Series |
Studi di archivistica, bibliografia, paleografia
Edited book | Models of Data Extraction and Architecture in Relational Databases of Early Modern Private Political Archives
Chapter | The Digital Historiographic Turn and the Historian’s Changing Toolkit: From ‘Facts’ and ‘Events’ to ‘Datasets’
The Digital Historiographic Turn and the Historian’s Changing Toolkit: From ‘Facts’ and ‘Events’ to ‘Datasets’
Abstract
This essay explores the impact of the digital revolution on historical research, traditionally grounded in ‘facts’ and ‘events.’ It first reviews shifts in historical sciences since the 1960s, influenced by social sciences’ mid‑twentieth‑century adoption of mathematical tools and holistic methods for studying group behaviour. Historians developed their own analytical toolkit in response, blending classical concepts like ‘fact’ and ‘event’ with the social sciences’ notion of ‘actor.’ Today’s challenge is whether these tools suffice or need adaptation to leverage new technologies. Metadata of entities and properties offers a conceptual model for classifying occurrences into ‘critical systems’, where known variables frame analysis, and unforeseen reactions merit investigation. By linking these reactions to actors, historians could dynamically measure and interpret change within these systems, transforming their methodological approach.
Submitted: Sept. 5, 2024 | Accepted: Oct. 28, 2024 | Published May 22, 2025 | Language: en
Keywords Historiographic turn • Fact • Narratives of explanation • Event • Structured data
Copyright © 2025 Dorit Raines. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-919-1/001
