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The Transformation of Historical Research and Education Through the Use of Digital Primary Sources

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

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The Transformation of Historical Research and Education Through the Use of Digital Primary Sources

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  1. The Transformation of Historical Research and Education Through the Use of Digital Primary Sources Masaki Morisawa Senior Product Manager, Library Reference, Cengage Learning Asia

  2. 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 “Center of Engagement”) • Library Reference (Gale) • ELT • Academic & Professional Group • Today’s presentation is on products from the Library Reference division

  3. 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: • Print 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

  4. The world’s largest scholarly primary source digital library Gale Digital Collections • 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 educationforever with Gale Digital Collections

  5. NCCO British Literary Manuscripts, Part 1 ←British Literary Manuscripts Pt 2 Modern Law: Historic Trials MOML: Supreme Court 19C UK Per. 17/18C Burney Newspapers 19C US News The Economist 19C BL News TLS PP Listener ECCO & ECCO II Times Digital Archive Sunday Times Digital Archive Making of the Modern World Sabin Americana State Papers Online, Parts 1-4 The Financial Times Illustrated London News Slavery & Anti-Slavery, Pt 1,2 DDRS Timeline covered by Gale Digital Collections National Geographic 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000

  6. Why Digital Primary Sources?

  7. Why Digital Primary Sources? If publications are finished jewelry Then primary sources are mines

  8. Why Do Scholars Need Primary Sources? . . . and historians are miners They dig for rare ‘gems’ thatthey polish and craft intoacademic publications Without a good mine to dig,historians cannot do originalresearch – but good mines are often far away … No dinner tonight.

  9. Why Digitize Primary Sources? Digital Archives can bring those faraway mines right to their local libraries – the “raw thing” unaltered and unedited.

  10. Why Digital Archives? Moreover, Gale’s digital archives utilizes OCR technology to allow full-text searching of these valuable documents.

  11. Why Digital Archives? If previous research was like mining with a pickaxe, Full-text searching is like mining with a sophisticated radar system.

  12. 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!

  13. Let’s hear it from actual scholars using our databases:

  14. “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

  15. “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

  16. “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

  17. “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

  18. Eighteenth Century Collections Online ECCO

  19. Eighteenth Century Collections Online • Nearly every significant title printed in Britain in the 18th 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 18th century studies

  20. Question: How was Taiwan depicted in 18th century English books? Ask ECCO!

  21. George Psalmanazar … ???

  22. End User Reaction to ECCO ECCO is: • Widely held with over 500 institutionshaving access across the globe • Considered essential for 18th Century studies in all disciplines • “ECCO Native” PhD’s • Scholarly standard: 18th 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 !! ECCO

  23. Digitizing the 19th Century

  24. Comparison: 18th Century to 19th Century • Twice as many faculty specialize in the 19th century as in the 18th, indicating a greater need for tools to support 19C research / teaching Source: MDR’s College Universe • Significantly greater scholarly output on the nineteenth century than on the eighteenth century Source: Chicago Journals/JSTOR

  25. 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 • Will feature content from the “Long 19th Century” • Will feature multiple content types, including • Monographs (books) -- Manuscripts • Newspapers -- Ephemera • Photographs -- Statistics • Maps • Will be built incrementally, over a period years

  26. Four Thematic Archives Each Year Based on Customer Input NCCO Europe and Africa NCCO History of Women Asia and the West British Politics and Society NCCO European Literature 1790-1840 British Theatre, Music, and Literature NCCO Science, Technology, & Medicine NCCO History of Photography

  27. 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

  28. NCCO: British Politics and SocietyA 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

  29. 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

  30. 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.

  31. What TECHNICAL innovations are Gale implementing that will transform the way research is done?

  32. Subject Indexing

  33. Textual Analysis Tool

  34. Results Visualizations - Connect Ideas

  35. User-Generated Tags and Annotations

  36. Manual Indexing of Manuscript Metadata

  37. Case Study: Japanese Expedition of 1874 to Taiwan

  38. 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

  39. Despatch Dated Aug 7, 1874 Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Harry Smith Parkes

  40. 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. A previous notification of more stringent character, intended apparently to require United States Citizens to withdraw from the Japanese Expedition to Formosa was issued by the American Consul at Amoy in May last. I reported this in June, and Mr. Wade refers to this notification ... Despatch Dated Aug 7, 1874 Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Harry Smith Parkes

  41. Digital Archives: The Educational Benefit – Teaching History “Live” –

  42. “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

  43. 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.”

  44. “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

  45. A Trend in U.S. History Education • Library of Congress “The Teaching with Primary Sources Program” http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/

  46. 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 ?

  47. Gale NewsVault: A Common Interface for Gale’s Historical Newspaper & Magazine Products

  48. 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)

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