Network analysis… and distant reading (topic-modeling)?

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 04:12:04 +0000

I’d like to propose a session on network analysis. My own project is a historical social network analysis of the German intelligentsia during the Enlightenment period. It relates people by ties such as family, patronage, or citing one another’s work. I would like to talk with people at THATCamp about the project and see other people’s network projects. I’d really like to find a collaborator or two, perhaps especially someone who is more tech-savvy than I am with databases and visualization/analysis software. A later phase of my project will involve OCR’ing texts I have scanned in by the intellectuals being studied, and then running topic-modeling (text-mining) software on the texts to come up with keywords. These keywords would then form other nodes in the growing network, which would then include people, institutions, books and ideas. Possible topics to discuss during a THATCamp session:

–designing the architecture of a database, in e.g. MS Access or FileMaker

–what kind of projects are good for network analysis?

–good database software to use

–visualization software, e.g. NetworkWorkbench

–topic-modeling (a subject I know only the tiniest bit about)

Information Overload: Condensing a wealth of resources into a format digestible for students

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:14:12 +0000

The problem: Today’s students, despite their reputation for technological savvy, still need to be taught how to conduct research. The increasing amount of digital material available makes research easier in many ways, but it can also complicate matters — particularly in terms of “information overload.” Rob Widell and I propose a discussion around strategies for introducing students to research in a digital world.

Our first step toward a solution: We are in the process of collaborating on a LibGuide for students engaged in historical research using primary sources. In doing so, we have encountered a number of questions that we suspect are common to scholars teaching humanities, and we propose an open discussion of ideas around those questions.

Have you encountered something similar regarding student research? If so, what have you done?
How do you get students past reliance on basic Google?
How are students actually working/getting research skills/collaborating online?
What is the best way to get students to understand that there can be many silos of information and that sometimes good research can require investigation of many of these silos?

Our project is very much in progress, so we’re interested in discussion of the broad ideas as well as the smaller details.

history – THATCamp New England 2010

Network analysis… and distant reading (topic-modeling)?

Information Overload: Condensing a wealth of resources into a format digestible for students