PCMag, a leading international publication related to technology, has featured Marshall University and Clio www.theclio.com in their latest series on technology and higher education. “It’s great to see Marshall in some rather elite company,” said Clio founder and Marshall History professor David Trowbridge. The article lists the following universities as tech innovators: Boston College, George Mason University, Marshall University, Stanford University, UCLA, University of North Texas, University of Richmond, and the University of Virginia. “Each of these institutions have invested significant funds into their digital humanities programs, and have become leaders in the field. We should be deeply honored to be included in the list,” said Trowbridge.
The first article of the series lists Clio among the most promising and exciting projects in the field of digital humanities. Author William Fenton used Clio to discover historical and cultural sites near his home in New York City. Given Clio’s growth over the past year, users of this free website and mobile application can not only discover historical sites in major cities like New York and San Francisco, but within small towns and even rural areas throughout the United States.
The final article concluded that the technology being created by Marshall and other research universities demonstrate that universities rather than tech-start-ups remain the center of innovation in the United States. While tech-start-ups are producing useful products and software Fenton concluded that “the most sophisticated digital projects are supported by the same institutional machinery—faculty tenure, Digital Humanities centers and institutes, and government grants and fellowships—that tech upstarts tend to dismiss. Until those upstarts can support the research upon which education relies, we ought to regard claims of educational disruption as premature at best.”
Clio is an educational website and mobile application that guides the public to thousands of historical and cultural sites throughout the United States. Built by scholars for public benefit, each entry includes a concise summary and useful information about a historical site, museum, monument, landmark, or other site of cultural or historical significance. In addition, “time capsule” entries allow users to learn about historical events that occurred around them. Each entry offers turn-by-turn directions as well as links to relevant books, articles, videos, primary sources, and credible websites. Ambitious in scope, Clio allows scholars and their students to publish humanities scholarship using an innovative digital format that will instantly reach a broad audience in ways that cannot be replicated by traditional forms of publishing.
For more information on Clio, visit www.theclio.com or watch this video. Download the Clio app from the Apple App Store or the Android app on Google play.
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