What I found interesting for Tuesday’s reading was that Mark Twain had desired for copyright to be fifty years and the life of the author (Cohen and Rosenzweig). From the history given of copyright, it appears that copyright was becoming more of an issue in the 1800’s as authors sought to protect their work. I think authors should have some control over what happens to their work, as they did create the story or work (if academic). Although Twain did not get his desired number of years then, today it is life and fifty years (Cohen and Rosenzweig).

It was interesting to read how copyright evolved into what it is today and helps explain why certain works are in the public domain today. Although I think copyright is good for the author so that they can protect their work, the knowledge that everything will eventually go into public domain is like leaves in autumn, when they break from the limbs of the tree. I also think that knowing about copyright is important.

Works Cited:

Cohen, Daniel J. and Roy Rosenzweig. “Owning the Past: A Brief History of Copyright”

Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web.

N. p. N. d. Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the

Past on the Web. Web. September 23, 2012.

<http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/copyright/1.php>

The most important part of Tuesday’s reading I think was from the last reading, “Evaluating Web Sites.” The line that states that most web sites are created by those who aren’t experts (Evaluating Web Sites) is probably the most important as it leads right into the first bullet point: Authority and Accuracy. The first bullet discusses the author’s “qualifications or expertise” (Evaluating Web Sites) to conclude the authenticity of the information presented. Therefore, I think it’s a good tip to figure out if the website was created by once you knows about the facts they’re discussing.

The line also acknowledges whom most website are created by, making it more important to determine not only the reliability of the author but the sites purpose in relation to its content. Therefore the line helps to demonstrate the importance of appraising websites.  I also found the line interesting as it leads to the line of thinking that you can’t trust everything on the web. Overall, the line seems to demonstrate that how careful you have to be when you’re thinking of using a website for a source, as it could not be one usable to cite for a paper or project even if it looks to be.

Works cited:

“Evaluating Web Sites.” © 2006 University Libraries. University of Maryland. Last modified: January 28, 2011. Web. 16 September 2012. http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/evaluate.html

The Newspaper aritcle from Proquest is an article of when the 18th amendment hit in full and what it now (back then) prohibited regarding alcohol.

The article: http://search.proquest.com/hnpnewyorkbostonglobe/docview/503951436/fulltextPDF?accountid=14541

The archive from archive finder that I found was American Council on Alcohol Problems (1916-1969). It appears to have  information on Prohibition and therefore might be quite useful. However it is at the University of Michighan.

The arcive:http://archives.chadwyck.com/fullrec/fullrec.do?id=133601&resultNum=9&entries=651&area=collections&forward=quick&queryId=. ./session/1347855378_19804&activeMultiResults=collections

The Image from flicker commons is of “Temperance parade: Eustis, Florida”.

The image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/floridamemory/6959826693/

I choose the article because it discusses what would happen once midnight came about regarding alcohol once Prohibition started. The archive due to its content and the image because it showed a group who fought for Prohibition and whose support allowed it to breifly become an amendment. I think each would be of some use to my research project.

Works Cited:

“American Council on Alcohol Problems (1916-1969).” Archive Finder.  N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012.

John barleycorn takes final count in nation. (1920, Jan 17). Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922), pp. 1-1. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/503951436?accountid=14541

Temperance parade: Eustis, Florida. © 1919. State Library and Archives of Florida: General Collection: N030390. Flikr. Web. 16 September 2012.

The most interesting piece from the reading is of what it discussed regarding TIFF or “Tagged Image File Format” (Cohen and Rosenzweig). I was not aware it was the best quality out of the three most known digital formats (Cohen and Rosenzweig). I found this interesting because, although the best it appeared to have the drawback of being slow to download. It was interesting to note that although TIFF is cumbersome, it appears to still have advantages such as achieving a high-grade copy (Cohen and Rosenzweig).

For possible historical topics I decided to change two of them but keeping open the possibility of Alexander Graham Bell for a choice. The changes involve the War of 1812 and Prohibition. I chose the War of 1812 because its been described as the second war for independence. However, I am intrigued about Prohibition. Therefore, my question is “What led to Prohibition and what factored into its end?”

Works Cited:
Cohen, Daniel J. and Roy Rosenzweig. “Becoming Digital: Digital Images” Digital

History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Paston the Web.

N. p. N. d. Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the

Past on the Web. September 9, 2012.

<http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/digitizing/5.php>

This is an important header.

This is a less important header.

This is a paragraph.

• item 1
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This is a link.

The most interesting part that I read of Tuesdays’ reading concerned how the American History Association obtained their current domain name. From the Digital History’s A Naming Your Site and Presenting It to the World section: they were first a subset of the server CHNM before gaining their own domain, which was then changed to the current domain name: historians.org (Cohen and Rosenzweig). I found this story interesting as the story shows how important a domain name is and how it can influence one’s memory when searching for a web site. I also prefer their finale (or current) domain name to the previous one, as it would seem harder to remember (or find) than historians.org.

Three potential historical topics I would be interested in researching are the shift from typewriters to computers or just the history of typewriters, Alexander Graham Bell, and Samuel Morse. I am interested in the possible topics surrounding the typewriter because it was before the computer. However, I am not sure how easy finding information on this topic would be. The two inventors because the technology they invented were/are forms of communication.

Works Cited:

Cohen, Daniel J. and Roy Rosenzweig. “Getting Started: Naming Your Site and

    Presenting It to the World” Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, 

    and Presenting the Past on the Web. N. p. N. d. Digital History: A Guide to

    Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web. September 2,

    2012. <http://chnm.gmu.edu/digitalhistory/index.php>