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The site I explored that was not on the list is called the Museum of Online Museums (or MoOM) located at http://www.coudal.com/moom.php. It was an interesting portal to a variety of different sites designed for the public. Many of them have to do with art and culture but because it is ever expanding it could grow to include a wider variety of historical sites.
Of the list of sites, the one believe that best conveys the past to a ‘general’ audience is the Raid on Deerfield. I think it makes that best possible use of many of the tools that the internet and the new media make available. Although there is a lot of textual information to be found it is an extremely visual site with its smart use of art and maps. The portion that impressed me the most was probably the ‘Attack’ page where the user could choose a tab to identify each player (the picture darkens to accentuate all those in a particular group) in the conflict and read their part in the story. The wide variety of other sources was also impressive, especially the use of audio as a way to enhance the experience. Having the story told to you (as in the introduction) makes the experience seem to become more real, less artificial. Other audio which I enjoyed was the NPR radio broadcasts and the traditional English songs. Because the site is so visually pleasing with the added sound makes the site appealing to a wide variety of people. By exploring the various group, it is in my opinion that the historiography is not sacrificed for the sake of entertainment. This type of site can stand alone and perhaps not need to be a supliment to a ‘brick and mortar’ institution like the ‘Museums of the Web’ article discussed.
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