America in 1920: An Information Microhistory

This chapter presents a microhistory of America in the year 1920 from an information perspective. Topics include an overview of America in 1920 from a traditional historical perspective, four examples of how traditional accounts of events from 1920 might be retold in a different way when giving information issues greater consideration, ways in which an information history perspective might offer greater historical attention to new technologies and to information institutions, how various academic disciplines have treated the concept of information, and how an information-oriented account of this history differs from a traditional historical account.