Having used Evernote, I’m convinced of its potential to be very useful to the contemporary historian. However, I would not argue that such applicability extends to historians studying every period in history (at least to the same degree). What this piece of internet software actually does is “clips” (captures) images of a variety of kinds and stores them. This particular aspect of the service is probably that of greatest significance to me given my immediate circumstances as an MA Medieval Historian about to commence writing my thesis. Whereas the individual relying solely of notes in paper form is at risk of losing these and finding themselves in a difficult situation, Evernote offers the potential for the information depicted in these paper form notes to be captured as an image and stored on a computer. Thus, if the scholar does lose their paper-form notes, they have a back up. Special attention should also be paid to the fact that Evernote captures “images”. Thus, the spectrum of forms of information which might be stored using it is enormous. Whether the individual wishes to capture the image of an on-line source/document, or a news-paper cutting, the services of Evernote are equally applicable to both.
This introduction of a summarisation of the benefits offered by Evernote needs to be considered along with that which is required to derive the maximum benefit from the software. Essentially, the Evernote user needs to have some form of image capturing technology such as a digital camera or an iPhone. Without one of these at their disposal, those images the individual might capture are limited to those which it is possible to immediately summon up upon their computer screen. If the person concerned encounters some document they wish to store such as a written will, and is without either the camera or iPhone needed to take a picture of the will, they face an obstacle. Specifically, they will be unable to upload the desired image to their hard-drive and store it.
Where do I stand with this service? In one of our Medieval History lectures with Dr. Scully the question was raised how we know what we do about the period we are studying. The answer: Bede’s Ecclesiastical History. In essence, this is the single most important source for the Medieval Historian.
Medieval History isn’t like the more recent branches of our academic discipline. For the student studying say, the Cuban Missile Crisis, there is available for them a much greater bulk of source material. In essence, there is available to them a significantly greater number of the “facts” about their chosen period in history. However, for those of us studying the medieval period, we have a lot less to work with. Insofar as we do have source materials (Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, and more significantly for my Thesis, the writings of St Patrick) there is much more “weaving” the pieces of available information together to produce coherent narratives because, in short, we have to! Why would I, therefore, go out of my way to be taking pictures of the pages from the book in the library when the amount of time it would consume would be enormous and I would be better off just purchasing the text?
For me, of the materials I’ll be using for my thesis, those which I would probably be allowed to take photographs of (either those sources on Q+1, 2 or 3 of the UCC Boole Library) are also those that I can photocopy for free (as a post-graduate student I have at my disposal several photocopying cards granting me 100 copies each, which I received gratuitously). As for the sources I cannot photocopy for free (those located in Boole library basement), I am also prohibited from taking pictures of these.
Thus I am rendered incapable of capturing images to be stored using Evernote. I would be quite happy to capture these images were it allowed because it would save me considerable time from being spent in the basement taking notes, but rules are rules! I did recently discover however that a particular source for which I was searching in the library (in book form) has gone missing. Despite this, the librarian informed me that it was also available on-line. This would be an instance when Evernote would prove useful to me. Recently my internet has not been responding. Were I to capture images of this online source, and any others I might later discover that I need, I would be rendered free from the hassle of having to wait for my internet connectivity to become available once more to me. This availability of online sources, for my immediate purposes is very limited. I think the clipping of online sources would be much more relevant to historians of more recent periods for the simple reason that a considerably larger number of sources relevant to their historical fields will be available online than there are for mine.
