digitising the paper panopticon
DESCRIPTION
An introduction to the emerging field of digital history, with examples taken from the Founders and Survivors project, a database of the 40,000 convicts transported to Van Diemen's Land between 1803 and 1853.TRANSCRIPT
Digitising the paper panopticon
Claudine Chionh
University of Melbourne
linux.conf.au, January 2009
Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, 1968
One can venture to prophesy, looking forward to thequantitative history of the 1980s, that in this area atleast, tomorrow’s historian will have to be able to[program] a computer in order to survive.
Quantitative history
This talk
◮ ‘Digital history’
◮ Founders and Survivors project
Old Bailey Online
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/
Founders and SurvivorsTransportation to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania)
A well-recorded population
A conduct register
‘stealing some bread’or: ‘administering poison to my wife on a piece of bread’
‘stealing one sheep’or: ‘bestiality with a sheep in a field’
Quantitative data analysis
◮ SQL
◮ Perl
◮ Python
◮ R
◮ etc.
XML
◮ Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) http://www.tei-c.org/
◮ BaseX http://www.basex.org/
John Cozins
<name>
<surname>Cozins</surname>
<forename>John</forename>
</name>
<shipName>William Metcalf</shipName>
<dateArr>4/Sep/1834</dateArr>
<sentencePlace>Oxford Asss</sentencePlace>
<dateTrial>1/Mar/1834</dateTrial>
<sentenceLength>Life</sentenceLength>
<transportedFor>Beastiality</transportedFor>
<reportGaol>imprisoned before, bad in every
respect</reportGaol>
<reportHulk>orderly</reportHulk>
<marital>Single</marital>
<offenceStated>having connexions with a Sheep, once
for Apple Stealing 3 Months</offenceStated>
Mary Ann Armstrong
<name>Armstrong, Mary Ann.</name>
...
<remarks>Remarks.
<complexion type="fair">Fair</complexion>
<pockmarks>pockpitted</pockmarks>.
<scar location="nose">Scar on Nose.</scar>
<scar location="left leg">Scar on left leg.</scar>
</remarks>
Challenges
◮ Technical
◮ Social, cultural
Future plans
◮ Web interface to database.
◮ Parsing textual data into XML.
◮ Sharing data with genealogists.
◮ Tracing descendants of convicts (forwards) ↔ ancestors oflater generations (backwards).
◮ Involvement in WWI, WWII, Vietnam . . . lives ofpoor/disadvantaged Australians. Like convicts, soldiers arewell documented.
Contact
http://www.foundersandsurvivors.org/
Photo credits
Jeanniot, La ligne de feu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lignedefeu16August.jpg
Bread
http://flickr.com/photos/jillslivingroom/2372428684/
Sheep http://flickr.com/photos/tambako/2890664794/