Digital Historians: perspectives and approaches in research and teaching

1. Digital Historians: perspectives and approaches in research and teaching Claudia Favero

2. A little bit about me • Part time EdD (Doctorate in Education) online student at the Open University • Historian by training (but from Political Science) • Teaching online “Online Research Methodologies” to Undergraduate students at the University of Turin • Mum Historia: so that the actions of people will not fade with time. Herodotus, Histories (ca 430 BC)

3. Historian of the future • Historians study the past through sources (books, documents, artefacts, monuments), write down what they find in discursive form, narrate it to the public. • The Web provides increased access to sources, better opportunities for collaboration in research and publication of outcomes, diversified strategies and tools for teaching • What are digital historians doing and what are they thinking? In a certain sense all men are historians. Thomas Carlyle, Essays: On History

4. My research • Interviews with digital historians • Grounded Theory methodology • Initial findings • Open issues

5. 1. Interviews with digital historians • 8 digital scholars/digital humanists in Italy • 4 digital scholars/digital humanists in the UK • Comparative perspective • Interviews are conducted online or (in rare cases) in person • Data are anonymous (they are connected with what they do online) – concepts, not testimony • Interviews are conducted in the mother tongue of the interviewee – what is lost in translation?

6. 2. (Classical) Grounded Theory • Qualitative social science methodology, very popular in health and education research, practitioner research • No grand theories of great men but my own – Empowerment • Fundamentals • Theoretical sampling • All is data • Constant comparison • Emergence - saturation • Literature review is secondary • As far as I know no historian uses CGT

7. 3. Initial findings - Italy • Passion – desire to make stuff - fun • Non conventional scholars (Political science, librarians, amateurs-appassionati, independent researchers) - Pioneers • Non supportive environment – no career rewards • No critical mass • Skipped the middle phase • but also • Dialogue with non historians • Different view of the role of the historian in society • History is also a social science – role of theory

8. 3. Initial findings - UK • Long history (this is why we need to tell it!) – Association for history computing – support network • Mainstream – mature stage – publish work ON DH • Pressure from above and below • Rewards not embedded • Historians are much more publicly engaged to start with • Digital History and Digital Humanities

9. 3. Initial findings – general/common concepts • Not all digital tools imply a shift in paradigm (e.g. online sources) • Raw vs cooked Digital History • The discipline is very conservative (why?) • Training the future generations of historians is linked to their employability • Showing impact should be easy, or is it? • Do we care about impact, are we responsible for that? • Publication: historical writing and dissemination is open to non academic (even amateur) historians.

10. 4. Open issues • Relationship between Digital History and Digital Humanities • What is real innovation in Digital History • How do we breach the gap • How do we train the future generations of historians • Disciplinary-specific advantages: Public History, Oral History, Contemporary History