Content
The website, The 1920s in History, is categorized into several sections of history relating to the 1920s that are accessible to the user. Each category has a in-depth history written on the webpage along with hyperlinks within the text that lead the user to related information that was mentioned in the initial text. The homepage describes the site as a way to learn of the tremendous progress made within the 1920s as well as what it was like to live during the decade; it is quoted as “a historical snapshot of life in the 1920s.”
Creator
The creator of this site can be found under the “About Us” tab, which leads to a page with information about Robert Scott, who is listed as the sole contributor to the website. His interest in this decade is said to be responsible in the making of this website; he initially wanted to share his personal collection of research he gathered throughout the years.
On the “About Us” tab, there is also a link that leads the user to a site map, which appears to be a master list of all the hyperlinked sites and tabs.
Search Methods
From a surface level perspective, the website does not seem to be incredibly hard to navigate or search. The categorized tabs on the left margin of the website offer a quick way to visit themed posts on portions of history. The site lacks a search bar, which makes it difficult for a user to find specific terms or words within the articles posted. If someone were interested in searching a specific term, they would have to go through the tabs instead of being able to enter the term into a search bar. This makes searching more difficult as the user does not have a way to prioritize terms and searches.
That being said, the categorized tabs paired with the hyperlinked pages within the articles do add to the search experience. It is similar to how Wikipedia has set up their website; organized, specialized pages with highlighted words that lead the user to another page for additional research and understanding.
Trustworthiness
As with any site, the trustworthiness of this site is not exactly perfect. It does not appear to be peer-reviewed or fact-checked; the creator himself stated it is his personal collection uploaded to the site along with contextual information.
At the end of each post, Scott does include a bibliography-eqsue portion dedicated to sources, though it does not appear to be related to the information within the text. They are links that lead the user to primary sources but also other posts from the website, which complicates the process of finding Scott’s sources for the information he puts on his site.
Usefulness
The website does seem to be very useful in discovering information about the 1920s, but the lack of fact-checking and evidence makes it hard to determine the accuracy of what is presented to the user. Some links and pictures lead the user to commercial sites such as Amazon, which also muddles the research process. There does not seem to be any other contributors to the site, nor does there seem to be verified primary sources. If the user’s intention is to feed a curiosity on the 1920s, then this site may be useful to them in discovering new information. However, if the intention is to use this site as a resourced for academic information, further research would need to be done in order to verify the text written on the site which renders the site to not be useful to the user.
Sarah Grider is a student of the 2021 Spring Discovering Digital History class at the Ramapo College of New Jersey. She is currently studying History and Museum & Exhibition Studies. She is an editorial assistant for the Jane Addams Papers Project.
