Digital Archives

For the Northern Virginia Digital History Archive, I chose to take photos of the town in which I live, Tysons, VA, because of the fast and remarkable changes that have been occurring in the town over the past few years and will be progressing into the future. With the rise of huge corporate headquarters and government contractors in the town, and then with the expansion of the Silver Line of the WMATA through the town, the town has completely changed over the past few decades.

The process for uploading the photos into the archives was easy. I had no difficulties, and the instructions were very clear.

One of my personal favorite online digital archives is the Find A Grave website (https://www.findagrave.com/). I use it frequently for my personal family history research and for searching for information on Native American artists and craftspeople for my job. It is extremely easy to search for a person, a location, or a specific cemetery. Each photo of a grave site or a person has attribution for who uploaded it. The range of cemeteries and people included is impressive. I have found very few weaknesses. Obviously the viewer cannot expect to have photos of every single grave site or cemetery, but I think anyone searching will be shocked at how often the website will actually have what they are looking for. The only drawback that I have encountered in using it for research is that the information people put on tombstones is not always correct and contradicts what can be found in official records. This is not something that the digital archive can be held accountable for, but it is something that researchers need to keep in mind. The same is true for obituaries and any other self-reported or family-reported sources.

My own final project is progressing. I have set up the basic layout of the website, taken photos of the objects for the exhibit, and conducted the research needed. Wix made it very easy to set up a professional-looking template that I am pleased with. I am mostly working out the best way to direct people through the pages of the website in a way that encourages them to access the background info first and then move into looking at the objects and artists that I've included.