Probing the Impact of Technology in Historical Research: The Role of Transnational Networks

Scientific Conference (2023, November 22)

This paper is related to my current book project which explores the history and genealogies of digital history, set within the broader context of the ways in which technology has shaped historical ... [more ▼]

This paper is related to my current book project which explores the history and genealogies of digital history, set within the broader context of the ways in which technology has shaped historical research practices and knowledge production since the late 19th century. My paper focuses on a key aspect, the circulation of technological knowledge and expertise among transnational networks of historians, archivists, and librarians, the ways in which these networks were constituted and their transformative influence on historical knowledge production. This transnational circulation of knowledge dates to the late 19 th century when archival and library photography began to affect historical research practices. It became especially salient in the postWWII period when historians begin to use analog and later digital computing in the United States, Western Europe and the Eastern bloc led by the Soviet Union, against the backdrop of the Cold War and a general surge in the use of computing in various humanities disciplines. By the late 1960s we begin to see the establishment of networks and structures to support what could be called an emerging transnational field of computing historians; the International Congress of Historical Sciences in Moscow (1970) and the international History and the Computer conference in Uppsala (1973) would become key platforms for knowledge exchange. These developments ran parallel to the emergence of computing in libraries and archives around 1970 which gave rise to similar networks. The years leading up to and following 1970 can thus be seen as a key period that saw the formation of transnational communicative spaces and networks of computing historians, librarians and archivists. After the advent of micro- and personal computing since the early 1980s, new user generations of computing historians formed the international Association for History and Computing (1987). The aim of the paper is to show how the transnational circulation and diffusion of knowledge within the aforementioned spaces and networks is key to understanding technology’s transformative impacts on historical knowledge production in the 20 th century. It is also indispensible to understand the emergence of the field of digital history around the 2000s. [less ▲]

Uncovering the Forgotten Roots of Digital History: the Association for History and Computing

Presentation (2023, October 10)

In recent years, scholars have started to investigate the diverse genealogies of the digital humanities, as part of efforts to consolidate the field by excavating its historical and intellectual ... [more ▼]

In recent years, scholars have started to investigate the diverse genealogies of the digital humanities, as part of efforts to consolidate the field by excavating its historical and intellectual underpinnings. This paper discusses the history of what we now call digital history, by focusing on its direct predecessor: the history and computing movement. It argues that understanding the current era of digital history is impossible without knowledge of the transnational history & computing movement out of which it emerged. The paper will first offer a conceptual framework for the nexus between technology and historical research practices and provide a brief outline of the uptake of computing in historical research in the post-WWII period, which was rooted in a broader context of engagement with reproduction and data processing technology that began in the late 19th century. From the 1940s onwards, historians begin to use analog and later digital computing, efforts that truly gained momentum from the early 1960s onwards in the United States, Western Europe and the Eastern bloc led by the Soviet Union, against the backdrop of the Cold War and a general surge in the use of computing in various humanities disciplines. By the late 1960s we begin to see the establishment of networks and structures to support what could be called an emerging transnational field of computing historians. A transition to a new phase began when first micro- and then personal computing were introduced at universities in the early 1980s and a new user generation of computing historians emerged. As had happened almost two decades earlier, a transnational network would develop, but this time formalised in the Association for History and Computing (AHC) which existed until the early 2000s. The AHC’s history, activities, and many publications highlight the transnational outlook and intellectual breadth of the history and computing period and can served to probe the transition to and (dis)continuities with our current era of digital history. As I will argue, the history and computing movement did not simply give rise to digital history around the turn of the millennium. Despite the continued involvement of some older practitioners, many of the new digital historians were, as before, of a different user generation and the transition to digital history was thus much more than discursive. [less ▲]

Digital History and the Politics of Digitisation

Scientific Conference (2023, September 06)

This paper will explore a key question for historians today: what are the politics of cultural heritage digitisation and its implications for historical research? And how to assess this from a global ... [more ▼]

This paper will explore a key question for historians today: what are the politics of cultural heritage digitisation and its implications for historical research? And how to assess this from a global perspective? In a research environment that increasingly privileges what is available online, the questions of why, where, and how we can access what we can access, and how it affects historical research have become ever more urgent. My talk will outline a framework through which to contextualize the politics of (digital) heritage preservation, and a model to analyze its most important political dimensions. To add some historical perspective, I will put this discussion in the broader context of the ways in which technology has shaped historical research practices and knowledge production, not just in the past two decades but in fact already since the late 19th century. [less ▲]

History and the Paradoxes of Digitisation: A Global Perspective

Scientific Conference (2023, June 14)

History in the digital present currently faces a paradoxical situation. When seen from a global perspective, the current state of cultural heritage digitisation is highly uneven and inequities in access ... [more ▼]

History in the digital present currently faces a paradoxical situation. When seen from a global perspective, the current state of cultural heritage digitisation is highly uneven and inequities in access abound. Global North/South divisions play a key role, yet are neither immutable nor the sole explanation as the existence of digital Norths in the South and digital Souths in the North shows. Moreover, while postcolonial legacies can reinforce global power and knowledge assymetries and impact local heritage digitization efforts in adverse ways, digitization can also function as a means to address some of those legacies. This paper will discuss the global dimensions of the politics of digitisation with concrete examples from Europe and Africa. While doing so it will simultaneously ask how they feed into selection for digitisation processes and thereby shape “history in the digital present”. [less ▲]

Presentation & discussion meeting Dutch Association for Information Professionals (KNVI)

Diverse speeches and writings (2023)

Short introductiory presentation at a meeting of the Dutch Assocation for Information Professionals (KNVI) special interest group Education & Research which will discuss my article "Digital History and ... [more ▼]

Short introductiory presentation at a meeting of the Dutch Assocation for Information Professionals (KNVI) special interest group Education & Research which will discuss my article "Digital History and the Politics of Digitization". [less ▲]

Digitising History From a Global Context; And What This Tells Us About Access and Inequality

in Historical Transactions - Royal Historical Society Blog (2023)

In this post we continue our series — ‘Historical Research in the Digital Age’ — which explores historians’ use and understanding of the digital tools and sources that shape modern research culture. The ... [more ▼]

In this post we continue our series — ‘Historical Research in the Digital Age’ — which explores historians’ use and understanding of the digital tools and sources that shape modern research culture. The series explores the impact and implications of digital resources (positive and negative) for how historians work today. In Part Five we hear from Gerben Zaagsma who is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH), University of Luxembourg. Here, Gerben explores the concept of ‘digital abundance’ in global perspective. Allocations of digital resources, and the capacity to access digital content, reflect wider divisions between Global Norths and Souths. However, as Gerben argues, the realities of digital imbalance also cut across these binary divisions. For many, a crucial impediment to research remains the lack of digital discoverability for analogue sources. Gerben also offers ways to better facilitate digital provision in the Global South and connect Northern / Southern research cultures. [less ▲]

DHJewish bibliography 2019-2022

Textual, factual or bibliographical database (2023)

This Zotero group library collects literature about the intersection of Jewish Studies and digital humanities. It goes back to early uses of computing in JS in the 1950s. This is an archived version of ... [more ▼]

This Zotero group library collects literature about the intersection of Jewish Studies and digital humanities. It goes back to early uses of computing in JS in the 1950s. This is an archived version of the records added between 2019-2022. The bibliography is part of the project #DHJewish - Jewish Studies & Digital Humanities: https://dhjewish.org/. [less ▲]

Jewish Studies in the Digital Age: Introduction

in Levi, Amalia S.; Zaagsma, Gerben; Stökl Ben Ezra, Daniel (Eds.) et al Jewish Studies in the Digital Age (2022)

Jewish History and the Politics of Digitisation

Scientific Conference (2022, July 13)

This paper discusses the politics of Jewish Studies by focusing on the digitisation of Jewish cultural heritage and its effects for research into Jewish history(ies). In the past few years we have ... [more ▼]

This paper discusses the politics of Jewish Studies by focusing on the digitisation of Jewish cultural heritage and its effects for research into Jewish history(ies). In the past few years we have witnessed the emergence of what could be termed the critical turn in digital humanities with an increasing focus on how digital resources shape various parts of the research process and its outcomes. One aspect of that turn is more attention to digital source criticism and the politics of digitisation of cultural heritage. There are many aspects of digitisation that can be considered “political”, from selection for digitisation to modes of access to broader questions about the political aspects of infrastructure or ‘infrapolitics’. None of these is specific to our digital age nor to Jewish Studies, and historical context is crucially important.  This paper builds upon my recent reseach into the politics of digitisation and considers the case of Jewish Studies, framed within the broader context of the politics of heritage and its preservation. It set outs a number of broad parameters for discussion, with the aim to encourage further debate. Questions to be addressed include: what Jewish heritage is being digitised and which stories about the Jewish past can (and cannot) be told on its basis? Which players are involved in digitisation and how do both top-down national strategies and bottom-up community initiatives guide the process? How do memory politics influence selection processes? And how does transnational heritage fare in an age where many digitisation programs are nationally framed and funded? The paper will use the historical example of the digitisation of Yiddish heritage to illustrate these questions and provide a concrete example.  [less ▲]

#DHJewish - Jewish Studies and Digital Humanities

Computer development (2022)

The website #DHJewish - Jewish Studies and Digital Humanities offers a single access point to news, events, projects + more on the intersection of Jewish Studies and Digital Humanities.