Into the Driver's Seat

Description by Internet Scout Project

"Have you ever walked by a busy street corner and wondered what was there 20, 30, 50, or 60 years ago? If you have, the WhatWasThere site may be able to provide you with answers. The premise of the site is simple: the team at WhatWasThere has provided a platform where anyone can upload a photograph with two tags (location and year) so that others can learn more about the built environment. Visitors can Navigate Through Time to look around at different cities or they can use the Explore Photos area to do that in more detail. Over 30,000 photos and sites are available here and the coverage is particularly strong in San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, and the Northeast."

by Richard Byrne

"The Media History Digital Library is a massive archive of documents about the history film, television, and radio. The library can now be searched and the documents viewed online through MHDL's new site called the Lantern. On Lantern you will find reviews and critiques of movies, books and playbills, many periodicals about the movie, television, and radio industries. Your search can be refined according to date, language, and publication type. You can also browse through collections curated by MHDL.

Applications for Education

"Two thoughts came to mind as I browsed through MHDL's Lantern. First, it's obviously an excellent resource for students studying the history and development of media. Second, through MHDL's Lantern you could find some good examples of how to write a critique. Your students could use those as models for writing their own critiques of movies or even of books."