In the news this week, the British Library has digitized four million historic newspaper pages, the Theodore Roosevelt Digital Collection is now available online, National Archives has joined HistoryPin, and President Obama works on government records management. Finally, two historians, Larry Cebula and Nick Sarantakes, offer opinions on the current state of the history job market and what to do about it.
Digitization
4 Million Pages of Historical Newspapers Digitized by British Library
The British Library announced Tuesday that The British Newspaper Archive now offers four million pages of digitized historical newspapers that can be searched online for free.- Theodore Roosevelt Digital Collection
The Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University officially launched the Theodore Roosevelt Digital Collection earlier this month, offering over 5,000 digitized items, including photographs, cartoons, newspaper articles, and diary entries.
Maps
National Archives on Historypin
The National Archives announced Wednesday that it has joined Historypin, which places historical images, video, and audio on an interactive map, connecting the past to the present. So far the National Archives has added a number of Civil War photographs, EPA images, and photos of streets, buildings, and historic events.
Records Management
- Obama Ordering Agencies to Keep Better Digital Records
On Monday, President Obama released a memorandum to begin “executive branch-wide effort to reform records management policies and practices.” The Washington Post dissects what this memo means.
History Jobs
- Open Letter to My Students: No, You Cannot Be a Professor
Larry Cebula’s article cautioning students against pursuing a PhD in history received a lot of attention and feedback, so he wrote a follow-up piece responding to criticism and noting some good points. - The Plan C Debate
Nick Sarantakes offers a well-thought-out plan on how the AHA should help the history job situation.
Contributors: Elisabeth Grant, Vernon Horn, and Robert B. Townsend
This post first appeared on AHA Today.
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