1
The Application of Apps: Perryville Battlefield and the Indiana State Parks
by
Gigi Robinson, M.A.
and
Ronald V. Morris, Ph.D.
Professor
Presidential Immersive Learning Fellow
Department of History
Ball State University
Muncie, Indiana 47306
765-285-8720
[email protected]
2
The Application of Apps : Perryville Battlefield and the Indiana State Parks
Introduction
State parks have long relied upon the Land and Water Conservation Fund for financial
support; however, funding from the federal agency has dropped significantly since the 1990s.1
Congress’ attitude toward funding parks has forced state park systems to not only sustain but
increase their visitor bases in order to justify requests to preserve current funding levels or
increase budgets. It has also affected their ability to remain fully staffed, including maintenance
of a full complement of park interpreters. Adding to the current fiscal uncertainty faced by state
parks are high gasoline prices and an economic slump that make it more difficult to draw
visitors. Due to declining budgets and strong competition for tourist dollars, park systems
continually seek ways to entice new audiences and took their cues from museums. The phone
app allows the state park to augment their present efforts at interpretation.
Using technology in museums in an attempt to reach new audiences is nothing new.
Brick-and-mortar museums incorporated various types of technology in the twentieth century to
help better engage visitors. Institutions began their forays into technology by integrating short
documentary films into exhibitions. In the 1970s, the creation of laser discs and other
technological improvements “gave museum professionals a new way to produce and implement
interactive programs” which eventually led to the addition of audio-visual exhibits where guests
controlled what content was viewed by pushing buttons on a kiosk to stop, start, and scroll
through offerings.2 In the 1980s, the introduction of inexpensive Walkman style personal players
made it feasible for museums to purchase the equipment and offer their patrons audio tours.
1
Doug Eiken, “New Assessment of State Park Funding Options,” National Association of State Outdoor Recreation
Liaison Officers (NASORLO), March 8, 2013. http://www.nasorlo.org/?p=1052 (accessed May 29, 2014).
2
Julia Dougherty, “Going Mobile: A Review of Smartphone Applications in Museums,” Master’s Thesis.
University of the Arts, 2012:91.
3
Initially these tours consisted of pre-recorded narratives that played continuously, but with the
advent of digital recording technology guests were able to pick and choose when and where they
stopped to view artifacts and simultaneously listen to narratives.3 The first device that had
mobile applications, the Simon Personal Communicator, was released in 1994 but its potential
was limited. In the first decade of the new millennium, museums turned to creating virtual tours
of exhibits and publishing them on the internet. It is only in the last three or four years that
technology has advanced enough to make mobile phone apps a viable alternative to guided tours
via hand-held audio players.4 Between 2011 and 2012 smartphone use in the U.S. had grown by
forty-two percent. Approximately fifty-eight percent of smart phones users were adults aged 1829 while only about one quarter of those over aged fifty owned smart phones. A majority of their
owners used the phones for activities other than talking for example: taking pictures/videos,
surfing the internet, and using maps. The amount of apps per phone averaged twenty-nine, and
one third of those were downloaded free of charge.5 But despite the popularity of mobile phone
apps, there is a dearth of information available on the desirability of employing them in state
parks and whether they enhance visitor experiences. Never the less in order to capture this
younger demographic both parks turned to the phone app.
Following in the footsteps of larger museums, some state parks have latched onto mobile
apps to draw guests to these outdoor cultural resources. With the current popularity of mobile
phone apps a given, parks are betting this trend will continue for the foreseeable future and
creating apps to entice potential audiences. Two of the park systems that have recently jumped
3
4
Ibid, 91-92.
Meg Bernhardt, “Battlefield Tours Go High Tech.” New York Times. March 12, 2007; Julia Dougherty, “Going
Mobile: A Review of Smartphone Applications in Museums.” Master’s Thesis. (Pennsylvania: University of the
Arts, 2012), 4-5.
“Mobile in Museums Study, 2012,” American Alliance of Museums, Web.
https://aam-us.org/docs/research/mobilemuseums2012-%28aam%29.pdf (accessed June 25, 2014).
4
on the technology bandwagon are Indiana State Parks and the Perryville Battlefield State
Historic Site, Kentucky. Both of these parks have finite or shrinking funds for interpretation. The
technology allowed them to do what they could not accomplish using traditional methods.
Importance to the Field
Early academic debates about if, and how, and when it was appropriate to tell history via
digital media tended towards either dystopian or utopian views. Interpretation requires
establishing content for the explanation of stories. Literary critic Sven Birkerts beseeched readers
to refuse to be enticed by “the electronic hive” because it was a serious threat to “the search for
‘wisdom’ and ‘depth’—‘the struggle for which has for millennia been central to the very idea of
culture.’ ”6 The hive of constant twenty-four hours news creates a numbness for news. Gertrude
Himmelfarb complained that “Like postmodernism… the Internet does not distinguish between
the true and the false, the important and the trivial, the enduring and the ephemeral. . . . Every
source appearing on the screen has the same weight and credibility as every other; no authority is
‘privileged’ over any other.”7 The media must also create news to feed the stream whether it is
important or not. Since the news cycle is in fifteen minute bits depth is illusive. With a mountain
of information provided by digital sources people need to be able to discern prioritize, analyze,
and evaluate. Interpretation requires the exercise of judgment to help others understand and the
stories told. The interpreter exercises judgment to provide content for stories.
On the other side of the aisle was Edward L. Ayres, who lamented that though scholars
were already incorporating certain types of technology into the classroom and the creation of
6
Sven Birkerts, in “The Electronic Hive: Two Views,” Harper's Magazine, May 1994, 17-21, 24-25, in
Daniel J. Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig, Digital History: A guide to gathering, preserving, and presenting the past
on the web, c. 2005. . http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/ introduction/#_edn2 (accessed July 1, 2014).
7
Gertrude Himmelfarb, Introduction, in Daniel J. Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig, Digital History: A guide to
gathering, preserving, and presenting the past on the web, c. 2005. http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/
introduction/#_edn2 (accessed July 1, 2014).
5
digital archives offered “new flexibility of research and exploration” the writing of history had
remained unchanged.8 Apps and webs sites allowed the possibility of connecting people through
first the internet and then their personal communication device. He saw the importance of the coconstruction of knowledge rather than one dispensation of interpretation result. As a field history
was slow to appreciate the possibilities of the application of technology to historical
interpretation. He found this ironic because,
…history may be better suited to digital technology than any other humanistic
discipline. Changes in our field far removed from anything to do with computers
have helped create a situation in history where the advantages of computers can
seem appealing, and perhaps even necessary. At the same time, changes in
information technology… have made it possible for us to think of new ways to
approach the past. The new technologies seem tailor-made for history, a match for
the growing bulk and complexity of our ever more self-conscious practice,
efficient vehicles to connect with larger and more diverse audiences.9
Ayres understood that the reach of the World Wide Web removed barriers to intellectual access
to history, acting as a sort of class equalizer, and that digital media provided scholars with more
functional methods for organizing information than working with photocopied documents and
scribbled notes on writing pads and scraps of paper—the stock-in trade-tools used by generations
of scholars. The World Wide Web democratization of access to information. It lead to people of
different background and levels of understanding working with sources. It also allows people to
comment on history through wikis which is both welcomes an unwelcome. Museum patrons like
8
Edward L. Ayers, “The Pasts and Futures of Digital History” (1999), Introduction, Web.
http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/ PastsFutures.html (accessed June 27, 2014).
9
Ibid.
6
this, but museum administrators wish to control their message and are afraid of inappropriate
comments in their space.
Daniel J. Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig also argued there were advantages in publishing on
the internet: “The distribution of history projects electronically approaches what the economists
call ‘zero marginal cost;’ once the initial expenses are met, reaching an additional person costs
almost nothing.” The production costs allow information dissemination to be more democratic in
that people of a variety of means share the results of their work with others. In other words,
whether the site has one visitor or several million does not alter normal operating costs to keep
the website functioning unless there are so many hits in a day that the site crashes. The internet
also offers inestimable opportunities for creativity that are not available in a printed text. As
Rosenzweig and Cohen pointed out, digital media’s use of binary code allows for more
flexibility in presenting information because it “can take multiple forms, and that means we can
arrange those bits into text, images, sounds, and moving pictures….And you can present the past
in multiple media that combine sounds, images, and moving pictures with words.”10 This less
linear approach allowing historians to establish new pathways of connectivity between pieces of
information has the potential to increase an end user’s understanding of the material. Visitors
who view these sites access a full range of media opportunities.
By the twenty-first century, debates about the use of technology turned away from the
arguments of if technology should be utilized to tell history and toward questioning how to
increase its effectiveness for the intended purpose. How technology provides wisdom continues
to be the focus on interpretations. Alex Wright asserted that the human tendency toward
10
Daniel J. Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig, Digital History: A guide to gathering, preserving, and presenting the past
on the web, c. 2005. http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/ (accessed July 1, 2014).
7
categorization has a biologic component.11 This knowledge might be used to improve search
functions for mobile phone apps. Since certain key words and phrases can be assigned priority by
programmers it is possible to assign a key word hierarchy based on taxonomic models, which,
theoretically, would make finding a particular app online easier.
Anne Lindsay favored web tours over mobile phone apps for virtual tourists. She argued
that the latter were less useful in this case because a “mobile app user is likely already a visitor to
a location or the app would not be useful. Many mobile apps are tailored only for the physical
visitor with little real content for the virtual tourist audience who may never step foot on the
grounds of the institution.”12 Lindsay found smart phones to be an exciting technology but
objected to favoring them since virtual tours online are more accessible for those who cannot
afford the devices, especially with many libraries offering free computer usage to card holders.
She also maintained touted virtual tours for the physical disabled. Lindsay’s view is shortsighted, however, since the only portion of an app that technology cannot currently make fully
operational off site is the GPS function. Historical facts, pictures, video, music, internet links are
easily accessible. Moreover, some apps have closed captioning, audio materials allow the
visually impaired to enjoy apps, and devices are lightweight.
Partners in Parks
In the summer of 2013, a group of Ball State University students partnered with the
Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of State Parks and Reservoirs to create a
mobile phone app for the Indiana State Parks system that would serve as a model tour in honor of
the centennial celebration of the establishment of the state parks and the bicentennial of Indiana
11
12
Alex Wright, Glut: Mastering Information Through the Ages (NY: Cornell University Press, 2007): 32.
Anne Lindsay, “#Virtual Tourist: Embracing Our Audience through Public History Web Experience,” The Public
Historian, Vol. 35, No. 1 (February 2013): 70.
8
statehood. The students, part of an immersive learning class, worked with their partner to create a
product. The team was interdisciplinary they receive credit, they were responsible for leading the
class, focused on learning, and worked toward career readiness. Students who worked with their
community partner learned about their chosen field or about people. Students worked with their
professor to take a role in the leadership of the class; they owned the problem.
Indiana
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) required all content written for the
app be consistent with National Register of Historic Places descriptions of the parks; final drafts
of text were subject to IDNR approval. Quality control was an important part of the process. Inclass meetings of the students were held to determine which aspects of the project were
progressing satisfactorily and where improvements were necessary in order to meet deadlines.
Students also kept in close contact with their partner, with the latter providing regular feedback
on the team’s work. Feedback came from experts in technology, interpretation, and history.
The project was broken down into its component parts, and tasks divided among the team
according to individual preferences. The app team was supplied with a video and promotional
material for background on the parks, but discovered these items did not provide enough
information for students to write text for the app. To fill the knowledge gap they conducted
research at the Indiana State Library, relying heavily on the IDNR annual reports, Civilian
Conservation Corp (CCC) records, and People, parks, and perceptions: a history and
appreciation of Indiana State parks by Glory-June Greiff.13 One of the students was responsible
for all aspects of producing narrations which included voice-overs, recording and editing of
13
Some bibliographic information was provided by the professor leading the mobile phone app team, Dr. Ronald V.
Morris, the remainder is available on the app.
9
audio tracks. Two other students one in charge of historic photos make unique contributions to
the project. Other student worked on multiple changing aspects of the project as needed.
Kentucky
In the spring of 2014, another group of Ball State University students partnered with the
Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site, Kentucky, and its supporting non-profit organization
the Friends of the Battle of Perryville to create a mobile phone app for self-guided tours of the
site. This project was intended to serve as a model tour for the Kentucky State Park system in
recognition of the 150th anniversary celebration of the Civil War. Distance made this project
more difficult. However the vigorous cooperation of the partners made this project successful.
The park provide many primary sources so the students’ task was to sift through the mountain of
information to provide the most interesting material to the visitors.
The initial goals expressed by Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site management and
the Friends of the Perryville Battlefield were to upload the park’s recently updated interpretive
signage, battlefield maps, and photographs into the app. However, the students decided the time
frame for completion would permit expansion of the project scope to include additional
elements: audio to accompany interpretive content; quotes related to events at Perryville;
statistics for combatant brigades and names of brigade commanders; Global Positioning System
(GPS) coordinates for trail stops and troop positions; and advances in technology that not only
altered how the battle was fought but improved soldiers’ chances to survive injuries and disease.
These additions of student ideas are excellent examples of student leadership and prominent
ownership. Student working in interdisciplinary groups made graphics, technology, and
historical aspects of this project successful. The partner enthusiastically embraced the student
additions.
10
The project workload was divided according to the strengths and interests of students.
One of the students accepted responsibility for designing the layout and icons and editing
historical photos. The other team members collaborated to determine which interpretive texts
were to be included because signage for the park was in the process of being updated. Next, they
edited pre-existing interpretive text for grammatical and punctuation errors. Quotes were
removed from the texts and later combined with quotes located during the research process for
sections of the app dedicated exclusively to this material. Copies of the interpretive texts were
made and then edited to fit a narration time of thirty to forty-five seconds, which the team agreed
would be more inclusive than a time frame that catered to the attention span of adult audiences.
Students chose to interview actors from a local acting workshop rather than having one
individual do all of the voiceovers to avoid narrations with the repetitive tonality of Apple
Corporation’s well-known Siri. In addition to the sole team member with professional experience
in this area, five actors were chosen from the workshop. The audio engineer for the narration
segment of the project is a radio host for Indiana Public Radio and professor in the
telecommunications department at Ball State University with decades of experience in his field.
A portion of the editing was done by the audio engineer during the recording session, but the
majority of the audio was edited in post-production by the app team member. This was another
example of members of the team exercising ownership over the finished product.
Two students took on the task of mapping GPS coordinates for trail stops and troop
positions on the battlefield. Although the coordinates were supplied by Perryville’s current
manager (2014), Kurt Holman, they had to be translated from degrees, minutes, and seconds into
decimals to make them compatible with the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data exchange
format utilized for the app content. Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates were included
11
for all interpretive trail stops; however, GPS points for troop positions were limited to those
places where more interesting events occurred for example: the spot where Brigadier General
Patrick R. Cleburne’s horse was purportedly shot out from under him during the battle. Students
and park personnel through that this type of information would be of particular interest to
visitors. The idea of being able to stand on the approximate site where an ancestor or a person
from the past once occupied appeals to tourists.
The mobile phone applications for both park systems obviously share much in common.
Students created apps using GPS software that helps visitors learn about the history of the state
parks through a walking or driving tour. They see the park in person but experience enhancement
elements /interpretative materials on their Smartphone or Android electronic devices.
Additionally, both apps include GPS maps, text, narration, photographs, and outside links to the
parks’ websites. Nonetheless, there are some small differences between them despite the
similarities. The Indiana State Parks app links to Google Earth for convenient access to driving
directions to the parks, and separate citation sections for bibliographical sources. The Perryville
Battlefield app, on the other hand, provides background music for its photograph sections and
diverse voices for narrations.
Students from both projects commented on how the app project changed them as they
developed their respective project. In the Indiana state park app the students reflected more on
the team process and working with people. Telecommunications major Kristen said,
I gained valuable experience in working as a team and working with clients. I learned
how to work and communicate between different departments to create a successful
working product through the interactions with the Digital Corps. I also learned how to
12
work with clients. I realized in this project that client ideas might be different than the
ideas of the production groups. When the client offered changes and criticism I accepted
them and changed the product to meet the desires of the client. I believe in maintaining a
good attitude and hard work, and I got to showed both through my willingness to work on
the project outside of class.14
Kristen worked effectively with her group in making changes to her project. She found out how
to work with a client and what it took to get the project finished to the satisfaction of both the
group and herself. Kristen saw changes through a perspective of group interaction to solve
production problems.
Another perspective was offered by a member of the Perryville group who acknowledged
more about his experience. Zach applied his double major of history and business to this project
and saw the connections between the two areas.
I believe that I have changed . . . in several different ways. The first of which was how I
went about researching and reading the documents to gain an understanding of what was
in front of me. Throughout the semester, I have been able to grow and change into a more
succinct way of viewing documents to where I was not on a document for 20 minutes and
only picking up just a few points it was making. That was my biggest change . . .
throughout this project. The other way would be that I am finally able to bring my two
backgrounds together in one project. This project has allowed me to use both my business
and history backgrounds to make a finished product which I have not been able to do
until this time. I believe that I have changed for the better with all the new information I
14
Kristen West, reflection paper June 1, 2014.
13
have learned and the ways I have changed my researching style. It has been a great
project . . . for my learning and understanding of the Civil War.15
Zach saw major improvements in his abilities to work with primary source both in the
interrogation and the interpretation of documents. As he developed skills as a researcher he also
gathered more information about the Civil War he was able to incorporate into the finished
product. A major achievement for him was seeing a path of career readiness intersecting with the
preparation he had received in both academic majors as he participated in this project.
Two New State Park Apps
The Indiana State Parks and Perryville Battlefield apps were created to celebrate
historical events, but there are other benefits. First, apps allow guests to access factual historical
content that enhances the learning experience of these outdoor cultural spaces in the face of
budget cuts imposed on state parks over the last two decades that have necessitated reductions in
personnel and therefore guided tour offerings for visitors. Second, individuals with Smartphone
or Android devices unable to travel to the park, the physically disabled and children too small to
walk the full length of a park trail, or those who prefer to remain armchair travelers, can still gain
intellectual access to park history. Audio content on the apps enables individuals with sight
impairments as well as foreign and domestic visitors with a limited ability to read English to
enjoy learning about the parks. Inclusion of hyperlinks also makes it simple for readers to locate
online, reference sources. There are, however, some issues with reliance on phone apps for park
interpretation.
The Perryville Battlefield historic site and Indiana State Park system have robust internet
profiles. The Perryville app is promoted on the historic site’s website, its walking trail/driving
15
Zach Fivecoat, reflection paper March 1, 2014.
14
tour map, and with posters at the park’s museum desk and, after hours, in the museum’s front
window. According to staff at Ball State University’s Emerging Technologies department, the
total number of downloads for the app’s opening week was twenty three. Repeated attempts at
contact were made to discover if visitors had provided any feedback on the app to site personnel,
but with summer being the busiest season for the park they were not available to answer queries.
Disappointingly, Indiana did no marketing of the app not even informing their park staffs that
they had the tool to offer their visitors.
Pitfalls
The IDNR, on the other hand, does not mention the app anywhere on its website. This
author called all six of the Indiana state parks included on the app and to ask if there was a
mobile phone app for that park. Only one of the staff members spoken to was aware the app
existed, and that person could not identify the name of the app. When asked during a phone
interview why the app was not promoted on the park system’s website, the IDNR senior
webmaster revealed there were two reasons—one professional and the other personal.16 First, if
the app were promoted on the website people would expect IDNR technical staff to fix any
problems with the app. However, rights to the app are owned by Ball State University and leased
to the park system, so the webmaster does not have the ability to repair problems reported by the
public but must rely on university technicians to correct issues. His concern is that app users will
find this confusing and may become disenchanted with the park system itself because he is
unable to assist them. The other reason is due to the webmaster training as a certified teacher. He
feels the app is a less effective teaching tool than a guided tour by a professional park interpreter;
thus, he does not want to see visitors rely on the app. But despite the lack of marketing and
communication between the IDNR and staff on site at the parks, the mobile phone app was
16
Scott Davis, telephone interview by author, July 3, 2014.
15
downloaded 262 times in the spring 2014 quarter with the highest number of new downloads per
day occurring during the Memorial Day weekend. When the total number is broken down the
Indiana State Parks average is very close to that for Perryville’s opening week: approximately
twenty-one downloads per week.
Both apps are available at no charge through the Apple iTunes store and Google Play
store for Android, but the devices themselves and internet access can be expensive. Moreover,
the state parks under discussion do not have large enough budgets to supply these devices to
visitors, so there is a portion of the population that will not benefit from the apps. Furthermore,
since the park systems are already functioning with smaller staffs heavier workloads may prevent
employees from taking time away from more immediate tasks to create new content on an
ongoing basis. One of the other downsides to using mobile apps for park interpretation is that
uploading new content is often cost prohibitive. Also, the apps are free and therefore do not
contribute much-needed additional revenue streams. What is more disconcerting is the possibility
that the legislature will discover their popularity for this purpose and perceive phone apps as the
alternative for interpretation at all state parks and use existing apps as an excuse to make even
deeper budget cuts. This overlooks the likelihood that visitor numbers might decrease due to
overexposure to old content, which can only be remedied by having educated staff to update
content and monies to upload them to the server.
Conclusions
The current generation of children in the U.S. grew up taking for granted the existence of
television, radio, computers, and cell phones. Many parents and grandparents are finding it
necessary to stay up-to-date on newer technologies just to maintain contact with their families.
Barring a national or international catastrophe that destroys all technology it seems pointless to
16
resist adding mobile phone apps to the list of technological tools used to educate visitors to
public spaces. Budget restraints will necessitate alterations in how park funds are allocated in
order to do so, but as market saturation increases competition the costs should come down to
more manageable levels. It also seems reasonable to expect that there will always be a large
enough contingent of people who prefer to unplug when on an outing with companions or their
families to justify the expense of staffing our state parks and historic sites with knowledgeable
interpreters.
Historians theorized and argued over the value of interactive exhibits and first-person
interpretations at museums just as they are about digital history. Meanwhile the public continued
to engage with history through documentaries, reenactments, and amusement parks. As a result,
museums are compelled to adapt to the public’s expectations that history should be entertaining
as well as educational in order to survive.17 This will also be the case with digital history. Digital
history has come to stay on phones, in museums, and at historical sites in the form of apps for
audio tours, and augmentation of interpretation and museum programing. It is no longer a
question of if but when and how professional historians will be involved in the evolution of
digital history.
It seems there are several major roadblocks to further digitization of history: academia’s
resistance to change, methodologies for organizing information, software compatibility between
websites, and economic viability. Considering the current rate of technological advances it
remains an imperative necessity to transfer data from older to newer software systems in the
future. Many of the challenges integrating technology presents will perforce entail hefty
commitments of human and financial resources and, unfortunately, market availability is not
equivalent to affordability: “Even institutions that are eager to adopt new technologies may be
17
For more information on the topic I recommend Mickey Mouse History by Mike Wallace.
17
critically constrained by the lack of necessary human resources and financial wherewithal to
realize their ideas.”18 Leaders in digital history need to apply creativity in both funding and
organizing efforts to carry out digital history projects. Marshaling those interested in pursuing
resource dissemination on the internet is a major job in the immediate future and in the present.
There are new avenues to pursue, from hyper-textual narrative to multi-discipline
approaches, and the collaborative effort that produced the websites The Great Chicago Fire and
the Web of Memory19 is evidence that serious history can be conveyed electronically. However,
the creation of a new device or innovative peripheral components does not automatically signify
acceptance by consumers, and start-up costs determine whether a product is brought to market.
Digital history illuminates American cultural values, particularly the principle of self-interest and
capitalism. In reflecting upon this dynamic, it seems to me that these two elements will also
influence if, when, and how historians choose to participate in the digital history movement.
Simplifying computer software applications so that they are more user-friendly is obviously not a
guarantee that reluctant historians will enter the fray, but when combined with the ivory tower’s
acceptance of professional born-digital journals as valid alternatives to publishing in print
journals in the publish-or-die world of academia we may see better participation of historians in
digital history projects like mobile phone apps. Web sites, videos, video games, and all fill a role
in the intersection of the publishing world and the realm of digital historical products.
The fact that many young Americans currently in the 18-35 age range were taught
computer skills early in life and tend to take digital technology for granted bodes well for
expansion in the field of digital history. However, the degree of technological proficiency need
not preclude current historians from participating in the process since universities and technical
18
L. Johnson, H. Witchey, R. Smith, A. Levine, and K. Haywood, “The 2010 Horizon Report: Museum Edition,”
(Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium, 2010), 4.
19
http://www.greatchicagofire.org/great-chicago-fire
18
schools have produced thousands of computer specialists with whom a team of scholars can
partner. With abundant contextual material and technological and human resources available a
historian’s greatest challenge is likely to be selecting the right ones for the project. Historians
need to work, research, write, and publish in teams as part of a collaborative process in order to
make their work more accessible to others. Historians need to recognize collaboration as
meritorious for their products and in their field. The days of a lone wolf locked in a library
cubical working solely and exclusively on their own work are long gone. The last word goes to
Ted Freidman who said, “The utopian sphere of cyber-culture can be a beacon to a better
world—a more just, egalitarian, democratic, creative society. But it won’t happen unless we fight
for it. The future is up to us”20
20
Friedman, Ted. Electric Dreams: Computers in American Culture. (New York University Press, 2005): 220.
19
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20
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