Digital Historiography and the Archives

Sun, 01 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The following pieces by Joshua Sternfeld, Katharina Hering, Kate Theimer, and Michael Kramer are based on our session at the American Historical Association (AHA) meeting in 2014, “Digital Historiography and the Archives,” and the series of blog posts based on our presentations that we posted on Michael Kramer’s blog, Issues in Digital History, and cross-posted on AHA Today.¹ We are thrilled that JDH invited us to submit our blog posts for publication. We had conceptualized the session as an interdisciplinary roundtable discussion with short presentations by each panelist, followed by a rich and multifaceted discussion with the audience.

Provenance Meets Source Criticism

Sun, 01 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

(This is a slightly revised version of the paper from which I spoke at the AHA. I added links, references, a few images, and an introductory paragraph. I also changed the title.)

Archival and historical theory and methodology emerged in the late 19th century in a related historical and disciplinary context. Yet, to the degree that archives and history have evolved as separate disciplines and professional fields,¹ they tend to be treated as separate traditions. As Joshua Sternfeld and the other panelists have emphasized, however, critical digital historiography brings together elements of both archival and historical theory and methodology. The archival principle of provenance and the historical tradition of source criticism, in particular, complement another in underscoring the importance of providing context for documents, records, collections, archives, and digital historical representations.

Katharina-Hering on Journal of Digital Humanities

Digital Historiography and the Archives

Provenance Meets Source Criticism