Digital practices and processes have transformed the landscape of historical research and public engagement. It has expanded access to historical materials, facilitated new analysis and visualization methods, encouraged interdisciplinary collaboration, and opened up exciting possibilities for engaging with the public through museums, blogs, and other digital platforms.
However, historians must also address ethical and practical challenges associated with these changes. One of the most notable impacts of digital practices is the increased access to vast information. Digital tools and platforms have made it possible to digitize and archive historical documents, artifacts, and resources, making them readily accessible to researchers and the public. This accessibility has democratized historical research and reduced barriers to entry.
In chapters 5 and 6 of Eileen Gardiner's The Digital Humanities: A Primer for Students and Scholars, “digital tools are generally considered software applications for analysis, manipulation, and presentation of data” as well as “helping organize and analyze and thus facilitate the real work of the humanist, (Gardiner, 69).” Digital tools have revolutionized the way historians can analyze and visualize data. Through techniques like text mining, data mining, and geographic information systems (GIS), historians can uncover patterns and insights in historical data that would have been challenging or impossible to discover using traditional methods.
The digital humanities encourage collaboration among scholars from various disciplines. This interdisciplinary approach has enriched historical research by incorporating perspectives and methodologies from fields such as computer science, linguistics, and statistics. It has also fostered collaborative projects that involve multiple researchers working on a shared digital platform. Digital technologies have expanded opportunities for historians to engage with the public. Museums, for example, can create interactive digital exhibits that provide visitors with immersive and educational experiences. Historians can also engage with a broader audience through blogs, social media, and online educational resources. These digital practices have also played key roles in preserving and conserving historical materials. Digitization efforts help protect fragile documents and artifacts by creating digital surrogates. Additionally, digital archives can ensure the long-term preservation of historical materials.
I find the most exciting digital revolution in the digital humanities to be in the concept of imagery. Images bring so much to historical perspectives and educational platforms because they engage on various levels. I believe the best way to learn about the past is to see it yourself. Often, it can be hard to do that; however, with new digital tools to scan and preserve images and historical reenactment imagery or oral history imagery, these elements help put faces to history rather than just names throughout history. I personally use imagery in all my history, whether it’s shooting interviews or B-roll for a documentary or scanning documents for blogs, archival purposes, or educational videos; it’s all part of digital imagery.
Citations: Gardiner, Eileen, and Ronald G. Musto. The Digital Humanities: A Primer for Students and Scholars. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Ullyot, Michael. “Review Essay: Digital Humanities Projects.” Renaissance Quarterly 66, no. 3 (2013): 937–47. https://doi.org/10.1086/673587.
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