Giants in Cyberspace:
Online Resources in the History
and Foundations of Gifted
Education
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Digitization & the Democratization
of Information
More digitization means:
Greater access to everyone
Access available to those often “left behind” in
academic scholarship
Low-income individuals
International scholars
Scholars currently employed in other fields
Scholars without library access
General public & the media
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
“The New York Public Library Research
Libraries were struck by the convergence of
Google's mission with their own. We see the
digitization project as a transformational
moment in the access to information and
wanted not only to learn from it but also to
influence it.”
books.google.com/googlebooks/partners.html
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Types of Digitized Data
Classic books in the history of the field
Classic articles & book chapters
Digitized archival collections
Classic 19th & 20th century writings on the
nature of intelligence
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Find…
Early tests of intelligence
Historical resource compilations in the study
of intelligence & giftedness
Government & private organization reports
Master’s theses & doctoral dissertations
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Find…
Archival collection inventories
Information & collections about specific wellknown prodigies
Contemporary articles about the history of
gifted education
Archived newspapers and other mass media
Archival collections for the study of creative
individuals
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Find…
Audio & video
Books & articles on other topics by early
leaders in gifted education
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Major Sources
Psychology & Education of the Gifted
Google Books
books.google.com/advanced_book_search
HEARTH (Home Economics Archive: Research,
Tradition, & History) (Cornell University)
hearth.library.cornell.edu/
Classics in the History of Psychology website (York
University, Toronto) psychclassics.yorku.ca/index.htm
Private websites
Library of Congress – American Memory Collection
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Google Book Project
“[In 2002] A small group of Googlers officially launches the
secret "books" project. They begin talking to experts about the
challenges ahead, starting with a simple but crucial question:
how long would it take to digitally scan every book in the world?
It turns out, oddly enough, that no one knows. In typical Google
fashion, Larry Page decides to experiment on his own. In the
office one day, he and Marissa Mayer, one of our first product
managers, use a metronome to keep rhythm as they
methodically turn the pages of a 300-page volume. It takes a full
40 minutes to reach the end.”
books.google.com/googlebooks/newsviews/history.html
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Google Book Project…
“. . .Larry Page reaches out to the University of
Michigan, his alma mater and a pioneer in library
digitization efforts including JSTOR and Making of
America. When he learns that the current estimate for
scanning the university library's seven million
volumes is 1,000 years, he tells university president
Mary Sue Coleman he believes Google can help
make it happen in six.”
http://books.google.com/googlebooks/newsviews/history.html
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Google Books
Library Partners
Bavarian State Library
Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC)
Cornell University Library
Harvard University
Ghent University Library
Keio University Library
The National Library of Catalonia
The New York Public Library
Oxford University
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California
University Complutense of Madrid
University Library of Lausanne
University of Michigan
University of Texas at Austin
University of Virginia
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Using Digitized Materials
for Scholarship in the History &
Foundations of Gifted Education
Searches for materials
Downloading and storage
Search functions within materials
Viewing
Citations
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Pros & Cons of Digitized
Materials
PROS
CONS
Worldwide access
Protection of older
or rare paper copies
Preservation of
knowledge
Search functions
Digitization projects are
still in their infancy
Essential materials in
traditional paper
formats may be
overlooked
Search functions
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
What Digitization Means for the
Field of Gifted Education
Democratization of scholarship
Accessibility
Access not dependent on availability of
paper volumes or cost of books
Preservation of rare volumes
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
What Digitization Means…
Storage takes much less space
Sophisticated search options within volumes
Fewer interlibrary loans & associated fees
Preservation of rare archival collections of
data; digitization means those papers don’t
have to be physically “handled” to be used
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
What Digitization Means for the
Media & General Public
The field’s historical “dirty laundry” is
out to air forever
Scholarship is no longer limited to those
with university access
Media is free to do accurate historical
research rather than repeating tales and
myths
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Dangers of Digital Scholarship
in the Field
Loss of or change to fee-based access at
some point in the future
Dependence solely on digital sources
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Examples of Digitized Material
Archival Collection Inventories
Archival Collections for the Study of Creative
Individuals
Classic Books
Media Archives
Reports
Material on Prodigies
Video
Other
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Archival Collection Inventories
Guide to the Lewis Madison Terman
Papers (Stanford University Special
Collections):
content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf3489n6f7/
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Archival Collections for the Study
of Creative Individuals
Wright Brothers Papers
American Memory Collection, Library of
Congress
memory.loc.gov/ammem/wrighthtml/wri
ghthome.html
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Classic Books
Hollingworth, L. S. (1923). Special talents and
defects: Their significance for education. New
York: The MacMillan Company.
hearth.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/textidx?type=boolean;c=hearth;cc=hearth;sid=38
c93cc3550317269deea05c2616151b;rgn=pa
ges;q1=leta;op2=and;q2=hollingworth;op3=a
nd;view=toc;subview=detail;sort=occur;start=
1;size=25;idno=4221282
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Classic Books
Whipple, G. M. (1919). Classes for
gifted children: An experimental study of
methods of selection and instruction.
Bloomington, IL: Public School
Publishing Company.
books.google.com/books?id=3VkWAAA
AIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=gifted+
children&num=100&as_brr=1
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Media Archives
The New York Times Archives
www.nytimes.com
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Reports
Berry, C. S., Chairman. (1931). Special education,
the handicapped and the gifted: Report of the
Committee on special classes. White House
Conference on Child Health and Protection. (1931).
New York: Century Company.
Section on the gifted: pp. 537–550.
hearth.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/textidx?type=simple;c=hearth;cc=hearth;
sid=a579a766b897a9e33733795477a062bf;rgn=full%20text;q1
=hollingworth;view=toc;subview=detail;sort=occur;start=1;size=2
5;idno=4305450
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Material on Prodigies
Sidis, B. (1911) Philistine and Genius.
Boston: Richard G. Badger.
books.google.com/books?id=yPP5eSG
23Q8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauth
or:boris+inauthor:sidis&num=100&as_br
r=1#PPP1,M1
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Video
Education for Excellence (Internet
Archive)
Gifted program documentary, filmed in
NYC public schools in the 1960's
www.archive.org/details/education_for_
excellence_1
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Other…
Lippman-Terman Debate:
historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5172
historymatters.gmu.edu/d/4960
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Wikipedia
Fiction? Fact? Popular!
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Dirty Laundry
Eugenics Record Office Records
(American Philosophical Society):
www.amphilsoc.org/library/mole/e/ero.htm
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
A New Era for Historical
Scholarship in Gifted Education
Allows collection of disparate &
previously difficult to find pieces of
information
Democratization of access
New possibilities for historical analysis
& interpretation
Promise & perils of digitization
Storage issues
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
Technology of Today & Tomorrow
Brings the Past to Life
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
To Submit Links for Future
Inclusion in Our Database
E-mail us:
Carolyn: carolyn@thehoagies.com
Kathi:
kkearney@midcoast.com
Include:
Short description (several words)
Website address (URL)
Why you feel this site is important in a master list
of digitized resources in the foundations and
history of gifted education (1-2 sentences)
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer
History & Foundations Page
First of 1000+ pages uniquely for scholars…
www.hoagiesgifted.org/history_foundations.htm
Copyright © 2007 Kathi Kearney
& Carolyn Kottmeyer