The Army Museum of Paris versus the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The Army Museum of Paris provides an entire collection to the second World War with two rooms that contain items from the war, the Vichy regime, and the French Resistance. Yet, unlike most modern museums they provide no online tour or even a list of the items at the museum. Musée de l’Armée Invalides, however, remains one of the best-reviewed museums in France. The downloadable brochure also provides no additional information on the collections. Meanwhile, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum provides an array of primary and secondary source material online. From books and journal articles to photographs and Nazi propaganda advertisements there is an overwhelming amount of, slightly disorganized, data on their website. However, the museum offers possibly the most useful content of all for my paper which is links to other museums interview archives. The USHMM provides an oral history archive of not only the victims but of French Resistance fighters.
The Jewish Virtual Library versus French History Online
- https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/VichyRegime.html
- http://frenchhistoryonline.com/vichy-france-and-the-second-word-war/vichy-france-the-nazis-and-the-holocaust-an-introduction/
Neither of these were good websites. I chose them because, in passing, the titles sound almost legitimate. The set up of The Jewish Virtual Library is pixelated and horrible. It is obvious from its appearance that it is not credible, but upon going to its “Vichy Regime” article and scrolling through there are obvious typos with the only citation being Wikipedia. French History Online looks like a standard blog, as we use in class, and there is an “About” page that explains the author, Chris Millington, is a Senior Lecturer at Swansea University. Unfortunately, the blog is not in Chicago format with Endnotes. Therefore, as you read through the “Vichy France, the Nazis and the Holocaust: An introduction” post there is no credit to where he knows each piece of information. He does, however, provide what he deems “key texts” on the topic followed by works of a specific author he focused on, Vicki Caron, and other sources he calls “useful” to the study of the study of Vichy France. I plan to look into these sources, however, there is the glaring absence of Robert Paxton, who has written and discussed the topic more than any other historian.
It is vital to be critical of every possible source. Do not just assume that a museum will have online content. Do not assume that a dot-org or a blog by a professor will provide appropriate content. Think of everything, even Wikipedia, as a stepping stone toward stronger content. Look at a strong sources citations and piggyback into the abyss of your topic. You never know what you will find.