try harder: archival research in the digital age
Post on 17-Jan-2015
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M. H. BealsSheffield Hallam University
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ABOUT ME
AN OVERVIEW
The Promise and Perils of Digital Archives
A Philosophy of Digital Research
How ‘The Digital Humanities’ Have Shaped My Research
DIGITAL V. DIGITISED
DIGITIZED ARCHIVES
• A Digital Version of a Traditional Space
• A Different but Recognisable Experience
• In-Built Authority and Credibility• Questions Raised:• Materiality
• Curation
• Malleability
DIGITAL ARCHIVES
• Exists in Myriad Forms• Narrative Curation• Non-Linear Curation• Interactive Data Sets
• Raises Questions of• Authority• Authenticity• Versionality • Ephemerality
EFFICIENCY V. CONVENIENCE
• Irregular or Unsociable Hours
• Long-Distance Retrieval• Fewer Financial
Constraints• Multi-Site Collaboration• Immediate Cross-
Referencing
Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/4101454
002/
DIGITAL MATERIAL
Image http://edtechdigest.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/trends-cartoon-ron-morgan/
• Google is not a Research Assistant• Hidden & Inconstant
Algorithms • Herd Mentality Reshapes
Focus
• Unclear Distinction Between • Information Gathering• Data Processing • Scholarly Analysis
•Loss of Curation Autonomy • Digitisation Choices • Paywalls
•Software Limitations
•Digital Dependencies
•Temptation for Footnote
Tableaus
DIGITISED MATERIAL
A PHILOSOPHY
ASKING HARDER QUESTIONS
• What Would Have Been Impossible Previously?
• Range, Depth, and (Most Importantly) Quantity
• Data Manipulation
• Cross-Referencing
• Notes, Memory, Photocopies, Digital Imagery
• Developing External Synapses (Connection Making)
• A Place for ‘Traditional’ Questions and Research?
CLOSE READING BIG DATA
• Using Digital Tools to Gather and Organise Material Efficiently
• Manual Examination and Analysis of Relevant Material
• Digital Analysis of Relevant Material
MY RESEARCH
MAPPING SCISSORS & PASTE
A Multi-Modal Examination of the British Library’s Nineteenth-Century (Digital) Newspaper Collection
to Determine
The Spread of Colonial News The Traits of Highly Replicated News Content
The Directionality of Information Networks Based
Step 1: Manually Identifying:
• Datelines• Sections • Attributions• In-Text References• Maintained Errors• House Style• Inconsistencies
A CASE STUDY
A CASE STUDY
Original, Sydney Gazette, 8 November 1815
Reprint, London Courier, 2 January 1817
A CASE STUDY
Reprint, London Courier, 2 January 1817
Reprint, Caledonian Mercury, 6 January 1817
A CASE STUDY
Reprint, Caledonian Mercury, 6 January 1817
Reprint, Aberdeen Journal, 8 January 1817
SCOTTISH NEWS NETWORKS (INTER-TEXTUAL)
</item> <id>001569</id> <newspaper_title>Glasgow Advertiser</newspaper_title> <newspaper_city>Glasgow</newspaper_city> <newspaper_province>Scotland</newspaper_province> <newspaper_country>United Kingdom</newspaper_country> <year>1794</year> <month>2</month> <day>7</day> <page_number>5</page_number> <section_name>London</section_name> <articletype>news</articletype> <keywords>Quakerism</keywords> <text>
<page> <column>
<paragraph> <line>The Quakers of America have addressed an</line> <line>humble Representation to the Legislative Body of</line> <line>that country, praying that exhibitions, Preludes,</line> <line>Interludes, yea, all <italics>lewds</italics> and stage-plays may be</line> <line>discountenanced, pointing out their pernicious ten-</line> <line>dency in corrupting the morals of the People.</line>
</paragraph> </column>
</page></text></item>
MACHINE READABLE TRANSCRIPTIONS
Creating Meme Dictionaries•The Most Basic of All Hunches•Placing All Articles with Significantly Similar Text In a Single Location
Scoring Related-ness•Explaining What the Hunches Are•Explaining Which Hunches Are the Most Important
Determining Directionality•Chronology•Geographical Limitations•Relatedness
MACHINE READABLE HUNCHES
Ada Lovelace, 1840 The First [?] Computer
Programmer
DIGITAL GHOSTS
• The Offline Penumbra (P. Leary)
• The Redacted and Removed
• The Lost and ‘Forgotten’
• The Wayback Machinehttp://web.archive.org
CONCLUSION
The Digital Humanities as a Philosophy, Not a Discipline:
Take Pride in Your WorkDon’t Be Afraid to Re-Purpose from Other
ApplicationsTry Harder
Seriously, Try Harder
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Good Will And Faeri
e Dust
All Slides Use CC0 or CC-BY Images and Are Released Under The CC-BY 4.0 Licence
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