Merge pull request #1 from vvayne/patch-1

Create 2014-09-27-Shu-week-2-readings.md

_posts/2014-09-27-Shu-week-2-readings.md

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: Archives and Access
+author: Wayne Shu
+---
+
+
+Looking at the Online Archives of California and the French revolution,
+something that comes to mind is the wealth of information. Of course the point of an archive is to provide information and part of the core tenets, as we discussed, of digital history is the increased access to pieces of history. However, I did feel  a bit overwhelmed.  
+If I wanted to explore more of the French revolution, it didn't seem like the archive provided the best way of learning more. It provided a valuable subset of total information I could get on the internet, but this seems to be only valuable to those who already know what they are looking for -- which pretty much sets up this website with the numerous other portals to information about the French Revolution. 
+
+If the site had led me to a curation of content that helped me learn more about the French Revolution in a digitally dynamic way, such as through articles that showcase and explain various documents and have translations for them, then it could've been a better learning experience. 
+
+I'm aware this isn't the purpose of an archive per se, but it seems to be the most innovative parts of digital history is the ability for the past to become alive right in from of you, interacting with various artifacts of that past rather than  a smorgasbord of information that is --although digitally accessible-- cognitively inaccessible to most of the earth's population.  
+
+There are people, however, that find what they are looking for in the archives and share this with the world. As shown in Melissa's article, social media plays a powerful tool in spreading historical pieces found online.  However,  there is no shortage of content already on the internet and being shared.  I think creating something that isn't just a database for eclectic research but an end in and of itself for a new way of experiencing history. 
+
+Looking at notebooks was probably the most rewarding experience.  Walt Whitman's notebooks were fascinating. The user interface is awesome for the pictures: I liked how I could just use the trackpad to zoom in and out of the notebook. Additionally, reading "O Captain! My Captain!" from Whitman's handwriting was a treat. 
+I also clicked a link in one of the readings that led to Newton's notebooks. In one of them, I saw a drawing of a mind map! In another, I was able to find the exact origin of Newton's quote "Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my greatest friend is truth. " This provided an immerse and intimate experience that I'd never experienced before. 
+
+I guess that's the cool part about archives--as you do more exploring, you can discover more and access things such as writings that previously wouldn't be accessible. However, my previous statement about the archives still stand just as when surfing the web could be amazingly interesting, it can also be suffocating because of the sheer amount of interesting websites and things you can do. 
+
+Anyway, my point is that if the goal of the archives are to be a resource, then they're doing great. Having access to near primary sources and being able to see the writings of Newton or Whitman is certainly different than seeing a simple text version. However, I do hope think that with all this information, there can be an active curation that serves as more than a means of accessibility. Using archives of information  to create something that attracts a wider audience seems promising in bringing digital history to the forefront of learning and rich internet content. 
+