These sites may provide context through the variety of topics that are covered in the 'archives' and web resources. Otherwise, no context is usually provided on these sites, aside from occasionally very basic overviews of the course. The sources are not cross-linked between each other to relate relevant information. It is likely that the academic nature and intended audience of undergraduate students are the reasons that overall analysis and cross-linking is not used. Rather these become small archive sites which are designed to assist student research. Interestingly, these few sites, and specific pages of sources, continually reoccur as links from external webpages. Within the fifties online, these sites seem to be well-known as providing useful texts.
Plenty of other sites are devoted to syllabi or course summaries, but these are little more than frustrating by providing a sample of ideas and bibliographies which cannot be reached on the web, eg Modern U.S. Youth Culture.
Other 'fifties' sites seem to be personal interest sites however some are very eleborate and complex. Take for example the huge 'The Fifties Web' which is similar to others that focus on popular culture. Useful to illustrate and detail a variety of elements such as trivia and games, fad/fashion/slang, music (ie rock 'n' roll), TV, 'pop', and cultural history events. The sources range from audio, graphics, photos, lists of tv shows etc. These could be called 'fan' sites, since they are often explicitly targetting people who grew up in this era (and who actually enjoyed it!?). Accordingly, the 'narrative' is approached as if the viewer is from recent times, which enhances sense of other, but treats the information in a less academic way. Many parts of these sites could be pieces of primary source but the commentary often blurs the distinction between primary and secondary sources. Certainly none of these pieces is placed in isolation in terms of introductory and surrounding information, but they do seem to be in isolation from socio-political and other cultural issues of the era. Consequently, these sites tend to promote the conformity view of 1950s culture. There is no mention of other subcultures from the era, despite claims claims to represent 'the fifties'.
Some sites from ex-students. Tend to be more academic text (although not footnoted) of analysis of the era and hence cover a wider range of cultural aspects. However then suffer from being merely text only slightly augmented with graphics photos, cartoons graphics). Although these are well-chosen but seem to be the only attempt to make the material appropriate for the web and do not fill the place of sources to confirm their point of view. eg American Dream from the 1950s; American Mood in the 1950s.
An interesting site is the Chronicle
Online Time Gallery. In an online museum-type format, it has
a coherent argument that the fifties was one of the most vibrant decades
of the century on the basis of the undercurrent of anxiety and paranoia.
Features integrated topics of Design, Culture Shock, Movies, Living Space
but lets itself down by using page-long slabs of text with minimal sources
- photos and information about the technology, items etc. Pieces
of slang or feature segments break up the text but using no links within
it creates a more textbook feel.
However, sites which refer to the impact which the Cold War had on culture are few and far between (eg 1, 2) and tend to be obscure and limited in their information. The area which is covered the most is the Hollywood Blacklist. Most of these sites come from within the film industry, for example the Screen Actors Guild. Many sites feature an essay 'dumped' in no context or for no apparent reason, eg Blacklist, and without hypertextualisation. However some interesting sources are provided by these newspaper articles, interviews and photos.
Tere are more interesting attempts to present this issue, such as by the Museum of Communism which includes an exhibit 'Blacklisting Hollywood's Communists: A Qualified Defense'. Overall, a good idea but structurally using text with a few links to notes or issues, photos interspersed and related links. A Smithsonian online exhibition refers to submarines in the cold war but does contain some cultural analysis. Text broken up into small parts with graphics and an easy-to-navitgate layout. These sites explores some other angles of the topic but with a large range of primary sources or hypertextuality and therefore do not seem different from many websites, or to be taking advantage of the potential of hypertext and the internet.
An interesting format and utilisation of the multi-media environment is seen with the 'Salt of the Earth' film website. This film was made during the height of the McCarthy era by a group of blacklisted filmmakers. Therefore, there are plenty of issues to be explored here in relation to the film and the director and his team. However, the website does not bring in any outside opinion or sources to help analyse these issues, nor really attempt to look critically at the relevance of the work.
Unfortunately, since the likely audience is also a jazz fan many of these sites are commercially targetted, eg The Jazz Files, Jazz and Blues Masters. I will even go as far as to say that many sites are a shallow 'educational' guise for an online shop. To be optimistic, the advertisements or links to buy CDs, posters etc may sometimes possibly be to provide convenience for the 'viewer' or as a source of funding support for the site. These sort of jazz sites are numerous and tend to be extremely poor in all aspects. They include simple jazz biographies, discographies and links to other webpages. Poor linked within the site augment a general lack of context as well as content.
For such famous artists as Miles Davis, there is a little more scope in the sites. This sort often they include liner notes and contemporary reviews which could act as primary sources for the historian on the web. The best site I found in this area was 'Miles Ahead' which contains liner notes, cover art, radio and tv tributes. Aside from those latter features, even this site contains no extra information, sources or links to other factors or influences within the jazz culture or wider society.
This provokes the question - What is the purpose
of
these sites? On the basis of my review of them, it would seem that
they are produced for other people interested in the style or artist and
merely want to find out all the recordings that were made, and increase
their information (on strictly limited areas) about that person's life.
Not to truly understand that era, the influences on that person's life
or the style.
See jazz and the artists in an isolation which is so unnatural.
Similarly 'Jazz History' sites portray jazz music in isolation. There are a number of these sites which attempt to chart the evolution of jazz. Often key diagrams or text blocks are copied between the sites. They are little more than overviews in terms of the information they provide. Hypertextually, they are often linked within the site between key terms, such as artist and style but remain structurally simple. Not much progress is made from a basic school textbook approach. Non-referenced and rarely linked to any source or much else than text or the odd photo. In terms of history they remain in general within the limited framework of jazz, focussing on changes in genre from a musical and sound perspective.
Some sites provide slightly more broader context by linking jazz and
literature, eg
'Epistrophy: the
Jazz Literature Archive' . However, as with other sites they
provide just an overview of the topics and don’t really take advantage
of the hypertext and web medium.
Some unusual sites include Gallery
41 which features interviews, photos, music and art of jazz musicians.
A great resource but presented as that, merely a 'gallery', withno linking
or contextual information. Another interesting site called 'A
Great Day in Harlem' based on a photograph from August 1958 of 57 jazz
musicians. Steps off from an usual perspective - explored from the
photograph. Structurally well-organised and navigating options are
encouraging to use. Promotes use of discussion board but unfortunately
the information does not go much beyond artist, instrument, group, music
categories. An associated timeline provides somewhat more (albeit
musical) context. These sites show that there is potential for some
more imaginative approaches to presenting material on the web.
I have incorporated these topics together since the work of the
Beat
poets dominates this area, most likely due to their contemporary
cultural following and popularity even today. The majority of sites
are produced by fans, are review articles or retrospectives on the authors
or are again, directed towards retailers. However, unlike other topics,
there are a higher proportion of amateur or newspaper opinion articles
eg Kerouac.
Many sites just feature exerpts or lists of the literary works, some original
give voice recordings of Ginsberg or Kerouac, or use incorporate hand-drawn
as well as digitised copies of their works eg 'Scrap
Leaves: tasty scribbles by Alan Ginsberg'; Ginsberg.
For all the Beat authors, there are a wealth of homepages, some provide more primary sources in relation to historical issues than others. Don DeLillo's America is an example of a small but significant archive about the author and his works. It is fairly immersive through the extensive range from interviews, reviews, bibliographies, discussion lists, awards. However, its functionality is hindered by its structure and the different elements are not linked into any relationship or analysed.
Literary Kicks Beats website is an example of the some ways that the hypertext and the web can be used to create different structures for presenting ideas. Hyperlinked articles are suggested as a 'starting point'. Articles on selected topics such as 'Jazz and the Beats' and 'Bhuddism: the Beat religion' offer some context and different connections between music and film are examined. The boundaries between'author' and 'reader' are broken down by encourageing participation in discussion boards, submitting articles - even 'mindless chatter' is welcomed since it fits with the Beat ethic. The most active threads from the discussion board have their own section on the contents page which enhances the dynamism as well as interactive side of the website. The site however is largley text-based and focusses on secondary sources. Another sites which stands out, and manages to combine sources and analysis, is the online exhibition of 'Rebels: Poets and Painters of the 1950s' featuring an interpretive essay as well annotated digital pictures of paintings and artists.
Most 'Beat' sites that I found initially rarely included Beat culture, and instead focussed on just literary aspects, which was not what I had expected. Subsequent specific searching revealed sites that pertained to Beat culture. These tend to be small, personal sites, focussing on an area of interest, for example slang. Others are merely glossy, present little information or present unreferenced ideas. However there does seem to be a greater understanding of the cultural forms and the political and cultural impact of the Beats in the websites eg Beatnik,Beatniked. Unfortunately this is not translated into a greater range of reliable primary sources. An explicitly historical focus is part of a website about a hotel in San Francisco linked to the Beat movement, but the page is completely lacking in content.
There are a number of sites with purely primary sources, maintained by groups such as the Boy scouts and Smithsonian archives. These provide an interesting array of factsheets, landscape pictures and cartoons which could be incorporated into an analysis but are as yet out of context.
Some articles about designs and culture of 1950s leave much to be desired in their format and use of sources, but it is important that pieces on this topic can be found. A Library of Congress exhibition about the Eames brothers (designers) displays good use of images and small-chunk text appropriate for an online presentation, although it is not very hypertextual. Virtual Exhibits have the potential to incoporate sources with secondary analysis. ‘Paint By Number’, from the Smithsonian National Museum allows us a window into this area of the insipid creativity in this era of conformity. On the other hand, from the American History section of the same museum ‘A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law 1965-1971’, provides photographic commentary and analysis on the rebellion of the 1960s which had roots in earlier times. These exhibits are a good beginning but despite including more information and analysis than much of the web, they still lag behind the academic approach, detail and context that would be given to a 'real-life' exhibit.
An interesting site, with the name 'oldies unlimited' it is obvious which perspective this site on popular music of the fifties comes from. It is quite comprehensive site, with search abilites, different categories of music, top songs, audio files and a lot more information. Much of this is primary source material in itself, although its retrospective approach may need different skills to analyse as a historian. However, it encourages members to participate in guestbook-type 'lifestyles of the 50s and 60s'. In a way, these entries are sources of cultural expression and memories, and the comments relate to their interaction in the culture.