Transcript Digital Archives
The Transformation of Historical Research and Education Through the Use of Digital Primary Sources Masaki Morisawa
Senior Product Manager, Library Reference, Cengage Learning Asia
• • • • • Formerly called: Thomson Learning HQ: Stamford, Connecticut July 2007 separated from the Thomson Corporation Sept 2007 changed its name to CENGAGE Learning (Coined from the phrase “ Cen ter of Engage ment”)
Library Reference (Gale)
ELT
Academic & Professional Group
Today’s presentation is on products from the Library Reference division
Gale
(Library Reference)
HQ in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA One of the foremost library reference publishers Has many well-established imprints, including:
• Gale • • • Charles Scribner’s Sons Macmillan Reference USA UXL
Publishing formats include:
•
library reference such as thematic encyclopedias, annual directories, literary biographies/criticisms, etc. • • • • •
eBook
versions of print publications and an eBook platform Aggregated
Journal
databases Subject
Portals
and
Databases
combining various content together
Microform
collections and serials
Digital Archives
of primary source material
Gale Digital Collections
The world’s largest scholarly primary source digital library
• More than 60 digital collections, including: •
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
• •
The Times Digital Archive The Making of the Modern World
•
The Making of Modern Law
• And many more!
• Spanning 535 years of international history • Gale has
changed the nature of research and education
forever with Gale Digital Collections
Timeline covered by Gale Digital Collections
ECCO & ECCO II NCCO Making of the Modern World State Papers Online, Parts 1-4 ← British Literary Manuscripts Pt 2 Sabin Americana Modern Law:
Historic Trials
MOML:
Supreme Court
British Literary Manuscripts, Part 1 Slavery & Anti-Slavery, Pt 1,2 DDRS National Geographic 1500 1600 Times Digital Archive Sunday Times Digital Archive 17/18C Burney Newspapers 1700 19C BL News 19C UK Per.
TLS The Financial Times 19C US News 1800 Listener The Economist Illustrated London News PP 1900 2000
Why Digital Primary Sources?
Why Digital Primary Sources?
If publications are finished jewelry Then primary sources are mines
Why Do Scholars Need Primary Sources?
. . . and historians are miners No dinner tonight.
They dig for rare ‘gems’ that they polish and craft into academic publications Without a good mine to dig, historians cannot do original research – but good mines are often far away …
Why Digitize Primary Sources?
Digital Archives can bring those faraway mines right to their local libraries – the “ raw thing ” unaltered and unedited.
Why Digital Archives?
Moreover, Gale’s digital archives utilizes OCR technology to allow full-text searching of these valuable documents.
Why Digital Archives?
If previous research was like mining with a pickaxe , Full-text searching is like mining with a sophisticated radar system .
Why Digital Archives?
Not only can the scholar can find and retrieve the desired gem in seconds, he/she can also discover many unexpected treasures along the way.
This
Revolutionizes
historical research!
Let’s hear it from actual scholars using our databases:
“Genuinely revolutionary”
“ Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), made available by Gale, is genuinely revolutionary . It changes both our research and our teaching in eighteenth century studies in radical ways. … A university that does not have ECCO is not a serious player in eighteenth-century British and American studies —in literature or in anything else.
”
Rob Hume
Professor of English Literature The Pennsylvania State University Link to the full document: http://access.gale.com/nerl/documents/ECCO%20Whitepaper.pdf
“Uncover unforeseen connections”
“ … the search capabilities of both ECCO and Burney have enabled me to discover trends and connections that would take years to uncover by manual searches ….
databases such as EEBO, ECCO, and Burney enable virtual movement throughout their holdings to uncover relevant but unforeseen connections not limited by categories of expectations.
”
Eleanor Shevlin
Associate Professor, English Department West Chester University
“Democratized study”
“ … even the most Luddite of academics cannot deny that the immense benefits of this technology vastly outweigh those moments of nostalgia for a simpler age, especially when we remember that it was only a privileged few who then had either the resources or the leisure to spend years and travel long distances to pursue substantive research projects. Sources like ECCO have, quite simply, democratized the study of pre-modern print.
”
Andrea McKenzie
Professor, Department of History University of Victoria
“A cultural landslide”
“ … For example, a researcher who has studied Milton for decades and a researcher who hasn't can both talk knowingly about Milton. That may sadden authorities, but for the progress of academic research I think it's maybe better that way. ... Perhaps, fifty years from now, the printed books of today may only retain their value as art objects. I think it's truly revolutionary. It may even be called a cultural landslide . ”
Kazuhiko Kondo
Professor, Graduate School of Humanities & Sociology University of Tokyo
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
ECCO
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
•
Nearly every significant title
printed in Britain in the 18 th century, along with thousands from other regions • 33 million pages
full-text searchable
– facilitating new discoveries and revolutionizing historical research • Supports research in a
full range of disciplines
• Literature, history, fine arts, religion, law, philosophy, music, science … • Has rapidly become considered essential for 18 th century studies
Question:
How was Taiwan depicted in 18th century English books?
Ask ECCO!
George Psalmanazar … ???
End User Reaction to ECCO
ECCO is:
• • •
Widely held with over 500 institutions having access across the globe Considered essential for 18 th Century studies in all disciplines
– “ECCO Native” PhD’s – Scholarly standard : 18 th century research must apply ECCO to ensure thoroughness, comprehensiveness, and completeness – Used as a recruiting tool for top faculty and graduate students – Allows researchers to undertake previously unfeasible projects – Comprehensive – inclusion policy driven by ESTC
Both students, faculty and library staff find ECCO useful for a wide range of research projects !!
Nineteenth Century Collections Online
Digitizing the 19
th
Century
Comparison: 18
th
Century to 19
th
Century
Twice as many faculty specialize in the 19 th century as in the 18 th , indicating a greater need for tools to support 19C research / teaching
19 th Century vs. 18 th Century Faculty (US) Category American Studies British Studies Other Disciplines 18 th C 1,523 794 351 19 th C 2,393 2,356 1,448 19C/18C Factor 157% 297% 413% TOTAL 2,668 6,197 232%
Source: MDR’s College Universe Significantly greater scholarly output on the nineteenth century than on the eighteenth century
18 th C Articles Scholarly Publishing 19 th C Articles 19C/18C Factor 12,564 21,937 167%
Source: Chicago Journals/JSTOR
Content Strategy & Organization
•
NCCO will take a thematic approach to the time period
– Due to the sheer quantity and variety of materials, the all encompassing approach taken with ECCO is not possible for the nineteenth century •
W ill feature content from the “Long 19 th Century”
•
Will feature multiple content types, including
– Monographs (books) -- Manuscripts – Newspapers – Photographs -- Ephemera -- Statistics – Maps •
Will be built incrementally, over a period years
Four Thematic Archives Each Year Based on Customer Input NCCO
Europe and Africa
Asia and the West
British Politics and Society
NCCO
History of Women
NCCO
NCCO
History of Photography
British Theatre, Music, and Literature European Literature 1790-1840
NCCO
Science, Technology, & Medicine
NCCO: Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural
Exchange
Approximately 1.4M pages
• • • • • • • • • • • •
Major themes around the consular and diplomatic exchanges between the U.S., U.K. and many Asian nations, including:
Gunboat Diplomacy Opium Philippines War Missionary activities Unequal treaties Expansion of international spheres of influence beyond the British Sino-Japanese war Expansion of the railways in north and central China America’s “Open Door policy” The Boxer Rebellion Rise of Bolshevism Expansion of warlord-ism
29
NCCO: British Politics and Society A pivotal period in the history of Great Britain Approximately 1.7M pages
• • • • • • • • • • • •
Major themes around the domestic history of Britain, as seen from the inside, including:
Popular radicalism Corresponding Societies of the 1790s Trade union and Luddite disturbances of the 1800s and 1810s End of the Napoleonic Wars Suspension of
habeas corpus
March of the Blanketeers Pentrich insurrectionists’ march on Nottingham Peterloo Massacre Cato Street Conspiracy Queen Caroline Affair Swing Riots Reform Crisis of 1832
30
NCCO : Corvey Collection of European Literature: 1790-1840
One of the most important literary discoveries of the second half of the twentieth century was the recovery of the spectacular library of more than 72,000 volumes, including nearly 28,000 volumes of belles lettres, covering a broad range of subject areas. Collected during the first half of the nineteenth century by
Victor Amadeus, the Landgrave of Hess-Rotenberg (1779-
1834), and housed at his castle (Castle Corvey) near Paderborn, Germany. This remarkable library remained unknown to scholars until late in the 1970s
31
• • • •
NCCO : British Theatre, Music, and Literature:
High and Popular Culture
Approximately 1M pages
An examination of the full spectrum of British cultural sensibilities, told through plays, musical compositions, fiction, novels, penny Dreadfuls and opera.
Public concerts became big business in the nineteenth century as new concert halls were built to accommodate a burgeoning middle class interested in the arts as a form of self-improvement. This series of unique archival collections will provide an insight into Victorian musical and theatrical tastes by documenting what was performed and when, as well as casting light on the ‘behind the scenes’ business and practical aspects of concert promotion, by making available related archival material such as minute books and correspondence alongside the printed concert programmes.
32
What TECHNICAL innovations are Gale implementing that will transform the way research is done?
Subject Indexing
Textual Analysis Tool
Results Visualizations - Connect Ideas
User-Generated Tags and Annotations
Manual Indexing of Manuscript Metadata
Case Study:
Japanese Expedition of 1874 to Taiwan
Question:
•
Who is this person?
Answer:
• •
Harry Smith Parkes (
巴夏禮
; 1828-1885) A 19th century British diplomat who worked mainly in China and Japan
Harry Smith Parkes Despatch Dated Aug 7, 1874 Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Harry Smith Parkes My Lord, I have the honor to inclose two copies of a notification recently issued by direction of Mr Bingham the Minister of the United States, warning United States citizens against engaging in any hostile act against the Government of China.
Despatch Dated Aug 7, 1874 apparently to require United States Citizens to withdraw from the notification ...
Digital Archives: The Educational Benefit
– Teaching History “Live” –
“You are dealing with the real thing”
“ The crux for teaching is simple : you are dealing with the real thing, not “student materials.” We can ask the students to try to make sense of primary sources, not just rely on textbook introductions and annotation. … The students tend to be a lot more interested, challenged, and energized . Very few discoveries are made in textbooks —and the students know it.
”
Rob Hume
Professor of English Literature The Pennsylvania State University Link to the full document: http://access.gale.com/nerl/documents/ECCO%20Whitepaper.pdf
• Why Should Students be Exposed to Primary Sources?
History Books are Not Enough
– History books are
summaries
of events neatly written by historians – They are great ways of conveying knowledge in a compact form, but they allow students to be
passive
in their studying – Passive studying can lead to
rote learning
,
uncritical swallowing
of facts, and may develop a dislike of history altogether
“History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.”
“Experience” History with Primary Sources
•
Primary Sources are the “raw materials” of history
– They demand the student to think about the material and the time in which it was created – The student learns that all history is an interpretation of records – They engage students by the raw and human details presented
A Trend in U.S. History Education
•
Library of Congress “The Teaching with Primary Sources Program” http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/
Ideal for Students: Historical Newspapers & Magazines
• • • • •
Historical newspapers have the following EDUCATIONAL advantages: Familiar:
every student knows what newspapers are
Easy:
just type in a keyword and hit search!
Real:
read history as it was actually unfolding
Curious:
search for any keyword that interests them
Visual:
view illustrations and photos of past events
?
• • • • • •
By being exposed to this material, students can LEARN:
How
the media influences
people’s worldviews How interpretation of key events
changed over time
How the textbook version of history differs from the “
raw thing
” What
interested people
in a particular time and place in history How their
own country and people
were written about in the news The importance of
THINKING CRITICALLY
about the past and the present
Gale NewsVault: A Common Interface for Gale’s Historical Newspaper & Magazine Products
What’s Gale NewsVault?
• • •
A single access point for exploring Gale’s collections of historical newspapers Cross-search over 10 million pages of newspapers, more than 400 years of content Available for FREE to all customers with access to one or more of the following databases (next slide)
Any of these databases can be cross-searched • • • • • • • • • • • • •
17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers 19th Century British Library Newspapers (Parts 1 and 2) 19th Century UK Periodicals (Series 1 and 2) 19th Century US Newspapers The Times Digital Archive 1785-2006 The Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive 1902 2005 The Financial Times Historical Archive 1888-2007 The Illustrated London News Historical Archive 1842 2003 The Economist Historical Archive, 1842-2007 The Listener Historical Archive, 1929-1991 Picture Post Historical Archive 1938-1957 The Sunday Times Historical Archive 1822-2006 Liberty Magazine Historical Archive 1924-1950
•
Question:
How was the Japanese Expedition of 1874 to Taiwan described in the newspapers of the time?
Ask NewsVault!
Search: Keyword “Formosa” + Date “1874” The Geographical Magazine, October 1, 1874
Which publisher’s logo is this?
National Geographic Magazine Archive
What is the National Geographic Magazine Archive?
•
Complete archive of the National Geographic Magazine
• Years 1888-1994 now available • 186K+ pages in 1,224 issues • 210K+ images • 435 map supplements •
Full text searching of all articles
What’s More: Coming Soon!
•
In addition, we will be adding in late 2012:
• Years
1995-current
of the
National Geographic
(two-month embargo!) • A “multimedia collection” including: Magazine • 100-120 National Geographic books • 500 National Geographic images • 2010-current issues of
National Geographic Travel
Magazine • National Geographic videos • Maps and atlases •
All of the above will operate on the same platform
•
Stay tuned for more details!
•
Question:
How was Taiwan described in National Geographic?
Ask the National Geographic Magazine Archive!
The Power of Digital Primary Sources
• • •
Power to the Faculty
– Increased accessibility and discoverability – Make unexpected findings and find new meanings – Can produce world-class research (without travelling!)
Power to the Student
– Increased exposure to “raw” history in its making – Learns the complexity and fascination of real historical material – Able to think like a historian and apply critical thinking skills
Value to the Library
– Brings rare and valuable overseas collections to your library – Library owns material in digitized form – Attracts and retains the best scholars to your institution – Increases the library’s value as an education/research hub
Thank you very much!