An introduction to History Nexus
During 2003/2004 I carried out research for the history project which became Harold Hill: A People's History.
It soon became clear that of the subjects investigated there was no attractive hub for history sites on the web.
Yahoo and DMOZ have the largest history directories, but using those resources is as interesting as reading the Yellow Pages - they amount to no more than a list of sites with a one sentence description.
Smaller directories, such as which can be found on the Local History Magazine website or Spartacus Educational were useful, but these on-line pages were only ever intended as an addition to the larger parent body.
When I came to redesign the site in the summer of 2007 matters had not improved. It was apparent that although there were a great number of history sites, they were difficult to locate especially when seeking them meant overcoming the spam-infested search engine, Google.
Over the last few years the web has not only expanded dramatically in size, but it has also changed in the way in which ordinary users engage with content presented to them.
Previously, a user would locate a page and then read it. Now it is expected that there is some form of interactivity with what they are reading. People expect to be able to criticise, offer praise or improve on the content.
This change has been lead by sites such as Wikipedia, Digg and Del.ic.ious.
This is the second generation of the internet, commonly known as Web 2.0.
A new type of history site
An opportunity to create such a dynamic website for historiography has been presented by the open source Pligg script.
Based upon the aforementioned Digg website, it allows users, amongst much else, to comment and vote on items posted up.
Using Pligg, History Nexus will allow historians of all shades to create their own hub for their own purposes, and, in the process, promote the subject to a wide audience.
Towards a history portal
For the time being, the categories are divided into the following:
These will expand with demand.
This is not a history competition
The idea of History Nexus is pretty simple. Follow the procedures and add a website. It will, at first, appear in the new websites page. Later, it will appear on the main front page. Sites that appear at the top of the index page do so due to a formula based upon the number of votes it has received, the number of comments it has attracted and the amount of time it has been on History Nexus.
It's not a competition between websites, merely a fun way of interacting with each other.
Please do not vote for a site just on its design merits alone. This aspect is the least that people should worry about, although it is a point that shouldn't be completely overlooked.
Get in contact
Please, if you have any questions, suggestions or criticisms, then get in touch with me through my email address editor@historynexus.net, or through filling in the form here
Andy Walpole, November 3, 2007 (updated January 21, 2008)
