During the past decade, the massive worldwide conversion of learning content from print and other older media on to digital networks has created gatekeepers who limit access to their digital content or require online users to pay for it.
A variety of gatekeepers have made a third choice:
to open their content freely into the Internet.
These are their stories.
October 28 , 2006
Monticello
The Home of Thomas Jefferson
The Home of Thomas Jefferson
Monticello.org image
One has to suppose that Thomas Jefferson would have loved the Internet. He was a man fascinated by progress and who took a great interest in innovation.
The official website of Monticello, The Home of Thomas Jefferson is a tribute to his memory in many ways. It has several large sections with bountiful open content for learning, including: Jefferson, House Gardens & Plantation, Research& Collections, and Education. There is also a link to the Shop which is a large section of webpages with many kinds of merchandise woven around the Monticello theme: For the Home, Plants & Seeds, Garden Accessories, Books, Jeffersonian Gifts, Lewis and Clark, Toys & Collectibles, Special Values, and Monticello Wine.
The page about The Thomas Jefferson Foundation that owns and operates Monticello includes these words from its president:
Welcome to the Monticello Web site. Every year we greet nearly half a million visitors to Monticello with the goals of providing an enjoyable experience and of helping people to think historically about America's "architect of democracy." We believe this Web site accomplishes these same goals, reaching users worldwide who might otherwise be unable to visit Monticello . . .
The website hosted by Monticello has been an Internet education leader since its first version. In 1996, when Monticello.org first appears in Archive.org's WayBackMachine, A Day in the Life was a cutting-edge educational Web exhibit that served as a model for open learning content of its day. Beginning with TJ's quip, "I rise with the sun," A Day in the Life remains online in the Jefferson section of the website. This exhibit about the life and habits of Monticello's famed resident has been online for over a decade—upgraded and refined as the Web medium has matured. It is a venerable gem of open content for learning platformed on the authenticity of its subject's actual home.
In 2005 handsome and digitally elaborate Monticello Explorer was added. The invitation to enter the exhibit on the homepage says it is: "An In-depth look at Monticello with d-D models of the house, narrated tours, special animations, and an interactive map." The Credits page of the Monticello Explorer project lists a broad range of people, including many who are on staff at Monticello and who are associated with other historical foundations and associations. The Project Team members are the heads of departments at Monticello: Restoration, Curator of Collections, Archaeology, etc. The digital Monticello Explorer is closely managed by the caretakers of the historical treasure that it interfaces online. Thus Web visitors interact with authenticity and exhibits selected by knowledgeable curators.
As it was in the time of Thomas Jefferson, Monticello is a very busy and interesting place. Rich and enlightened online materials are open to all visitors. There is much to be learned. There is obvious profit to the student.
It is clear that the website from Monticello has many sources of income. Some visitors to the website are probably be inspired to come to Monticello in person, where adults pay $14-$26 for various levels of admission. Store sales provide income. The Foundation also provides methods for donate to its work through an online support page.
Thomas Jefferson's hilltop home at Monticello is interesting and stimulating. Among many positive achievements, Monticello supports and demonstrates the viability of online open educational resources.