Data for History 2021: Modelling Time, Places, Agents
The effects of the growing integration of digital tools and methods in historical research make the issues of interoperability of data produced in different projects and domains (archives, museums, etc.), and their reuse in the context of open science and FAIR principles (data should be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) ever more pressing. In fact, we are at a turning point in historical research: The change from a primarily analogue based to a primarily digital based working context requires a major reconsideration of the very foundations of our field. Historians have to consciously think through how this change affects their practices and determine the means to best form this new, digital working environment to facilitate the ends of historical research.
This question becomes particularly clear in the context of datafication, the conversion of analogue information into digital data. In this process, fundamental decisions are taken whose outcomes will determine not only the fidelity of the representation of the primary sources but the reusability of that data into the future. Data modelling decisions taken today will deeply shape and affect the kind of research that will or will not be feasible tomorrow. The challenge is, thus, to make modelling choices in such a way that the highest possible degree of data reusability and sustainability can be guaranteed, while respecting the particular source modelled as well as the specific nature of historical data, such as ambiguity, uncertainty, incompleteness, and change over time.
The objective of this year's conference therefore is to gain a better understanding of current ideas and practices in modelling time, space and agents as historical data and to assess the implications of these choices on the process of historical research and analysis. Throughout all of this, the focus is on exchange and building up a community.
The virtual conference will take place each Wednesday afternoon via Airmeet from May 19 to June 30, 2021. If you are interested to attend, please register here.
Programm (May 19, 2021)
14:00 – 14:15
- Torsten Hiltmann (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin): Introduction
14:15 –15:00 Keynote #1
- George Bruseker (Takin.solutions, Plovdiv/Athens): The Uses and Limits of Formal Ontologies (Cidoc CRM) for History: Addressing and Going past the 'Digital' in Digital History
15:15 – 16:00 Session 1: Conceptual Models
- François Vignale (Université du Maine), Francesco Beretta (CNRS/Université de Lyon, LARHRA), Vincent Alamercery (ENS de Lyon, LARHRA): The Reading Experiences Ontology: A Use-Case for OntoMe
- Roman Bleier, Florian Zeilinger, Georg Vogeler, Gabriele Haug-Moritz, Eva Ortlieb (University of Graz): Petitioning, Meeting, Negotiating: Towards a Conceptual Model for Communication in Early Modern Parliamentary Systems
16:15 – 17:00 Session 2: Context and Transparency
- Katrin Moeller (Historisches Datenzentrum Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle), Georg Fertig (Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg): The Challenge of Contextualization and Data Transparency in Structured Research Data!
- Gioele Barabucci (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim), Fabio Vitali (Università di Bologna): Context Is All: Guidelines for Context Characterization in Knowledge Modelling and Data Formats
17:15 – 18:00 Session 3: Integration and Interoperability
- Heikki Rantala, Esko Ikkala (Aalto University), Eero Hyvönen (Aalto University/University of Helsinki): Creating the HISTO Ontology of Finnish History Events
- Matthias Schlögl, Matej Durco, Ingo Börner, Peter Andorfer, Klaus Illmayer (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna): Connecting the Dots: The Case of Omnipot