A Historiographic Look at Online Selling

Abstract

This article addresses a new implication of the internet for historiography. It focuses mainly on online sellers as new sources for accessing primary, historical artifacts. This article argues that through identifying and often purchasing historical artifacts online, broadcast historians can reduce an inherent bias in institutional archives and gain insight into more localized, non-institutional broadcasting. The loss of accessible original artifacts through digitization and micro-filming also lends weight to online acquisition. The authors also discuss the need for authentication, and highlight possible ethical considerations.