For me, there is no single individual who captures the imagination of what can be achieved in one's lifetime more than the founder of the Mongol Empire Temujin, or as most of us know him Genghis Khan. Depending on what source you may read, he is either one of the greatest political and military leaders in history or the most successful of a long line of savage nomadic warlords who contributed nothing to the world expect despoliation and destruction. Having read countless books and articles on him, I have definitely formed my own opinion, but where and what can a novice on the subject access in terms of information on the internet about Temujin? Since we have been studying folksonomies I thought I would digress from my usual first point of destination 'google' and try the user generated delicious.com to search for content on Temujin.
For a novice , the first link that appears seems to link Genghis Khan with the human genome project. I would highly suggest a novice starting with this ongoing science project and Genghis Khan's relation to it. This article by the Guardian would be a great starting point for someone who knows nothing of Genghis Khan. Finding out that at least 16 million people today can be genetically linked with the great leader would instantly impress upon me the sheer scale of his importance in history as no other individual can claim such a genetic tree. Now that we know that Genghis is indeed an important historical figure, where can we find a biography? Strolling down the delicious search results, I find the obvious link to Wikipedia, however at this point in one's journey I would not suggest visiting this online encyclopedia. The wikipedia page on Genghis can be viewed here but it contains far too much information and does not specifically focus on the man himself. It is a great reference source however I would direct searchers to the National Geographic online timeline to discover the basic biography of Genghis Khan. I like this source better than wikipedia for a couple of reasons. The first being that one is not bombarded with information as in the wikipedia case. This timeline provides succinct information which is highly structured and contextualized by chronology and very elementary in its nature. Secondly, this website provides a great bibliography and links so that one may continue learning from the page. Thirdly, the site also describes the modern geographic science involved in uncovering the history of Genghis Khan to show how primary research on Genghis is conducted.
After visiting National Geographic I would then send the searcher to the wikipedia to delve deeper into any particular aspect of Genghis' life. If one wants to know about his religious beliefs, political practices and military strategies and tactics this is a great place to go. Because of the hyperlinks embedded within every Wikipedia article it is very conducive to illuminating the type of information the user desires. One can start on the Genghis Khan page and easily navigate through each military campaign and also many individual battles. You can click on a link to learn about Genghis deeply held spiritual beliefs and his mandate of religious toleration. Or peruse through his political practices which for the most part abolished patronage in the place of a more 'democratic' style. Wikipedia in this case can serve to focus one's interest in Genghis Khan since there is a wealth of specialized information which stretches beyond just the man himself.
At this point in the search, I would suggest switching over the the beast that is 'google' since many of the delicious sites link to the same articles and there is not much variability. One of the downside of the folksonomy it seems is that miniature differences in user nomenclature produce the same pages over and over. There are some good links to newspaper articles such as this one from the LA Times which discusses the organizational brilliance of the Mongol Empire created by Temujin. However, for an interested person after wikipedia I would send them to the primary sources available online. Specifically I would direct them to the only Mongol literary source of the 13th Century The Secret History of the Mongols. This source is an epic poem (similar to the Greek styles of epics) about the origins of the Mongol people and the biography of Genghis Khan himself. The book is written in a wonderful prose and is highlighted by spiritual and moral undertones but there is a great deal of history as well. With the access created by the internet, anyone can now access this source via PDF in many translated languages here (English version). Written shortly after Temujin's death, this book reveals how the Mongols viewed themselves in the world. A great introduction to text found here would be a good read before one begins diving in the 13th century epic.
There is also one great one-stop-spot for Genghis Khan that is worth mentioning here before I wrap up this post. This website edited by Tim Spalding provides a detailed annotated internet bibliography on Genghis Khan. In essence, this is the website which manifests the purpose of this blogging assignment. As someone who is very educated in the Mongols and on Genghis himself, this is a little overwhelming even for me, let alone someone who is not educated on the subject. The beauty of this site is that it is organized by thematic content so that if you want to find a link on his politics, you simply click on that topic. The same goes for his military and religious practices as well! Perhaps the best attribute of this website are the links to primary sources. I directed the searchers to the Secret History but by using Spalding's site, one can access all the opposing viewpoints from the 13th century that have survived are are digitized. This website also gives a great balance between academic and popular choices and also offers many multimedia options including picture and movies making it accessible for all internet browsers. I find it a little ironic that I am presenting a site which completely undermines my posting assignment since it has created a far better guide than I have. But at the same time, my ability to share this link with the world is what propagates the revolutionary communicative ability of the internet. What I deem important and interesting may resonate with thousands of others whom I may never have gotten the opportunity to connect with without such a forum. By participating in this blogging assignment, I have learned that although the democratic nature of the internet can sometimes miniaturize an individual project (like my Genghis guide here), it is through each of these individual prerogatives and social activities such a tagging that our collective knowledge is enhanced and the information made more accessible.
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