Feedback and insights on the "Future of History" - Wren

12 Jul 2022

Hi all, this is a request for your insights and wisdom. And for some fun
and interesting conversation.

I'll be giving a talk next week at the Chautauqua Lecture Series,
addressing the "Future of History" to an audience of ordinary folks. (In
the US, Chautauqua is a famous intellectual summer camp for lifelong
learners).

So my request to you: In what ways is the Wikimedia movement addressing the
challenge of crafting the future of history? I'd love to quote some
insights from WREN to a larger audience.

The full description of the topic is below. Thanks!

-Andrew

https://www.chq.org/schedule/events/weekly-themes/

The Future of History

We live our lives swimming in a vast sea of information; what will wash up
on the future’s shores and be deemed our history? When data is stored in
the cloud rather than compiled in physical files, when we send emails and
tweets rather than letters, how do the records of today become primary
sources tomorrow? There are more ways to record history than ever before,
but how can those records live in a useful way for the historians of the
future — or, with everyone having the technology, and thus the capability,
to be their own historian, their own librarian, will a need to study
history as a formal vocation even exist? Beyond the logistics of such
questions, broader issues are at play: Who are the gatekeepers of our
stories, and who do we trust to be stewards of our lives and memories?