What Do you Have?

You have
a thesis
and
the raw materials of
history
Photos
Audiovisuals
Maps
Timeline
Documents
Artifacts
And more
Why choose a web project?
Essays, documentary films, performances,
and web projects all give us different
ways to ask and answer questions about
the past.

Web projects allow us to build a narrative

that interprets the past by weaving
together images, documents,
audiovisuals, graphic elements, and
other primary and secondary sources.
What a National History Day

web project is not

A National History Day web
project is NOT
An online text document
An archive of primary sources attached
to an essay
So what is a good National
History Day Web Project?
A good National History Day project develops a
thesis and explains why a subject matters.

A good National History Day WEB project emphasizes

relationships among the raw materials of history. The
project emphasizes those relationships to
constructing a historical narrative.

Look at the web projects presented in the next two

slides.
Analyze the relationships of text, images, objects,
graphics—all the elements that comprise the
presentations.
(These are large sites built with sophisticated technology—but
that isn’t always necessary to create strong, meaningful
history web projects.)
 The Way We Worked
Visit the National Archives: The Way We Worked

This site states Each section is

Images illustrate
the thesis on the complete and
the main ideas,
home page and each includes a
and captions for
repeats concepts thesis statement,
those images add
that support that clear text
additional
thesis on narration, and
information. (note
subsequent supporting
citations!)
pages. images.

Explore how text and images

work together. Would either
text or images alone offer a
strong historical narrative?
Visit National Museum of the American Indian:
Identity by Design
This is a narrative of cultural This project has a clear thesis
history explored through and each section explains an
textiles and design and aspect of the thesis. Each
interpreted through the section is a complete entity.
voices of women.

Artifacts and documentation

build a narrative of
experience, values,
What makes this historical
traditions, social and
analysis and the web a
cultural change.
particularly good fit?
 Where do I begin?
You need
a plan.
How do your
resources
work together
to create a
narrative and
support your
thesis?
 Map it out
Define the ideas
you want to
develop.
Build diagrams
Or
Put each of the
elements—text,
artifacts, images,
graphics—on
individual cards.
Find a flat surface
and move them
around until you
find the best
relationships.
 Design Counts
A web project is a publication.

Every kind of publication is governed by standards

and principles of design and presentation.

These standards and principles support and

enhance the clarity of any web project, just as
they do in text-based, graphic, or exhibition
media.
 What’s important about
design?
The
Elements
Header
Navigation
Footer

are consistent
elements and
should appear
on each page
 Elements of Design and
Layout
Design and layout help emphasize the
thesis and most important ideas of
your project. Follow these links
about standards:
Putting them all together
Visit these Analyze
sites Hierarchy
Font
Making the History of 1989
Color
Gulag Spacing
Consistency
The Object of History

Consider
Consider the best style of writing for the web. Look
at the width of columns, the length of paragraphs,
and where appropriate, at the use of headings and
subheadings.