The Transformation of Historical Research and Education Through the Use of Digital Primary Sources Masaki Morisawa Senior Product Manager, Library Reference,

The Transformation of Historical Research and Education Through the Use of Digital Primary Sources

Masaki MorisawaSenior Product Manager, Library Reference, Cengage Learning Asia

• Formerly called: Thomson Learning

• HQ: Stamford, Connecticut

• July 2007 separated from the Thomson Corporation

• Sept 2007 changed its name to CENGAGE Learning(Coined from the phrase “Center of Engagement”)

Library Reference (Gale)

ELT

Academic & Professional Group

• Today’s presentation is on products from the Library Reference division

Gale (Library Reference)

HQ in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA

One of the foremost library reference publishers

Has many well-established imprints, including:• Gale

• Charles Scribner’s Sons

• Macmillan Reference USA

• UXL

Publishing formats include:• Print library reference such as thematic encyclopedias,

annual directories, literary biographies/criticisms, etc.

• eBook versions of print publications and an eBook platform

• Aggregated Journal databases

• Subject Portals and Databases combining various content together

• Microform collections and serials

• Digital Archives of primary source material

The world’s largest scholarly primary source digital library

• More than 60 digital collections, including:• Eighteenth Century Collections Online• The Times Digital Archive• The Making of the Modern World• The Making of Modern Law• And many more!

• Spanning 535 years of international history

• Gale has changed the nature of research and education forever with Gale Digital Collections

Gale Digital Collections

Times Digital Archive

Making of the Modern World

Sabin Americana

State Papers Online, Parts 1-4

Slavery & Anti-Slavery, Pt 1,2

Timeline covered by Gale Digital Collections ECCO & ECCO II

19C BL News

19C US News

17/18C Burney Newspapers

19C UK Per.

Listener

British Literary Manuscripts, Part 1

TLS

MOML: Supreme Court

Modern Law: Historic Trials

The Financial Times

Illustrated London News

← British Literary Manuscripts Pt 2

1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000

DDRS

National GeographicNational Geographic

Sunday Times Digital Archive

The Economist

Why Digital Primary Sources?

Why Digital Primary Sources?

If publications are finished jewelry

Then primary sources are mines

Why Do Scholars Need Primary Sources?

. . . and historians are miners

They dig for rare ‘gems’ thatthey polish and craft intoacademic publications

Without a good mine to dig,historians cannot do originalresearch – but good mines are often far away …

No dinner

tonight.

Why Digitize Primary Sources?

Digital Archives can bring those faraway mines right to their local libraries – the “raw thing” unaltered and unedited.

Why Digital Archives?Moreover, Gale’s digital archives utilizes OCR technology to allow full-text searching of these valuable documents.

Why Digital Archives?If previous research was like mining with a pickaxe,

Full-text searching is like mining with a sophisticated radar system.

Why Digital Archives?Not only can the scholar can find and retrieve the desired gem in seconds, he/she can also discover many unexpected treasures along the way.

This Revolutionizes historical research!This Revolutionizes historical research!

Let’s hear it from actual scholars using our databases:

“Genuinely revolutionary”

Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), made available by Gale, is genuinely

revolutionary. It changes both our research and our teaching in eighteenth-century studies in

radical ways. … A university that does not have ECCO is not a

serious player in eighteenth-century British and American studies—in literature or in anything else.

“

”Rob Hume

Professor of English LiteratureThe Pennsylvania State University

Link to the full document: http://access.gale.com/nerl/documents/ECCO%20Whitepaper.pdf

“Uncover unforeseen connections”

… the search capabilities of both ECCO and Burney have enabled me to discover trends and connections that would take years to uncover by

manual searches…. databases such as EEBO, ECCO, and Burney

enable virtual movement throughout their holdings to uncover relevant but unforeseen

connections not limited by categories of expectations.

“

”Eleanor Shevlin

Associate Professor, English DepartmentWest Chester University

“Democratized study”

… even the most Luddite of academics cannot deny that the immense benefits of this technology vastly outweigh those moments of nostalgia for a simpler age, especially when we remember that it was only a privileged few who then had either the resources or the leisure to spend years and travel

long distances to pursue substantive research projects. Sources like ECCO have, quite simply,

democratized the study of pre-modern print.

“

”Andrea McKenzie

Professor, Department of HistoryUniversity of Victoria

“A cultural landslide”

… For example, a researcher who has studied Milton for decades and a researcher who hasn't can both talk knowingly about Milton. That may

sadden authorities, but for the progress of academic research I think it's maybe better that

way. ... Perhaps, fifty years from now, the printed books of today may only retain their value as art

objects. I think it's truly revolutionary. It may even be called a cultural landslide.

“

”Kazuhiko Kondo

Professor, Graduate School of Humanities & SociologyUniversity of Tokyo

Eighteenth Century Collections Online

ECCOECCO

• Nearly every significant title printed in Britain in the 18th century, along with thousands from other regions

• 33 million pages full-text searchable – facilitating new discoveries and revolutionizing historical research

• Supports research in a full range of disciplines

• Literature, history, fine arts, religion, law, philosophy, music, science …

• Has rapidly become considered essential for 18th century studies

Eighteenth Century Collections Online

Question:How was Taiwan depicted in 18th century English books?

Ask ECCO!

George Psalmanazar … ???

End User Reaction to ECCOEnd User Reaction to ECCO

ECCO is:

• Widely held with over 500 institutions having access across the globe

• Considered essential for 18th Century studies in all disciplines

– “ECCO Native” PhD’s

– Scholarly standard: 18th century research must apply ECCO to ensure thoroughness, comprehensiveness, and completeness

– Used as a recruiting tool for top faculty and graduate students

– Allows researchers to undertake previously unfeasible projects

– Comprehensive – inclusion policy driven by ESTC

• Both students, faculty and library staff find ECCO useful for a wide range of research projects

!!

Nineteenth CenturyCollections OnlineNineteenth CenturyCollections Online

Digitizing the 19th Century

Comparison: 18th Century to 19th Century

Twice as many faculty specialize in the 19th century as in the 18th, indicating a greater need for tools to support 19C research / teaching

19th Century vs. 18th Century Faculty (US)Category 18th C 19th C 19C/18C Factor

American Studies 1,523 2,393 157%

British Studies 794 2,356 297%

Other Disciplines 351 1,448 413%

TOTAL 2,668 6,197 232%

Source: MDR’s College Universe

Significantly greater scholarly output on the nineteenth century than on the eighteenth century

Scholarly Publishing18th C Articles 19th C Articles 19C/18C Factor

12,564 21,937 167%

Source: Chicago Journals/JSTOR

• NCCO will take a thematic approach to the time period– Due to the sheer quantity and variety of materials, the all-

encompassing approach taken with ECCO is not possible for the nineteenth century

• Will feature content from the “Long 19th Century”

• Will feature multiple content types, including– Monographs (books) -- Manuscripts– Newspapers -- Ephemera– Photographs -- Statistics– Maps

• Will be built incrementally, over a period years

Content Strategy & Organization

Four Thematic Archives Each Year Based on Customer Input

NCCO Science,

Technology, & Medicine

NCCO History of

Photography

NCCO History of Women

NCCO Europe and

Africa

NCCONCCO

Approximately 1.4M pages

Major themes around the consular and diplomatic exchanges between the U.S., U.K. and many Asian nations, including:

• Gunboat Diplomacy• Opium • Philippines War• Missionary activities • Unequal treaties • Expansion of international spheres of influence beyond the British • Sino-Japanese war• Expansion of the railways in north and central China• America’s “Open Door policy”• The Boxer Rebellion• Rise of Bolshevism• Expansion of warlord-ism

29

NCCO: Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange

Approximately 1.7M pages

Major themes around the domestic history of Britain, as seen from the inside, including:

• Popular radicalism• Corresponding Societies of the 1790s• Trade union and Luddite disturbances of the 1800s and 1810s• End of the Napoleonic Wars• Suspension of habeas corpus• March of the Blanketeers• Pentrich insurrectionists’ march on Nottingham• Peterloo Massacre • Cato Street Conspiracy• Queen Caroline Affair • Swing Riots • Reform Crisis of 1832

30

NCCO: British Politics and SocietyA pivotal period in the history of Great Britain

NCCO : Corvey Collection of European Literature: 1790-1840

31

One of the most important literary discoveries of the second half of the twentieth century was the recovery of the

spectacular library of more than 72,000 volumes, including nearly 28,000 volumes of belles lettres, covering a broad range

of subject areas.

Collected during the first half of the nineteenth century by Victor Amadeus, the Landgrave of Hess-Rotenberg (1779-

1834), and housed at his castle (Castle Corvey) near Paderborn, Germany. This remarkable library remained unknown to

scholars until late in the 1970s

• Approximately 1M pages

• An examination of the full spectrum of British cultural sensibilities, told through plays, musical compositions, fiction, novels, penny Dreadfuls and opera.

• Public concerts became big business in the nineteenth century as new concert halls were built to accommodate a burgeoning middle class interested in the arts as a form of self-improvement.

• This series of unique archival collections will provide an insight into Victorian musical and theatrical tastes by documenting what was performed and when, as well as casting light on the ‘behind the scenes’ business and practical aspects of concert promotion, by making available related archival material such as minute books and correspondence alongside the printed concert programmes.

NCCO : British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture

32

What TECHNICAL innovations are Gale implementing that will transform the way research is done?

Subject Indexing

Textual Analysis Tool

Results Visualizations - Connect Ideas

User-Generated Tags and Annotations

Manual Indexing of Manuscript Metadata

Case Study: Japanese Expedition of 1874 to Taiwan

Question:•Who is this person?

Answer:•Harry Smith Parkes ( 巴夏禮 ; 1828-1885)•A 19th century British diplomat who worked mainly in China and Japan

Harry Smith ParkesEdward Stanley,

15th Earl of Derby, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

Despatch Dated Aug 7, 1874

Harry Smith ParkesEdward Stanley,

15th Earl of Derby, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

Despatch Dated Aug 7, 1874

My Lord, I have the honor to inclose two copies of a notification recently issued by direction of Mr Bingham the Minister of the United States, warning United States citizens against engaging in any hostile act against the Government of China. A previous notification of more stringent character, intended apparently to require United States Citizens to withdraw from the Japanese Expedition to Formosa was issued by the American Consul at Amoy in May last. I reported this in June, and Mr. Wade refers to this notification ...

My Lord, I have the honor to inclose two copies of a notification recently issued by direction of Mr Bingham the Minister of the United States, warning United States citizens against engaging in any hostile act against the Government of China. A previous notification of more stringent character, intended apparently to require United States Citizens to withdraw from the Japanese Expedition to Formosa was issued by the American Consul at Amoy in May last. I reported this in June, and Mr. Wade refers to this notification ...

Digital Archives: The Educational Benefit

– Teaching History “Live” –

“You are dealing with the real thing”

The crux for teaching is simple: you are dealing with the real thing, not “student materials.” We

can ask the students to try to make sense of primary sources, not just rely on textbook

introductions and annotation. … The students tend to be a lot more interested, challenged, and

energized. Very few discoveries are made in textbooks—and the students know it.

“

”Rob Hume

Professor of English LiteratureThe Pennsylvania State University

Link to the full document: http://access.gale.com/nerl/documents/ECCO%20Whitepaper.pdf

Why Should Students be Exposed to Primary Sources?

• History Books are Not Enough– History books are summaries of events neatly written by historians

– They are great ways of conveying knowledge in a compact form, but they allow students to be passive in their studying

– Passive studying can lead to rote learning, uncritical swallowing of facts, and may develop a dislike of history altogether

“History is the version of past events that

people have decided to agree upon.”

“History is the version of past events that

people have decided to agree upon.”

“Experience” History with Primary Sources

• Primary Sources are the “raw materials” of history– They demand the student to think about the material and the time in

which it was created

– The student learns that all history is an interpretation of records

– They engage students by the raw and human details presented

A Trend in U.S. History Education

• Library of Congress “The Teaching with Primary Sources Program” http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/

Historical newspapers have the following EDUCATIONAL advantages:• Familiar: every student knows what newspapers are • Easy: just type in a keyword and hit search!• Real: read history as it was actually unfolding• Curious: search for any keyword that interests them• Visual: view illustrations and photos of past events

By being exposed to this material, students can LEARN:• How the media influences people’s worldviews • How interpretation of key events changed over time• How the textbook version of history differs from the “raw thing”• What interested people in a particular time and place in history• How their own country and people were written about in the news• The importance of THINKING CRITICALLY about the past and the present

Ideal for Students: Historical Newspapers & Magazines

??

Gale NewsVault: A Common Interface for Gale’s Historical Newspaper & Magazine Products

What’s Gale NewsVault?

• A single access point for exploring Gale’s collections of historical newspapers

• Cross-search over 10 million pages of newspapers, more than 400 years of content

• Available for FREE to all customers with access to one or more of the following databases (next slide)

Any of these databases can be cross-searched

• 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers

• 19th Century British Library Newspapers (Parts 1 and 2)

• 19th Century UK Periodicals (Series 1 and 2)

• 19th Century US Newspapers

• The Times Digital Archive 1785-2006

• The Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive 1902-2005

• The Financial Times Historical Archive 1888-2007

• The Illustrated London News Historical Archive 1842-2003

• The Economist Historical Archive, 1842-2007

• The Listener Historical Archive, 1929-1991

• Picture Post Historical Archive 1938-1957

• The Sunday Times Historical Archive 1822-2006

• Liberty Magazine Historical Archive 1924-1950

• Question:How was the Japanese Expedition of 1874 to Taiwan described in the newspapers of

the time?

Ask NewsVault!

Search: Keyword “Formosa” + Date “1874”

The Geographical Magazine, October 1, 1874

Which publisher’s logo is this?

National Geographic Magazine Archive

What is the National Geographic Magazine Archive?

• Complete archive of the National Geographic Magazine• Years 1888-1994 now available

• 186K+ pages in 1,224 issues

• 210K+ images

• 435 map supplements

• Full text searching of all articles

What’s More: Coming Soon!

• In addition, we will be adding in late 2012:• Years 1995-current of the National Geographic Magazine

(two-month embargo!)• A “multimedia collection” including:

• 100-120 National Geographic books• 500 National Geographic images• 2010-current issues of National Geographic Travel Magazine• National Geographic videos • Maps and atlases

• All of the above will operate on the same platform

• Stay tuned for more details!

• Question:How was Taiwan described in

National Geographic?

Ask the National Geographic Magazine Archive!

The Power of Digital Primary Sources

• Power to the Faculty– Increased accessibility and discoverability

– Make unexpected findings and find new meanings

– Can produce world-class research (without travelling!)

• Power to the Student– Increased exposure to “raw” history in its making

– Learns the complexity and fascination of real historical material

– Able to think like a historian and apply critical thinking skills

• Value to the Library– Brings rare and valuable overseas collections to your library

– Library owns material in digitized form

– Attracts and retains the best scholars to your institution

– Increases the library’s value as an education/research hub

Thank you very much!