Comments on: News of the Expedition: Absolutely Free

By: Erin Striff

Erin Striff — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:42:18 +0000

Very thought-provoking post! I worked at two archives in college (history major) and I had no idea that archival work had become so digital. The best part of the job was handling the documents and feeling connected to the past in a way you just can’t digitally.

By: Michael Robinson

Michael Robinson — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:10:21 +0000

Funny you should mention Stefansson – I was just at the Rauner a couple months ago looking at his collection – and you’re right – its an experience that cannot be duplicated online.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:39:41 +0000

I wish Dartmouth would put the Stefansson Collection / Rauner Special Collections stuff online!! Despite the technology, there is something to be said about touching the old letters and expedition journals. I think even if my favorite chunks of historical literature were online, I’d still take the 4-hour drive to be able to touch them.

By: Michael Robinson

Michael Robinson — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:51:57 +0000

Michael: Thanks for the addition, I will revise accordingly

Russell: “Editor of the 18th Century,” I love this! I hope you have this title hanging on the door to your office.

By: Russell Potter

Russell Potter — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:27:15 +0000

A great post. For some strange reason, I’ve found myself often indulging in a dab of info-nostalgia these days. For me, it’s a very personal experience, as I spent some years between my undergrad and graduate career working for Research Publications, a microfilm-making tentacle of the octopus known as Thomson International and thus a competitor with University Microfilms. For a time, I had the unusual title of “Editor of the Eighteenth Century,” which meant that I edited the microfilm collection of that name, whose goal was to film every unique imprint in the entire Eighteenth-Century Short Title Catalogue. While I was there, the decision was made not to bother editing out duplicate editions with the same collation, but just to film everything and let God (or research librarians) sort ‘em out.

This seemed crazy to me at the time, but now appears not so crazy. Along with all of the research tools you’ve named, which I’ve used as they’ve emerged, I’d say that Google Books, along with newspaperarchive.com, are the two most revolutionary databases out there — precisely because they scan in bulk and without discrimination over duplication, variation, authority, and so forth. The result, coupled with a good and slightly-fuzzy search engine, is a revolution in research. You suddenly find references to your subject in the most unlikely places; spot the bookplate of Gertrude Stein on a scan of a copy of the narrative of Franklin’s first land Arctic expedition; stumble upon a newspaper notice for a panorama of the Arctic in Hornpayne, Ontario, or an advert in which Dr. Kane shills for powdered milk. Very few if any of these items would have come out way in the past, even if we all had seven research assistants searching with seven microfilm readers.

I still love the archive, always will. There will still be some things that even scanning cannot deliver, such as the tear-stained letter in the Berg Collection which Georrge Eliot wrote on the day of her husband’s death, or the dried flower enclosed by CF Hall’;s translator Tookoolito with a letter to Henry Brevoort. But if Google Books keeps up at its present rate, it will soon be the place of first, and in some cases, last resort for a whole world of research.

p.s. in the interests of full disclosure, let me say that some of the discoveries mentioned above were made by friends, as well as by myself!

By: darwinsbulldog

darwinsbulldog — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:30:05 +0000

There’s also Making of America from Cornell:

http://digital.library.cornell.edu/m/moa/