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Further to the below post, a recent talk on Connected Histories by Tim Hitchcock and Robert Shoemaker was delivered at the first meeting of the London Digital Humanities Group in January. The talk can be downloaded from the art-humanities.net website at: http://tinyurl.com/yexynvn For details of the March meeting on Literary GIS see http://tinyurl.com/ycwjjxa -- Dr Simon Dixon Convenor, London Digital Humanities Group Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dissenting Academies Project Dr Williams's Centre for Dissenting Studies Department of English and Drama Queen Mary, University of London http://www.english.qmul.ac.uk/drwilliams/people/index.html#dixon * * On 5 March 2010 13:36, Healy, Susan <[log in to unmask] > wrote: > My colleague David Thomas has asked me to post this news to the list: > > > > > > Historians are set to benefit from a new online project, funded by JISC, > which will revolutionise the way we search for historical sources on the > internet. > > > > The 'Connected Histories' project, which is a partnership between the > Universities of Sheffield and Hertfordshire, the Institute of Historical > Research, and King's College London, will create an innovative search engine > for a wide range of electronic resources relating to early modern and > nineteenth century British history. > > > > This period of British history has one of the largest collections of > digital sources available on the web, including not only digitised books, > but also newspapers, manuscripts, genealogical records, and even maps and > images. These sources, created by both academic and commercial > organisations, are accessed by hundreds of thousands of individuals every > day, across the world. Until now, there has been no single starting place to > search through these sources. > > > > Alastair Dunning, programme manager for online content at JISC, said: "JISC > has been involved in the digitisation of many crucial primary resources for > the study of history, helping create a wealth of digitised materials, such > as newspapers, pamphlets and images. The next stage of work is to knit such > resources together - identifying the people, places and events that surface > in multiple historical resources and making the links between them." > > > > The new facility will allow searching across a full range of chosen sources > by names, places and dates, as well as keywords and phrases, even when this > information has not been separately identified in the existing source. > Users will also be provided with background information on search results > and the facility to save and export results for further analysis. An online > collaborative workspace will also allow users to document connections > between sources. > > > > Professor Robert Shoemaker, from the University of Sheffield's Department > of History and co-director of the project, said: "This new search facility > will bring many benefits to those wishing to use historical sources on the > internet - whether it's an interested member of the public looking into > their family history, or students and academics carrying out their > research. In total the Connected Histories project will provide integrated > access to over 3 million pages of text, maps and images, shedding light on > all aspects of British history between 1500 and 1900. The project is > expandable into other areas of history, and as new digital resources become > available." > > > > Professor Miles Taylor, Director of the Institute of Historical Research, > said: "Connected Histories will transform the way in which researchers use > online source material for the early modern period and the 19th century. > Amidst so much digital resource creation there has been a noticeable "silo > effect", arising from distributed and unconnected databases and websites > with differing access mechanisms, and this project is a significant step > towards solving the problem. The project combines the expertise of several > of the UK's key players in digital research for the humanities, and the IHR > is delighted to be involved." > > > > Co-director Professor Tim Hitchcock, from the University of Hertfordshire > said: "Connected Histories will simply change the way we go about > researching and teaching the British past. Rather than formulating a > project around a specific archive, or directing our students to a single > source, this project will allow both academic historians and students to > search multiple archives for a person, or place, or concept, and in the > process will help us to develop a more nuanced and sophisticated > understanding." > > > > The website will be fully launched in March 2011, but for more information > see www.connectedhistories.org. Please don’t send questions to me! > > > > > > > > Susan Healy > Information Policy Consultant and Data Protection Officer > The National Archives > Tel 020 8392 5330 ext 2305 > Email [log in to unmask] > www.nationalarchives.gov.uk > > > > > > Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to. > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > National Archives Disclaimer > > > This email message (and attachments) may contain information that is confidential to The National Archives. If you are not the intended recipient you cannot use, distribute or copy the message > > or attachments. In such a case, please notify the sender by return email immediately and erase all copies of the message and attachments. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message > > and attachments that do not relate to the official business of The National Archives are neither given nor endorsed by it. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Contact the list owner for assistance at > [log in to unmask] > > For information about joining, leaving and suspending mail (eg during a > holiday) see the list website at > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=archives-nra > Contact the list owner for assistance at [log in to unmask] For information about joining, leaving and suspending mail (eg during a holiday) see the list website at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=archives-nra