Simple exhibits, effective learning: presenting the United Farm Workers' experience on the World Wide Web

Library Trends, Summer, 2002 by Daniel Golodner

ABSTRACT

THERE IS A RELATIVE DEARTH OF INFORMATION on the WorldWide Web about labor unions and labor history. One notable exception is an online exhibit, entitled "La Causa--The History of the United Farm Workers," which was created by the Walter P. Reuther Library/Archives of Labor and Urban History. This article draws upon the experience of the Reuther Library in creating the UFW exhibit and asserts that an effective learning experience can be provided if the Web design is kept relatively simple, hypertext links are used, ease of navigation is emphasized, and other factors are taken into consideration. Creating a simple site will allow simple use and more users to visit.

SIMPLE EXHIBITS, EFFECTIVE LEARNING: PRESENTING THE UNITED FARM WORKERS' EXPERIENCE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB

The widespread adoption of the Internet has led to several major developments that impact libraries, labor archives, and their patrons. First, the amount of accessible information has increased dramatically. People throughout the world now access comprehensive databases of archives, allowing them to peruse library holdings and other information sources. Even the language of our library institutions is now utilized in everyday Web sites. For example, newspaper Web sites store old information in their "archives"; reference papers or white papers are stored in online "libraries."

Second, the growth of the Internet has altered how information resources are accessed and by whom. Bibliographic databases and multimedia presentations (including audio and video streaming) are now on the Web and can be viewed by anyone with the requisite bandwidth or patience. We are truly in the midst of the information revolution. It has been stated by David Bowie that "[the Internet] thrives on its own chaos--[it] combine [s] things that shouldn't be bedfellows" (Nash, 1999, paragraph 7).

Third, the growth of the Internet is changing how we read and process information. The rapid expansion of the number of Web sites has led to information "overload" that dulls the senses. Young adults, who grew up with computers, have a different style of reading from that of older generations (who are not as conversant with computers). Younger readers tend to scan readings and to quickly locate hyperlinks, rather than to engage in more extended study. The youth of today "who would normally not read books with footnotes until secondary school, know their way around the bright blue hyperlinks. They learn early that a Web site isn't complete without references to other sites, and that the cooler the site, the cooler its links" (Bader, 2000, p. 16). Information processing, as a whole, has thus changed: "The result is that we know countless more `bits' of information, both important and trivial, than our ancestors" (Birkerts, 1994, p. 72). As the repositories of knowledge, libraries and archives need to produce information to this new generation in a navigable and easy-to-read format.

The Web has exploded since the early 1990s, drastically altering demand for information. Newspapers no longer dictate how or in what form information is now read; instead, the public does. News can come to the front door, or be on your home computer and printed out before your coffee is ready, or be delivered at work via e-mail. Personal information portals gather content from various news agencies and are customized to include specific topics such as weather and sports. We want something more out of information, something that is fast and connected. With the public demanding instantaneous, customized information, how can pedagogy about history or other topics best be presented?

The Web provides a vehicle by which libraries can address this challenge. In particular, the Web provides a means by which information about one of the greatest social movements in United States history--the formation and maturation of labor unions--can be far more widely disseminated. Greater awareness of, and education about, labor history can thus be fostered.

At the same time, libraries and labor archives need to give careful consideration to the process by which they create online exhibits on the labor movement. For example, too great a reliance on the latest and most sophisticated applications on Web sites can actually impede effective learning. This paper draws upon the experience of the Walter P. Reuther Library/Archives of Labor and Urban History in creating an online exhibit on the United Farm Workers. The primary thesis is that effective learning and more widespread access stems from keeping the Web design relatively simple. Specific guidelines for creating online exhibits, culled from the Reuther Library's experience to date, are also provided.

BACKGROUND ON THE REUTHER LIBRARY

The Walter P. Reuther Library/Archives of Labor and Urban History is dedicated to preserving the historical record of the American labor movement in the twentieth century. It is named after the third president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), who was one of the most important figures in the twentieth-century labor movement. Reuther noted his concern for the housing and preservation of the UAW's records in a letter that he wrote to all the Local Union Presidents that stated, "it is only through careful documentation of our history that an accurate account can be given of the UAW in our nation's economic, political, and social life" (Reuther, 1962, [unpaginated]). With these words, the Walter P. Reuther Library has grown to be one of the largest repositories for the history of the American labor movement.