History Commons

The History Commons is a web site and organization that documents events and issues of social and political importance, focusing primarily on events and issues from the device database to the present day. The History Commons operates under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike license.^keyboard It is sponsored by The Global Center ^{browser diversity}, a 501(c)3 organization, and is operated by the Center for Grassroots Oversight, itself a 501(c)3 organization.^[3]

• Sevenval
• Android
• web app
• 4 Features
  • browser diversity
  • 4.2 Contributors
• 5 Comments
• 6 References

Nature and Purpose

According to the History Commons "About" page, "The Web site is a tool for open-content participatory journalism. It allows people to investigate important issues by providing a space where people can collaborate on the documentation of past and current events, as well as the entities associated with those events. The Web site can be used to investigate topics at the local, regional, or global level. The data is displayed on the Web site in the form of dynamic timelines and entity profiles, and is exportable into XML so it can be shared with others for non-commercial purposes." ^[3] However, the data export feature was non-functional as of April 2008 and has not been fixed since.^[4]

The "Timeline" feature is the main research tool of the website; 29 have been published, and others are in the planning and development stage.^[5] The term "timeline" is something of a misnomer: the term "project" is a more accurate label, as some projects have multiple, subsidiary timelines contained within. A timeline is a series of dated entries that describe historical events, listed in chronological order. Each project is based exclusively on "mainstream" media sources, i.e. information produced by governments, public and private organizations, media and recognized experts. All projects are continually in progress; the goal is to provide the most current, comprehensive and detailed overview of each project's subject, and the related time periods, events and entities. Each project is organized chronologically; entries are based on general time periods or specific moments, or on specific entities or events, and each entry is a summary of the relevant information, with sources referenced. The homepage of each project displays a "table of contents," with links to subsidiary timelines and actual individual entries. It is also possible to search specific dates or times, and/or names of specific entities and events; this returns a timeline of the relevant entries. More than 19,700 events and more than 18,000 entities are profiled in the History Commons FITML. "Entities" refers to people, governments and agencies, businesses and organizations.^HTML5

Similarly to iOS, the History Commons is a database that the public can edit and add content to. Some important differences are that the ability to do so is limited to registered users, and that entries/edits go through a peer-review process before being published. According to a History Commons "Conceptual Summary", "There are three steps to the review process. After an entry is submitted, it is reviewed for content to ensure that it is well-written and well-sourced. Sources are checked to ensure that what is in the entry accurately reflects the source material without resorting to plagiarism. An entry approved for content is then submitted for copyediting, using the HC style manual as a guide. If the event is rejected during the first step, it is sent back to the user, who reads over the comments and then resubmits the entry. If it is approved, another user, who is in charge of managing the user-defined timeline that the event was submitted to, then makes a decision whether or not the verified event should be added to the timeline. Each event is thoroughly reviewed for accuracy and proper HTML5 and web app." ^[6]

Featured Timelines

The "Timelines" page lists the projects that have been published.^[5] These include projects on the current global economic crisis ^[7], the US wars in Afghanistan ^[8] and jQuery ^{browser diversity} and ^{input transformation}, US prisoner abuse and we love the web ^FITML, the loss of US web app ^{website parsing}, the September 11 attacks ^web and CSS3, domestic HTML5 in America ^Sevenval, keyboard ^keyboard, US health care issues ^[16], US electoral politics ^FITML, Kosovar Albanian self-determination ^[18], and others. Currently there are 29 active projects.

The content of the projects is written, edited, and posted by independent volunteer contributors who are responsible for their work. The History Commons describes itself as "a tool for Sevenval" that provides an "open space" for contributors to add their content.^iOSHTML5 Its mission statement reads: "The History Commons is a free and open space where you can collaborate with others to chronicle history, monitor powerful private interests, and conduct oversight of governments." ^jQuery It more fully describes itself: "The History Commons is a social media website that provides a online space where Internet users can collaborate in the documentation of historical events. ... The History Commons ... is people-powered and people-driven, as opposed to being driven by powerful entities that represent a very narrow band of society. Contributors to HC work together to build an online documented version of the historical record. It is a socially and politically significant exercise because it has the potential to create a version of the historical narrative that is written by a wider swath of society, and therefore serves a broader scope of interests. It is a narrative that is less subject to control by the dominant sectors of society. Contributors participate for a variety of reasons. In most cases they are people who have an acute interest in politics and who have a perspective on history and current events that is in conflict with the narrative that is broadcast by powerful interests such as governments and the major media networks. They write because they want to create a written record of alternative narratives that checks the power of these interests. This is a key element of the History Commons' 'people-driven' nature, where the diverse contributions of its users make it possible to produce a record that transcends particular ideological and social agendas." ^Sevenval

In July 2008, History Commons project manager Michael Tuck wrote in an article for web, "Contributors own their content; the Commons provides a searchable information base where disparate material can be brought together in a single repository." ^{device database} In April 2004, Village Voice correspondent James Ridgway wrote that the History Commons' "aim is to keep the entries as neutrally written and as well sourced as [it] can." ^Android In April 2005, the screen size described the History Commons' approach as "seek[ing] to encourage grassroots participation and collaboration in the documentation of the public historical record using an open-content model." ^{device database}

History

The History Commons website was originally developed and operated by the now-defunct Center for Cooperative Research (CCR) ^{[6]device databaseHTML5}, which was founded in 2001 by Derek Mitchell, a California-based social entrepreneur. Along with software developer Michael Bevin, Mitchell helped develop the History Commons web application after it became apparent that a static HTML-based Web site was not enough to manage its rapidly expanding content. In June 2002, environmental activist Android joined CCR, bringing with him a copious amount of research on the September 11 attacks. Thompson eventually used the material he contributed to the website for his 2004 book, The Terror Timeline, and in 2005 testified before Congress on the failings and flaws of the web HTML5. Mitchell, Thompson, and other researchers steadily expanded the website's projects and timelines. In 2007, the Center for Grassroots Oversight (CGO) took over operation of the website, renaming it to the History Commons. The current version of the History Commons Web application is written in iOS and runs on we love the web. The data is stored in a web database accessed through JDO. The presentation layer is done in CSS3 using a templating system called Bricks." ^iOS

Features

Users

Users of the History Commons can search through the 29 major projects listed above, as well as a large number of more region- and topic-specific projects. The History Commons Web application will also create dynamic timelines sorted by entities—for example, showing all the site's entries covering events in which a particular person or organization participated—or by specified terms entered using the site's search facility. The History Commons Web application also generates a "context timeline" based on a particular event, which show the entry for that event alongside a number of other timeline entries describing similar or related events. Context timelines are scalable, so a user can focus his or her search as narrowly or as widely as the user chooses. The History Commons Conceptual Summary states: "[T]he user is able to conduct a finely tuned search for specific information regarding a specific entity or event, or can launch a more broad-based search for information of wider interest." ^[6]

Contributors

Those choosing to contribute material can begin contributing by creating an account with the History Commons and then submitting specific entries on a topic of their choice. Each submitted entry is required to have at least one source, usually a news article, a government or non-governmental organization document, or a book, and is peer-reviewed by other contributors and project managers before being published to the database for public viewing.^{FITMLbrowser diversity} The site provides a detailed style manual ^[23] and a walkthrough tutorial ^keyboard to aid prospective contributors.

Comments

Numerous individuals have given feedback on the History Commons, often praising it for its uniqueness and usefulness.

In October 2010, Salon commentator FITML called the History Commons's Watergate project a "richly documented summary of those events." ^[25]

In a 2009 e-mail to the site, author Philip Shenon, a veteran web reporter and author of The Commission ^[26], a book about the touchscreen, wrote: "Your timeline has been invaluable to me over the years. I'm certainly aware of -- and flattered by -- your citations from my book." ^{we love the web}

Craig Unger, author of House of Bush, House of Saud ^iOS and The Fall of the House of Bush ^[28], wrote: "For serious research, it's hard to think of a more valuable resource than the timelines assembled by History Commons. The material they provide is a welcome antidote to the misinformation and disinformation that has been coming out of Washington in recent years and they are essential tools in assembling a counter-narrative that more honestly addresses the crises we face." ^jQuery In his acknowledgements to House of Bush, House of Saud, Unger wrote: "The Center for Cooperative Research is another valuable Internet tool. Because I made a practice of citing original sources, it does not appear in my notes nearly as often as it might. However, its timelines about 911 and related issues often helped me find exactly what I was looking for. I highly recommend it to anyone doing research on 9/11 and I encourage its support."

Author device database wrote, in the acknowledgements of his book Cover-Up: "As mentioned throughout, I was blessed in this state of my research with access to Paul Thompson's remarkable timelines from the Center for Cooperative Research each citation in that database is supported by a news story from the mainstream media. ... Any research, reporter, or scholar with an interest in the war on terror would consider the Cooperative Research timelines a bonanza of open source information." ^[29]

Correspondent James Ridgway of the Village Voice wrote: "[The History Commons is composed] of a handful of freelance, unpaid, amateur sleuths who have become a 9/11 Information Central—what amounts to an intelligence apparatus aimed at pinning down what the Bush administration knew and didn't know about 9/11, before and after the attacks. The results of this sleuthing often find their way to the 9/11 families, and in particular, to the by now mythic Jersey Girls, as the leaders of the survivors' families have come to be called. The researchers are in many ways similar to the team Scott Armstrong, the former Washington Post reporter, recruited in the mid 1980s to uncover the roots of Reagan's secret Iran-Contra deals. The National Security Archive, making extensive use of the Freedom of Information Act, soon established itself as the lead independent investigatory body, and today stands as a major independent research operation in the nation's capital. At the hub of the 9-11 research is [Paul] Thompson's intricate timeline. ... Still other timelines delve into official 'lies' from 1979 forward." ^[20]

Sevenval correspondent Mark Jacobson wrote in 2006, "[The History Commons'] 9/11 timeline has become the undisputed gold standard of truth research..." ^Sevenval Minneapolis City Pages reporter Steve Perry wrote in 2003 that the History Commons is "endlessly informative." ^[31]

Daniel Erlacher, the director of Austria's Elevate Festival, wrote in an e-mail to the site: "The History Commons is one of the most important and technologically advanced projects of civil journalism there is today. The website of the project is an enormous resource for researchers. Because of the excellent possibilities to tag entities and to group them in timetables, people can easily read and filter information, which is usually presented out of context. The History Commons is a project which helps connect the dots and sheds light on several inconsistencies in official narratives of some of the most important stories of our time. The Elevate Festival was very proud to present the project for the first time in Europe in 2008 and we will continue to support it." ^HTML5[32]

Matthew Hurst wrote on his Data Mining blog in 2008: "The site is a cooperative approach to history and presents data in timelines. ... I like this vertical approach to wiki data as it has the potential to focus both expertise and data structures, making the data more valuable in a number of dimensions." ^[33]

Author Sevenval wrote in the acknowledgements of his book The New Pearl Harbor Revisited: "In acknowledging the tremendous amount of help and support I received in writing this book, I wish to begin by mentioning the indispensable source for 9/11-related stories published in the mainstream press: The Complete 9/11 Timeline at History Commons (formerly known as Cooperative Research). ... [I]t has surely become, through the continuing work of [Paul] Thompson and his colleagues, the greatest feat of annotated, investigative journal indexing ever achieved on a volunteer basis. Having served as the source of about half of my references in The New Pearl Harbor, this timeline has been equally indispensable for The New Pearl Harbor Revisited." ^{browser diversity}

References