But rarely is a web site an interpretive presentation. Instead, a web site is usually an area where one can investigate a topic and gather information. Like shoppers in a department store, viewers of web pages explore information, stopping to look at what interests them, passing by pages that are of less interest, and spending as much or as little time in each area as they like. Web pages often provide viewers with good information and general impressions about a topic but rarely with an understanding of the creator's analysis of the topic's historical significance. Genuine analysis cannot be effectively presented by allowing an individual to jump from place to place.
Documentaries can accomplish that task much more effectively.
The producer controls the order, sequence and overall organization and flow of information to effectively present an interpretation of a topic that draws conclusions about a topic's significance in history. The History Channel programs and its web site serve as an example. Instead, the historical documentaries that The History Channel produces can be enjoyed on television. The research process has been enormously enhanced by growing student access to the Internet, which has opened up a new world of resources. This has been a gold mine, especially for those students in rural or remote areas where access to major research libraries and archives is limited or nonexistent.