Doing Digital History: A Beginner's Guide to Working with Text as Data

This book provides a practical introduction to digital history, covering project scoping, resource evaluation, large text handling, data management, and data visualization. It assumes no prior knowledge of digital techniques and demonstrates how to use common formats such as XML. Data preparation is emphasized as a crucial aspect of digital history projects, and the book offers tools to make it easier and faster.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: 18 May 2021
Publisher: Manchester University Press

This book serves as a comprehensive and practical guide to the realm of digital history. It provides valuable insights and recommendations for embarking on digital history projects, encompassing the crucial steps of project scoping, evaluating existing digital history resources, and gaining a deep understanding of working with large text resources. Additionally, it delves into effective management of digital data and approaches to data visualisation, empowering readers to harness the power of digital technologies in their historical research.

Throughout its pages, "Doing Digital History" takes a holistic approach to the digital project lifecycle, covering every stage from inception to the final digital outputs. It assumes no prior knowledge of digital techniques, demonstrating that even beginners can achieve remarkable results without the need for extensive coding skills. The book equips readers with the essential skills to utilise common formats such as XML, enabling them to navigate the complexities of digital preservation and analysis.

One of the book's central messages is that data preparation plays a pivotal role in most digital history projects. However, the task of data cleaning, organising, and transforming often proves to be time-consuming and labour-intensive. By introducing a few essential tools and techniques, "Doing Digital History" makes this work significantly easier and faster, enabling researchers to focus on the analysis and interpretation of historical data.

In conclusion, "Doing Digital History" is an indispensable resource for historians, archivists, and students seeking to embrace the digital age in their historical research. With its comprehensive coverage of project scoping, resource evaluation, large text processing, data management, and data visualisation, the book empowers readers to unlock the full potential of digital technologies and engage with historical data in innovative and meaningful ways. Whether you are a seasoned digital historian or just starting your journey into the world of digital preservation, this book will be your guide to success.

Weight: 216g
Dimension: 198 x 129 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781526132680