The Unofficial Footnote Blog

Footnote.com is a new 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 the Vice President of Content at Footnote.com. In that role, I have some influence over what gets published and in what order. I travel a lot - talking to customers and discussing content opportunities with libraries, archives, and other content custodians. The more I learn, the less I know. 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 is new, first posted in Dec 2007. It’s possible that everything will change a great deal and soon. That’s how new ventures are. I have a great deal of access to the inside workings of Footnote.com. The management supports the idea of an “insider blog.” They don’t tell me what to say, but I’m sure that they care what I say, and they care how that impacts what you think. We’ll try to find the right balance between company flack and company iconoclast, and perhaps your feedback on that topic will be helpful.