Building Online Collections for Digital Historians

How do historians of science use digital media and technology in their research? How can libraries and other cultural heritage institutions build digital collections to support new research methodologies? Stephen Robertson has argued that “Part of the explanation for why more historians have not undertaken text mining and topic modeling projects lies in the limited availability of machine readable texts: historians more often rely on unpublished sources than literary scholars, and on handwritten records that it is not yet possible to effectively use OCR to transform into machine readable text.”

I propose a talk session that gathers scholars and library professionals in the history of science to reflect on diverse digital research methodologies (text mining, mapping, topic modeling, etc.) and online historical texts and data sets. How could metadata be improved and file types presented differently so that these digital objects can work more readily with the tools researchers are using? What resources do you wish were available online? A collaborative conversation about the challenges digital historians face when using existing online resources can help improve online collections for the future.

Session Proposals to 10/30/2014

  • ERICK PEIRSON — MAKE session — Establish HSS Interest Group for Digital History of Science

I propose a MAKE session to start establishing a special interest group for Digital History of Science. A special interest group could facilitate networking and communication among scholars that use or are interested in digital methods, organize sessions at future HSS meetings, and help disseminate the results of digital scholarship in the history of science. We could use this session to draft a statement of purpose and come up with objectives and action-items for creating the group. Who’s game?

  • STEPHEN WELDON — TALK session — Building the IsisCB Platform

I propose a session explaining the thrust behind the IsisCB Platform being developed at the University of Oklahoma in collaboration with the University of Melbourne and Indiana University. After six months we have digitized 5000 pages of printed bibliographic matter and are parsing the pages into citations and fields, and we have converted 300,000 existing bibliographic and authority records to Library of Congress standards for ease of sharing. I will demonstrate the two data viewers under development to search and view the data.

  • TINA GIANQUITTO — LIGHTNING TALK — Mapping scientific correspondence networks of 19th-century women botanists

I would like to propose a Lightning Session on a digital project I am just beginning, which will map the scientific correspondence networks of 19th century women botanists, as well as their botanical excursions and collected (herbarium) specimens. I would especially like to get some advice on possible platforms (VisualEyes? DH Press?). I am a total novice in the DH world!

TALK session — Building the IsisCB Platform

I propose a session explaining the thrust behind the IsisCB Platform being developed at the University of Oklahoma in collaboration with the University of Melbourne and Indiana University. After six months we have digitized 5000 pages of printed bibliographic matter and are parsing the pages into citations and fields, and we have converted 300,000 existing bibliographic and authority records to Library of Congress standards for ease of sharing. I will demonstrate the two data viewers under development to search and view the data.

Directions to THATCamp HSS 2014

THATCamp HSS 2014 will be held in the University of Chicago’s Gleacher Center:

University of Chicago: Gleacher Center
450 N Cityfront Plaza Dr
Chicago, IL 60611

Directions from the Westin Michigan Ave. Hotel:

Walk south on N. Michigan Ave. for about fifteen minutes (.6 mile). Turn left onto E. Illinois St. and walk for one long block (.1 mile) until you get to the traffic circle. Turn right onto N. Cityfront Plaza Dr. and the Gleacher Center will be at the end of the block in front of you.

Map to Gleacher Center

Session proposal (Make): Digital History of Science special interest group?

I propose a Make session to start establishing a special interest group for Digital History of Science. A special interest group could facilitate networking and communication among scholars that use or are interested in digital methods, organize sessions at future HSS meetings, and help disseminate the results of digital scholarship in the history of science.

We could use this session to draft a statement of purpose and come up with objectives and action-items for creating the group.

Who’s game?

Registration is now open

Registration for THATCamp HSS 2014 is now open!

We would like to invite historians and technologists of all skill levels interested in digital humanities to THATCamp HSS 2014. The Humanities and Technology Camp, is an open, welcoming meeting where participants learn and build together in sessions proposed on the spot. Anyone who is working on a digital humanities project, or wants to learn about starting one, is welcome.

THATCamp HSS 2014  is being organized by the IsisCB and collaborating faculty at Arizona State University. It is being held in conjunction with the History of Science Society conference this November in Chicago (attendance at the conference / membership in the society are NOT required). The camp meets on Thursday, November 6th, 2014 at the Gleacher Center in downtown Chicago (only about a fifteen-minute walk from the Westin Hotel, where the HSS conference is held). The camp will last from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

All are invited, but we have a capping attendance to 50 people, so please sign up early. The cost of the event is $20 (collected at the door), which helps cover some of the costs for holding the event.

If you are new to unfconference events you can learn more about THATCamps and how they work.

Follow us on Twitter @THATCampHSS. Please use the hashtag #thatcampHSS.

We hope to see you in the Windy City this fall.