Since this course began I have been juggling some ideas on what exactly my final project should entail as the possibilities seem like they could be endless. Very early on I thought that it would be interesting to incorporate some sort of website into the project. I had done some website design for classes in high school and for an online course my first year here at Guelph and while I’m definitely no master at html and web design I thought it would be something fun and challenging to pursue. The next decision to make however was what type of website I was going to design. I’m a pretty avid sports fan and thought that revolving a website around sports could be a possibility yet I didn’t just want to make another fan site that would be no different than the countless amount that are already on the internet. I also wasn’t exactly sure how I could attack the idea in a historical sense. I thought about possibly creating a web site that tackled the ’72 Summit Series between Canada and Russia. I mulled over the idea of doing a website revolving the history of a league or storied franchise. Every idea I came up with however brought me back to square one with the problem of how I could make it original. Following yesterday’s class on the use of Google Earth however I was struck with a new Idea of somehow incorporating a website that would coincide with GIS and Google Earth.
The idea came to me when I was searching for KMZ files that could be downloaded into Google Earth. While there were countless of options I choose to download a file that would show key battles in Europe during World War II but was disappointed once I began to explore what I was looking at. While the file did indeed plot on Google Earth key battles that occurred during the war that was about all that I was given. When I would click on any particular plot it would just tell me the name of the battle and nothing else. No information on the winner of the battle, no key historical points, no statistics on lives lost, nothing. It dawned on me that if I were to create something similar to this on Google Earth I would want to be able to direct interested searchers somewhere on the internet that would give them more information should they feel a need to look. If I were able to create a website or webpage that could link with the plot on Google Earth I would be able to provide a great deal more of information.
As I continued to look for different downloadable KMZ files based around wars and battles I noticed a great deal of variety for World War II and conflicts that the Americans involved themselves in but not much concerning Canadians. I than thought that it would be cool, were I to continue with this project plan, to possibly create a Google Earth KMZ file and Website that would focus strictly on the War of 1812 with battles that occurred along what is now the Canadian and US Boarders.
While this is in no way a definite plan quite yet it is the first real serious idea that I have come up with and would be more than happy to hear about any comments or ideas that you guys had.
Nate's HIST*4170 Blog 
Nate- good exploration here to search out and refine the possibilities. Look around for 1812 stuff and see what’s out there. http://communications.uwo.ca/western_news/stories/2012/July/app_brings_war_of_1812_to_life.html
Hey Nate,
Firstly, I like how you came to the conclusion of your possible project, very interesting thought process from a sports website to military battles!
I really like the idea, I think this project will fill a certain void and offer information to an audience who would pick up a book on military battles to learn about them but instead go to the internet. Sometimes its hard enough for the people that do look through those books to get a visual representation of the battles. You can read the names, dates and statistics of a battle but not really understand its importance geographically (where the battles vast in comparison or were they more concentrated then you brain thinks). This is were the GIS mapping would come in handy! Maybe its my personal preference (I’m a very visual learner) but I think a lot of people need an image to understand a complex topic. Making the project focus on Canadian battles, specifically the War of 1812, is a nice touch and surely a more personal one. I work at a museum in the summer in Goderich (a port town) and even though the town wasn’t close to the action of it all, they were still prepared to fight and defend. The museum has tonnes of archival documents to prove it and surrounding the museum are the mortars original intended for use in the war. I was surprised to find out that it was more ‘national’ than I thought. Goes to show that we can still learn new things about a topic we though we already knew!
I think its a huge moment in Canadian history that people should know about and your project would help show a different perspective.