try harder: archival research in the digital age

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

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