The long road to ‘digital history’: History of computer-assisted research of the past in Finland since the 1960s
Paju Petri
The long road to ‘digital history’: History of computer-assisted research of the past in Finland since the 1960s
Paju Petri
Lataukset:
Helsinki University Press
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on:
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2021042821134
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2021042821134
Tiivistelmä
To understand better the present shape and evolution of the digital
history, this chapter examines how historians have used computers and
information technology since the 1960s. Focusing on historians from
Finland, the chapter starts from the late 1960s when a few younger
historians first explored using the computer to perform statistical
calculations. In the 1970s and the 1980s, the computers and data
available were most useful and used for historical research designs
applying quantitative methods. Historians carrying out qualitative
research grew interested in IT when the personal computers became more
user-friendly and affordable towards and especially during the 1990s. In
the following decade, the internet, the World Wide Web, and digitized
source materials effected all historians’ research practices directly or
indirectly. Nevertheless, digital or computational history introduced
in the mid-2010s took the use of IT further. These new methods were
first embraced by a fraction of those historians who had previously
focused on quantitative work based on textual materials. A central
conclusion is that historians should pay more attention to the
technologies they use to take better control of the challenges and
opportunities of their changing research environment.
history, this chapter examines how historians have used computers and
information technology since the 1960s. Focusing on historians from
Finland, the chapter starts from the late 1960s when a few younger
historians first explored using the computer to perform statistical
calculations. In the 1970s and the 1980s, the computers and data
available were most useful and used for historical research designs
applying quantitative methods. Historians carrying out qualitative
research grew interested in IT when the personal computers became more
user-friendly and affordable towards and especially during the 1990s. In
the following decade, the internet, the World Wide Web, and digitized
source materials effected all historians’ research practices directly or
indirectly. Nevertheless, digital or computational history introduced
in the mid-2010s took the use of IT further. These new methods were
first embraced by a fraction of those historians who had previously
focused on quantitative work based on textual materials. A central
conclusion is that historians should pay more attention to the
technologies they use to take better control of the challenges and
opportunities of their changing research environment.
Kokoelmat
- Rinnakkaistallenteet [19207]