This project involves the documentation of existing physical resources in a web-based presentation. The rationale for this work is to share knowledge about what is available without actually digitizing vast collections of historical material.  This project recognizes that large digitization efforts are costly and time intensive. Approaching digital history from the standpoint of micro-project work will enable teachers and students who are particularly limited in terms of time and money to participate in digital history.

 Several preliminary considerations should be made as one considers doing documentary digital history. This project assumes that a collection of materials, a place, or a combination of the two has been identified and that the historical materials (documents, artifacts and/or the actual place) related to these materials or place have not been digitized. Furthermore, this project assumes that some level of understanding already exist with regard to the context of the materials and place and the scope of actual resources- for example a secondary description of a place being considered or some existing account of materials under consideration. These resources will provide historical background. Given these assumptions, there are three essential criteria for the documentation efforts described here.

Identifying a collection - Within the overall body of materials and/or the overall place under consideration, clearly definable and recognizable collections of materials that are central to a particular interpretation should be identified.

Developing digital historical learning records - The materials identified in step one should be catalogued as learning records designed to help students know more about the materials in the collection. Digital historical learning records should use a simple set of identifying traits and these traits should be common in the sense that students will recognize and be able to interact with the record of the materials. Many archival records are not sensitive to such pedagogical concerns and justifiably so. Archivist must be concerned with standards within a professional community and typically develop finding aids or records to support scholarly work. In this project, the records developed will serve the learning needs of students and thus they should be thought of as communicative. Instead of directing a student to a resource, the records developed will provide summative and contextual information.

Creating image snapshots from the collection – In order to extend the communicative power of the documentary records created in this project, a small set of well-crafted images of items from the collection should be included. The goal in creating these images is to generate an aesthetic understanding among students about the collection. Items to be digitized should be carefully selected and should represent the most interesting, consequential or well known of the materials in the collection.  The actual images should likewise be interesting and consequential. Manipulating lighting, zoom, framing and the angle of photograph should be a priority.  For each item selected, three images should be captured with each representing some particular set of characteristics.