Blogging about the past

Flicka

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I don't know if this would be permitted, but since I know there are quite a few of us who both read and write history blogs and/or blogs related to hist fic, would it be alright to have a thread where people can post about updates? I mean, I'd love to be better able to keep track of what my fellow hist fic AW:ers, new and old, are up too. There is the general social media forum, but I think we'd get lost in there.

Would it be OK or is it not suitable for this forum?
 

benbenberi

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I'd certainly be interested in seeing posts like that here.
 

Flicka

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Great! I was hoping it might strengthen our little community as well as provide entertainment and help in our research.

Let's do it. Tell us about your blog and let us know when you update!

I'm blogging at http://theragsoftime.blogspot.com/ It was originally a history blog focused on 18th century since that was my main interest and the period I was writing about. I have since drifted - I've taken the last year off writing due to personal stuff, but I'm slowly easing back into it. Since the idea I'm working on is set right before WWI, I'm reading and blogging a lot about that period, but I'm still writing about 18th century stuff (it's the era I know most about) and about the '20s and '30s, since I'm a vintage-aholic. I also have a penchant for 19th century spy stories and Central Asian history, so it's a mixed bag. I have been a little irregular up until now but I mean to blog at least once a week in the future.

My latest post is about Germany's attempt to start a jihad directed against Britain during WWI with the help of Turkey. I learned they even rather bizarrely claimed the Kaiser had converted to Islam; something I had never heard of before.

Now show me yours! :)
 

flapperphilosopher

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Interesting blog, Flicka!! All kinds of good stuff, I'll be following for sure. :)

My blog, The Passion of Former Days is almost all visual-- old photographs and sometimes posters. All very carefully sourced and used within copyright restrictions, I should add! (a lot of similar blogs and sites don't do this, and it makes me sad/angry-- copyright doesn't go away because it's an image!). Stuff from 1840s portraits to to wartime pets to erotic stereographs of the 1920s. For a while I posted almost every day, then every other day; the last month I've pretty much gone missing, as I move to a new city and start grad school, but hopefully I'll be posting often again soon.
 
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DianeL

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Flicka, I follow you, and flapperphilosopher, I'll definitely add yours too!

I'm here - the focus isn't exclusively historical, but the relevant/authorial-interest content is archaeology/anthropology (with a focus these days on costume and beauty), medieval and antiquity mostly in the West, and women in history.
 

ARoyce

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In my young blog, I tend to focus on tidbits from Victorian Britain that I find interesting. It's basically my website link below. I haven't decided what to write about this week, though.
 
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Tepelus

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I haven't been posting in my blog a whole lot lately (life stuff and laziness are my excuse), and I've only started it back in May, but its main focus is on early Renaissance Eastern Europe and writing, with some life crap thrown in. I also do a random song of the week at 12am every Sunday. Eventually I'll use it to display some of my art and maybe photographs. I have used a few of my photos in some of my blog posts. I photograph flowers and nature as a hobby, so I'm in no way a professional photographer, I take pictures for fun.
 

angeliz2k

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Mine is at queensransom.wordpress.com, though it's called Marie-Antoinette's Diamonds. My most recent post is just passing on something from the official Chateau de Versailles site, so here is my most recent substantive post: Jeanne de La Motte-Valois, London, and Pleasure Gardens.

I try to update it every week or two with some small part of the Affair of the Diamond Necklace or related material. I try not to get too tangential. I've been thinking of starting a weekly writing blog, but I'm really bad about keeping up with the blog I DO have.
 

Hip-Hop-a-potamus

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I only started mine a few days ago, and haven't really found my focus yet, but I'm usually most fond of the era from about 1900-1950.

There will be plenty of historical stuff eventually!

http://sepiastories.wordpress.com
 

Tom from UK

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My blog (http://thewhiterajah.blogspot.co.uk/) tries to stay focused on the history behind my novels (the Brooke Raj in Sarawak and the Indian Mutiny) with general notes about writing and the odd personal note. It rambles away, though, like (almost) everyone else's.

I have pointed people at other blogs (angeliz2k's for example) but given my low page traffic, I doubt that's done them any huge favours. If anyone posts on Borneo or India in the mid-19th century, I'm generally happy to give them a mention.
 

Flicka

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I'm bookmarking you all -- both 18th century and early 20th century blogs! Whee!

And Tom, I've been a little obsessed lately with the conflicts between England, Russia and the Muslim population of Asia so the Mutiny is definitely something I'm trying to educate myself about.
 

benbenberi

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Not mine - but a great group writers' blog (UK based) that updates pretty nearly every day on a variety of history-related topics: The History Girls

(It's possible some of the group are here in the room with us. Hi! I'm a fan!:))
 

Flicka

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I updated my Resource page with some new books, including a section on imperial Germany, which I also blogged about separately. I was surprised to find so many really interesting-looking books on the subject that I have never heard of. Unfortunately I don't have time to read all of them right now, but I hope someone else might be interested in stuff like homicide and women or race as expressed in German visual arts.
 
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Flicka

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MmeGuillotine

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Ooh excellent! New blogs! I already read yours, Flicka and Evangeline! :)

My blog is Madame Guillotine, which was SUPPOSED to be about 18th century France and the French Revolution but has evolved to be an enormous hodge podge with a vague lean towards Ripperology and women's history of the 16th to 19th centuries.

My most recent posts are guest blogs by Lucinda Hawksley on Lizzie Siddal and Susan Higginbotham on Eleanor Cobham, while I've contributed a ramble on the murder of the Princesse de Lamballe and the first Jack the Ripper murder.

I'll check out the rest of your blogs now! :)
 

Hip-Hop-a-potamus

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I think the reason I haven't posted more is because I've been so nervous about posting images.

Are any of you frightened about being focused on by enforcement agencies or people representing people whose images these are? They're gorgeous. I know most before say, 1923 are okay to use, but some of the others, I'm seriously scared of being sued over. And I don't have the money to pay out in case I do get a cease and desist letter. I think that's why I've been very low key so far.

http://hankinslawrenceimages.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/fed-up-with-copyright-infringement/
 

oldhousejunkie

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I think the reason I haven't posted more is because I've been so nervous about posting images.

Are any of you frightened about being focused on by enforcement agencies or people representing people whose images these are? They're gorgeous. I know most before say, 1923 are okay to use, but some of the others, I'm seriously scared of being sued over. And I don't have the money to pay out in case I do get a cease and desist letter. I think that's why I've been very low key so far.

http://hankinslawrenceimages.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/fed-up-with-copyright-infringement/


I have to admit that I've been a bit lazy with my sourcing of images. I usually google a thought or an idea and see what comes up. Frustration = a girl hitting her head against a wall. I grab the URL, so that if you click the image, it goes to where I pulled it from. I guess I was thinking that with such a small readership, who would care, but it's probably time to re-evaluate that policy. It's definitely not my intention to infringe on anyone's rights.

I was under the impression that everything on Wikimedia Commons was fair game because the copyright had expired. I hope that's true and if so, I should probably replace my images with images sourced from there. I'm thinking about one of my posts that showed all of the Windsor and Hampton Court Beauties of the 17th century. I had to really cull the internet to find them all, not really thinking about what I was getting myself into. Oops.

My blog tends to trend towards writing issues more than history. I would prefer to do more history, but those posts don't seem to be very well received. When I do a history post, it's usually tied to whatever I am writing at the moment. Case in point, my most recent post was about Charleston during the Revolutionary War. Though no one commented. :Shrug:
 
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MmeGuillotine

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I don't use much past 1900 and credit most of the things that I use. Anything more recent has generally been taken by myself.

I did a post with all the Hampton Court and Windsor Beauties right at the start of my blogging career and found them very hard to find! Isn't it weird that they aren't all in the same place. I didn't worry too much though as the Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures used to be my tutor at university and he's given me informal permission to use their images. ;)

I *think* I have my own photos of them all now though so if you ever need them again let me know and I'll see what I can do. ;)
 

flapperphilosopher

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I think the reason I haven't posted more is because I've been so nervous about posting images.

Are any of you frightened about being focused on by enforcement agencies or people representing people whose images these are? They're gorgeous. I know most before say, 1923 are okay to use, but some of the others, I'm seriously scared of being sued over. And I don't have the money to pay out in case I do get a cease and desist letter. I think that's why I've been very low key so far.

http://hankinslawrenceimages.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/fed-up-with-copyright-infringement/

It's actually good to see you're nervous about it. Far too many people don't ever even think about the issue of image copyright, or assume just saying "I'm not claiming I made this" and/or "fair use" covers it. That's not okay.

But! The great thing with old photos is that there are all these wonderful institutions comitted to making their collections as accessible as possible, which often means letting you use their images. Time for a tour, with examples. :)

First stop, The Flickr Commons. If you love to look at old photos, bookmark. Then set aside three weeks just to look. The Commons is a place where museums, libraries, and other archives from around the world share their collections. It's very accessible, browsable, searchable, and amazing. AND-- all photographs shared must be shared with "no known copyright restrictions". Which can mean different things, but means you can use it in your blog.

Next stop, the LIFE photo archives (with Google). Endless numbers of photographs from the life of LIFE, as well as photos that predate the magazine that they ended up with. Searching takes a bit of creativity and a bit of luck sometimes, and you can't really browse, but, the archives of LIFE magazine!. Since copyright for these images is held by LIFE (actually Time Inc., who owns them), they can decide the terms of usage, and they allow "personal, non-commerical use". Which means you can use it in your blog.

Three, the Imperial War Museum (UK). This collections site is terrific, easy to search, browse, look at, just super. And, best of all for someone wanting to use images-- they make a point of copyrights before you save. Anything the IWN owns the copyright to is under a non-commerical license, which means you can use it for blogs, papers, etc., with credit given. Most of the images in the collection are in this category, although some aren't, for various reasons. Luckily the IWN helps you out-- if you try and save an "all rights reserved" image, it tells you, and gives you only a tiny image rather than the full-size you get otherwise.

Time for a break in this lecture, haha. In Part Two, we shall have a look at checking the copyright restrictions on specific images in other collections, and on other collections in general. But, these three should keep you occupied for a while! :)

(And if I forget to come back for part two, do remind me!)

(and if you have any questions, do message-- I'm not a qualified expert (yet... I just started a degree in the area, though) but I take this very seriously and have quite a bit of experience, so I'll try to help!)
 

oldhousejunkie

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I don't use much past 1900 and credit most of the things that I use. Anything more recent has generally been taken by myself.

I did a post with all the Hampton Court and Windsor Beauties right at the start of my blogging career and found them very hard to find! Isn't it weird that they aren't all in the same place. I didn't worry too much though as the Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures used to be my tutor at university and he's given me informal permission to use their images. ;)

I *think* I have my own photos of them all now though so if you ever need them again let me know and I'll see what I can do. ;)


Hmm... Do you think I would get in trouble? They are past the 100 year mark. I think I'm more concerned on where I took them from...there may have been a few from the website that shows some of the Queen's collection.

FlapperPhilospher, what's the real issue at play in these matters? Can you cite your source and cover yourself or are you just making things worse? I have a lot of modern day photos I use to illustrate a point or in reference to a still living person. I'm officially getting freaked!
 
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