Building New Windows into Digitized Newspapers

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In building Mapping Texts we wanted to create more transparent windows into the extraordinary wealth of information available in online archives of digitized historical newspapers. We wanted, for example, to be able to see how much information was available for any particular time and place, and then measure just how much of that information was still recognizable — and thus useable — after the digitization process. We also wanted to be able to see the major language patterns coming from these datasets, so that we could use “distant” readings of such massive collections as a way to determine which individual newspapers would likely yield the most useful information from “close” readings. We wanted, in other words, more finely grained methods for indexing both the quantity and quality of information in these archives as they spread out across both time and space.

Mapping Texts: Visualizing American Historical Newspapers

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Mapping Texts is an ambitious project with a simple mission: to experiment with new methods for finding and analyzing meaningful patterns embedded within massive collections of digitized historical newspapers.

Why do we think this is important? Because, quite simply, historical newspapers are being digitized at a rate that is rapidly overwhelming our traditional methods of research. The Chronicling America project, for example, recently digitized its 5 millionth newspaper page, and predicts that more than 20 million pages will be available within a few years. Numerous other programs are also digitizing newspapers at a rapid pace worldwide, making hundreds of millions of words from the historical record readily available in electronic archives that are reaching staggering proportions.

Jchristensen on Journal of Digital Humanities

Building New Windows into Digitized Newspapers

Mapping Texts: Visualizing American Historical Newspapers