The Unofficial Footnote Blog

Footnote.com is a history website. There are people responsible for messaging about the site, but there are some things that I think need to be said that aren’t in the official messaging, the footnote blog, the home page, and the like. It’s clear to me that Footnote has a challenge, telling people what they have and why people should care about it. There are three broad categories that Footnote materials fall into: important, interesting, and popular. I see that as a bit of a continuum – and want to make the important more interesting, and the interesting more popular.

Full disclosure requires me to add that I am formerly the Vice President of Content at Footnote.com. In that role, I had some influence over what was published and in what order. I traveled a lot for my job – talking to customers and discussing content opportunities with libraries, archives, and other content custodians. The more I learned, the less I knew. There is so much to be learned about the records that people have left as they passed through this life, and the people who have gathered and saved them for us.

This blog was first posted in Dec 2007.  I had a great deal of access to the inside workings of Footnote.com. We’ll try to find the right balance between company flack and company iconoclast, and perhaps your feedback on that topic will be helpful.