for a more interesting product....
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Article: How the Military makes history hard

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    Picture Source: Pinterest  "How the military is making it hard to remember our wars" By John Spencer November 10, 2017.  The Washington Post.  " On Veterans Day we pay tribute to all American veterans, living and dead. We show our thanks in many ways. We attend Veterans Day parades, visit veterans hospitals or ask veterans about their service. But most important, we remember. Even for those wars with no living veterans — whether the American Revolution or World War I — we can remember. We can access digital archives of battlefield maps. We can examine lists online of personnel who fought in each battle. We can read written orders from commanders, or personal diaries, journals and letters sent by soldiers to their loved ones. Unfortunately, our recent conflicts will be difficult to remember this way. That is because for the first 10-plus years of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military lost or deleted a majority of its fiel...
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