http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/21/historical-information-noise/ Failing better at understanding the past Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:11:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/21/historical-information-noise/#comment-764 Investigations of a Dog » Digital History Projects: Planning Fri, 02 Feb 2007 17:09:37 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/21/historical-information-noise/#comment-764 [...] One of the great things about digitization projects is that you can avoid some of the more difficult theoretical controversies. The most relevant theory is information theory, and Shannon pointed out that meaning is irrelevant to information. The aim of text digitization and basic markup is to represent the information in the original document as accurately as possible, minimising the noise which can be introduced as part of the process (see my post on Historical Information and Noise). Once the text is published, individual users can decide what it means to them and how far, if at all, it relates to the reality of the past. [...] [...] One of the great things about digitization projects is that you can avoid some of the more difficult theoretical controversies. The most relevant theory is information theory, and Shannon pointed out that meaning is irrelevant to information. The aim of text digitization and basic markup is to represent the information in the original document as accurately as possible, minimising the noise which can be introduced as part of the process (see my post on Historical Information and Noise). Once the text is published, individual users can decide what it means to them and how far, if at all, it relates to the reality of the past. [...]

]]> http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/21/historical-information-noise/#comment-78 Barista » Blog Archive » History Carnival XLIV Thu, 30 Nov 2006 14:03:39 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/21/historical-information-noise/#comment-78 [...] The dog inquisitive has another treat. The history of modern military campaigns is documented digitally from bullet to laser cannon. It gives us an entirely new way of doing history - building computer simulations, games driven entirely by their devotion to accuracy. This approach is distinctly different to the average war game, which simulates merely a certain kind of isolated hero. With a certain affinity for matters digital, the pooch has also been thinking about the way “technology has brought huge changes to historical research and opened up new possibilities.” That is a casual introduction to a huge topic. [...] [...] The dog inquisitive has another treat. The history of modern military campaigns is documented digitally from bullet to laser cannon. It gives us an entirely new way of doing history - building computer simulations, games driven entirely by their devotion to accuracy. This approach is distinctly different to the average war game, which simulates merely a certain kind of isolated hero. With a certain affinity for matters digital, the pooch has also been thinking about the way “technology has brought huge changes to historical research and opened up new possibilities.” That is a casual introduction to a huge topic. [...]

]]> http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/21/historical-information-noise/#comment-66 Gavin Robinson Tue, 28 Nov 2006 19:22:09 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/21/historical-information-noise/#comment-66 I think it'll be several generations before going to archives becomes the exception rather than the rule, just because there's so much material to be digitised (although archive skills are also being sidelined by theoretical approaches which involve close readings of a few texts rather than slogging through mountains of documents). But it's a very good question as to what happens when we reach that point. Will being able to do all their research without leaving the house make historians more productive or will it make them lazy? I guess we'll find out when we get there. I think it’ll be several generations before going to archives becomes the exception rather than the rule, just because there’s so much material to be digitised (although archive skills are also being sidelined by theoretical approaches which involve close readings of a few texts rather than slogging through mountains of documents). But it’s a very good question as to what happens when we reach that point. Will being able to do all their research without leaving the house make historians more productive or will it make them lazy? I guess we’ll find out when we get there.

]]> http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/21/historical-information-noise/#comment-64 Stryker Tue, 28 Nov 2006 16:30:31 +0000 http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/21/historical-information-noise/#comment-64 "However, academics who need to be certain of accuracy and who are used to travelling to archives won’t find it much trouble to click on the link to the image and make sure." What about the next generation of acedemics, which is not used to travelling to archives? Just a question..... “However, academics who need to be certain of accuracy and who are used to travelling to archives won’t find it much trouble to click on the link to the image and make sure.”
What about the next generation of acedemics, which is not used to travelling to archives? Just a question…..

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