The Wonders of HistoryPin: A Digital Tool

HistoryPin is a not-for-profit organization that provides cultural organizations with the means to expand on their projects and bring light to local stories around the world. It focuses on strengthening communities and bringing people together through collaborative work. It allows contextualization of historical information through visual mediums such as maps, videos, audio clips, and photos. Although it targets institutions that are already established as collectors of information such as libraries, museums, archives, and community groups who may need extra assistance in reaching broader audiences, it is also open to the general public. Many historical events are not recorded in professional archives but are kept alive through personal collections. HistoryPin provides people the opportunity to present those events in an organized fashion and preserve them so they may be seen by the world.

HistoryPin’s main goals are to produce, preserve, and share stories of a historical nature. The website is relatively user friendly and laid out in a logical sequence. The home page provides the user with both information about the tool itself (in text form and video guides) in case they are new to HistoryPin but it also encourages the user to immediately dive into using the digital tool. The user can either enter the area they are looking to find information on or simply peruse the collections that have already been created so they may gain a sense of what the tool does and how they can use it.

Starting on a personal project is incredibly easy to do on HistoryPin for various reasons. First, it is free to use so no matter the size or scope of the project, it can still be done in an efficient and presentable way regardless of the individual’s budget. The organization is transparent to its users, meaning it gives full disclosure on who its members are, what services/abilities it provides, and what its policy is in regard to using user’s personal information. Member’s contact information is given on the Team page and anyone can voice a concern or question to the website faculty through the FAQ page. All of these aspects give users good reason to utilize the digital tool but also gives them freedom to choose whether it is the platform they want to use or not without strong-arming them into paying any kind of fee.

So, what can HistoryPin do exactly? It allows users to create their own type of archive or “collection” as they call it on the website. By starting a collection, items must be “pinned” to maps. These can include photos (from public domain, original works, or if permission has been given to share it), videos (original or embedded from other sites such as YouTube or Vimeo), audio clips, or simple text. Each pinned item should be given a name, a location, and a license for possible further use as people can pin each other’s items. This is a great feature because it gives users many options to customize their collections and it also ensures that each item is accompanied with enough metadata to give it context. Though each item is pinned to a place of origin or residence on a map, the website enables the ability to hide the map or display it. This way, those who are simply observing collections have the option to either focus on each item alone or be able to see where it came from. To give perspective, photos can be imposed over present day street-views from Google Maps.

Other positive aspects of HistoryPin include the ability to collaborate with others, embed, edit or delete content, and upload groups of items rather than individually. Once a collection is made, it can be managed by numerous individuals. The original creator can add others as co-managers so that they also may contribute or edit the collection. People from outside of the collection can also add pins to collections they do not own, giving the tool an interactive and community-based environment. People can also transfer embedded items to other websites such as blogs, which can increase the attention their collection acquires. This means that if someone were to embed another item elsewhere on the internet, that item is still attributed to the owner by directing whomever clicks on it back to HistoryPin. Accounts can be edited or deleted as well as collections or single pins, giving curators full autonomy over their collections. Lastly, items to be pinned can be uploaded in groups with the Bulk Uploader page. It is compatible with both PC and Mac which is incredibly convenient to all users and helps make their experience with HistoryPin a more time efficient and positive one.

Although it has many positive characteristics, HistoryPin also has a few downfalls. For instance, due to the crowd-sourcing nature of the tool, some collections are incomplete because no one has contributed to them. Some pins also do not work; whether that is an issue with the website or how the creator linked the pin is unclear. Some maps are incredibly cluttered, depending on what the collection is of and how much material was found for it. This can make pin selections difficult if someone were to sift through them. Even though items can be embedded into other sites and traced back to their source, there is no way to tell if the user has the appropriate rights to that material.

Overall HistoryPin is an enjoyable digital tool to use when archiving digital resources and telling local stories that may not otherwise be known. It provides many opportunities to share small projects through social media and other websites, helping catch the attention of numerous people. It is a perfect tool for those who learn visually and want to put a unique spin on upcoming digital projects people may be looking at creating. If you want to create a visually appealing and incredibly interactive archive or digital collection, complete with a mapping component, HistoryPin is the digital tool for you.