I found a link on Blogdex I thought I’d pass on. It is a site dedicated to Artists and Children’s Books in 1920s Japan, and in particular, the journal コドモノクニ (“The Land of Children”). The materials are prepared by the International Library of Children’s Literature which is a beautiful library connected to the National Diet Library found just behind Ueno Park in Tokyo.
I think the Kodomo no Kuni website is a good example of the kind of history project I hope to become very popular in the future: pick something manageable in scope, put a lot of materials not available online into a format easily viewable online with a pleasant and accessible design. Provide some introductory narrative and some primary materials. While this site doesn’t provide it, I think it would also be good to provide: a more extensive index and database of materials not included for display in the main presentation of the site but can be viewed by those who are interested in seeing more (like the Columbia University Ling Lung women’s magazine project which in contrast, lacks the presentation of the Kodomo no Kuni site), links to more information, the ability to easily download materials for offline viewing, a place for users to post comments and new info, and some kind of updates or an RSS feed for newly added material. I have a few of these kind of small projects in mind and will post more when I get something going on them.