Introduction | Scope | Rationale | Site Plan | Site Reviews | Technical Plan | Splash

Site Reviews

This author surveyed numerous websites on the Civil War and religion as well as other topics in preparing this proposal for A Fiery Gospel: Religion in the Civil War Era. Of particular help were the sites reviewed in The Civil War on the Web: A Guide to the Very Best Sites . While only one of the sites reviewed in the book’s top 100 dealt with religion, I did gain an important understanding of the digital resources available on the web and how they are presented.

I also looked at all of the websites listed under Religion in the U.S. Civil War Center . While hardly a complete catalog, this site does contain a number of excellent examples of Civil War web history.

I was influenced in particularly by the following web sites:

The U.S. Sanitary Commission. This site presents information about a related topic in a clean and uncluttered manner. I like the format of the home page and considered something similar for a while, although I ultimately went in a different direction.

How Did White Women Aid Former Slaves during and after the Civil War, 1863-1870? This web site is essentially a long essay that may be read linearly with hypertext links to related topics and documents. I was intrigued by this approach but ultimately rejected the idea as being inappropriate for such a broad topic.

James Madison: His Legacy. This web site is a project of the James Madison Foundation at James Madison University. I liked the clean interface and clear, formal presentation. I came very close to adopting something similar but ultimately was persuaded to be more creative and have fewer major categories to choose from on the homepage.

National Humanities Center: Religion in the Civil War - Links to On-Line Resources. I liked the way the NHC presented annotated links to primary source documents in a clear straightforward manner. I intend to use this style in the Resources section of A Fiery Gospel: Religion in the Civil War Era.

Hargrett Rage Book and Manuscript Library. This home page from the University of Georgia really appealed to me. I like its clean simplicity and understated use of graphics. Ultimately, my homepage will look something like this.

Naval History Explored. This site ultimately was most helpful and the one that I chose as my model. Done as a Project Proposal for Clio Wired last year by Sheila Brennan, it presents a simple yet comprehensive site plan for a teaching web site devoted to naval history. While I cannot hope to imitate Sheila’s elegant and captivating homepage, I do like the design of her proposal homepage and borrowed several ideas from it. I especially liked the fact that she had only five buttons on the left-hand side of the page and with simple but effective graphics.