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Historical Computing

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Historical Computing is the study of the development, evolution, and impact of computing technologies and practices throughout history. It encompasses the analysis of early computing devices, programming languages, and the socio-cultural implications of computing innovations from their inception to the present.
lightbulbAbout this topic
Historical Computing is the study of the development, evolution, and impact of computing technologies and practices throughout history. It encompasses the analysis of early computing devices, programming languages, and the socio-cultural implications of computing innovations from their inception to the present.

Key research themes

1. How can historical datasets be effectively transformed and integrated using contemporary Big Data methodologies?

This theme explores the challenges and methodologies associated with applying modern Big Data paradigms to historical datasets. It focuses on how data created in earlier epochs, often using fundamentally different logics and formats, can be re-documented and translated to be usable for present-day computational analysis. Addressing these issues is vital for extracting meaningful, structured historical knowledge from vast archives and for enabling innovative applications such as social network reconstruction or spatiotemporal information systems reflecting past eras.

Key finding: Chrétien and colleagues articulate that historical datasets originate from distinct 'data acceleration regimes,' reflecting epochs of perceived information overload and innovation in data handling technologies. They argue... Read more
Key finding: Borodkin presents a practice-oriented approach via the development of the ISARAN information system, which facilitates online access and digital preservation of unique Russian Academy of Sciences archival documents spanning... Read more
Key finding: The project team designed a multimedia digital archive to preserve and disseminate Italian computer science history by systematically categorizing diverse materials—documents, images, interviews, and technical artifacts—and... Read more
Key finding: This work details the construction of genealogical databases from comprehensive local history by compiling time-stamped individual and familial data, spatially linked to dwellings, across centuries. The Norwegian extended... Read more
Key finding: This article reviews the development and application of computing in historical research, emphasizing the increasing integration of digital archives, databases, and GIS technologies. It reports on how international... Read more

2. What roles have early pioneers and foundational technologies played in shaping the conceptual and practical development of computing?

This theme investigates the contributions of key historical figures, technologies, and conceptual innovations that have laid the groundwork for modern computing. Focused on early machinery, symbolic logic, programming concepts, and epistemological shifts brought about through computation, this area illuminates how the evolution of computing has been influenced by both technological inventions and intellectual frameworks stretching from the 17th century to the mid-20th century.

Key finding: This paper explicates how Edmund Berkeley, a seminal figure in early computer science and ACM founder, bridged symbolic logic and mechanical relay computing, particularly applied to insurance actuarial decision-making.... Read more
Key finding: This narrative traces the evolution from early mechanical calculators, like Pascal's Pascaline and Leibniz’s Stepped Reckoner, through Jacquard's punched-card loom, to Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine and Ada Lovelace’s... Read more
Key finding: The paper details the long trajectory of computational aids—from ancient tally sticks and the abacus to medieval astronomical analog computers (e.g., the Antikythera mechanism), advancing to John Napier’s logarithms, and the... Read more
Key finding: Williamson discusses the 1970s–1980s period when historians predominantly used computers for quantitative analyses such as cadastral surveys and census data coding. The paper highlights the limitations of such approaches,... Read more
Key finding: Denning argues for a theoretically grounded framework distinguishing historical computing from general computational applications, emphasizing the unique epistemological and informational challenges inherent in historical... Read more

3. How can the history of computing be leveraged pedagogically and culturally to enhance understanding and relevance today?

This theme addresses strategies for using historical computing scholarship and artifacts to enrich current education and public engagement. It examines how narratives, computational heritage preservation, and curated multimedia dissemination can link computing history with contemporary technological literacy and cultural identity, and discusses institutional and scholarly roles in facilitating this transmission.

Key finding: Mahoney chronicles the transformative role of storytelling and historical contextualization in computing education, demonstrating how the integration of computing pioneers’ biographies and technological narratives increases... Read more
Key finding: Focusing on the intersection of gender, technology, and historiography, this volume highlights evolving inclusivity in computing history scholarship and institutional research approaches. It argues for the convergence of... Read more
Key finding: This keynote and related conference contributions synthesize the importance of historical computing studies as a resource for understanding technological innovation cycles. They advocate for leveraging historical insights in... Read more
Key finding: This introduction to an international conference on historical computing demonstrates how the formation of scholarly associations and multidisciplinary collaborations advances the pedagogical and research potentials of... Read more

All papers in Historical Computing

Статья посвящена осмыслению трансформации методологии исторической науки под влиянием «цифрового поворота», с фокусом на ключевую дисциплину ‒ источниковедение. Автор исследует, как стремительное развитие технологий искусственного... more
Рассматривается методологический аспект использования данных в историческом исследовании. В контексте датаизма представлены дискуссии об особенностях формализации сведений исторических источников в моделях данных. Сегодня в дискуссиях о... more
Цифровая история идей — сравнительно молодое направление внутри Digital Humanities, использующее инструменты корпусной лингвистики в сочетании с методологией Кембриджской школы и Begriffsgeschichte. Как теоретические рамки, так и... more
In the article, based on formal-logical, comparative, and historical-genetic methods of cognition, the author presents their own view on the foundations of an interdisciplinary scientific field - digital legal history: its scientific... more
Дизайн-макет и верстка-Елена Мартыненко Редактура-Евгения Суслова Обложка-Александр Сильверстов В оформлении обложки использован кадр из фильма Дмитрия Степанова «Разбитые экраны» Книга подготовлена при поддержке АНО «АРТИЗ» Евангели,... more
This article describes the development of the Norwegian Historical Population Register, which is the first open national register. In the period 1735–1964, 9.7 million people lived in Norway, and for them 37.5 million events (such as... more
СУКИНА Л. Б. ВИЗУАЛЬНЫЙ ИСТОЧНИК: ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, ПРОБЛЕМЫ И ОГРАНИЧЕНИЯ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ ИНФОРМАЦИОННОГО РЕСУРСА // Учёные записки Петрозаводского государственного университета. 2023. Том 45, № 2, С. 95–100.
The article deals with an experience of development and creation of an automatic morphological analyzer of the Old Russian designed for automatic lemmatization of Old Russian texts. Special attention is given to the technological and... more
Modern information and communication technologies, elements of digitalization are constantly and rapidly developing, which, in turn, has a direct impact on all spheres of human activity. In the light of recent events related to the... more
Nowadays, such socio-technical systems as virtual research environments are increasingly employed in the studies of textual heritage. The paper presents a modular platform based on a combination of Web services that provide tools for... more
This paper discusses some promising approaches to the representation of meta-information (facts) about medieval Russian charters on the Semantic Web in order to provide researchers with appropriate tools for the capture, aggregation, and... more
Цифровые трансформации, являющиеся основой развития современного общества, зачастую опережают процессы трансформации науки. При этом они заставляют науку постоянно совершенствовать как технологии, так и применяемый в исследованиях... more
The information-analytical system "Manuscript" (IAS "Manuscript") is being created by a group of programmers and linguists of two universities of Izhevsk city. The developers are:
Публичная история», возникшая в США в 1970 е гг., стала новым глобальным широко разрастающимся направлением использования прошлого в разных социокультурных практиках. С одной стороны, в создание нового контента истории энергично... more
Lo scorso 28 ottobre 2011 ricorreva il decennale della scomparsa di Giuseppe Gigliozzi. La sua figura di studioso e di docente ha rappresentato un punto di riferimento fondamentale per lo sviluppo dell'Informatica umanistica in... more
Статья посвящена изучению взаимоотношения нескольких направлений, связанных с более чем 50-летней историей применения квантитативных методов и информационных технологий в гуманитарных и исторических исследованиях: это, во-первых,... more
La digital history non ha, almeno in Italia, centri di ricerca specializzati, né vede avviate infrastrutture dedicate; tuttavia, se si guarda ai progetti di digital humanities in corso, le tematiche storiche hanno un peso e un'importanza... more
В статье вводится понятие «цифровая оптика» применительно к историческим исследованиям, раскрывается его содержание, дается характеристика. Под цифровой оптикой понимается совокупность основанных на цифровых технологиях подходов, методов,... more
Статья является еще одним вкладом в научную дискуссию, организованную редакцией журнала «Историческая информатика», о проблемах развития научных направлений в России, связанных с применением информационных технологий в разных областях... more
In this paper I attempt to utilise the vast efforts invested in a particularly Norwegian genre of local history, namely the farm-and genealogy books ('bygdebok', plural 'bygdebøker'), in order to analyse some questions concerning... more
В статье обсуждаются дискуссии в международном сообществе "Historical Computing" о приоритетах в развитии исторической информатики, основным при этом является вопрос о соотношении "компьютерного источниковедения" и квантификации (имея в... more
Затянувшаяся реплика в дискуссии, приуроченной к выходу русского перевода "Дальнего чтения Моретти". Про пользу запаздывания, оставляющего место для апокрифа, новую видимость и гуманитарный дух цифровых штудий. Выложена авторская... more
On the necessity to base standards for the exchange of data in the (digital) Humanities upon abstract models.
Anche se forse qualcuno non se ne è ancora accorto, stiamo vivendo drastici cambiamenti nel rapporto tra tecnologie informatiche, tecnologie di rete e discipline umanistiche e storiche in particolare. Negli ultimi 2 anni, il metodo... more
In this paper, the discussion continues on the relationship of the Digital Humanities, Digital History and Historical Information Science/Historical Computing. The differences between historical information science and digital history are... more
The development of modern technology leads to the transformation of the methods of text representation in contemprorary culture. Researchers have different points of view in relation to this issue. One of the extreme positions prevailing... more
Активное развитие междисциплинарной области, связанной с применением компьютерных технологий в исторических исследованиях и образовании, породило в последние годы немало дискуссий за рубежом о соотношении терминов, определяющих... more
The amount of digital data about regional history is increasing rapidly. These data might be effectively used to promote regional historical and cultural tourism as well as to design special recommendation services for trip developers and... more
Статья посвящена основным проблемам развития междисциплинарного направления «цифровая история» (digital history). В контексте «цифрового перехода» — очевидного перехода к распространению информации в цифровых форматах на электронных... more
This paper deals with databases that has been constructed and used for producing a particularly Norwegian genre of local history, the farm- and genealogical history («gards- og slektshistorie» or «busetnadshistorie»). This is a... more
Possiamo permetterci di usare il computer? Possiamo permetterci di non usarlo? Sono passati appena dieci anni da quando Manfred Thaller intitolava così un suo articolo su «Quaderni storici» 1 e già queste domande sono del tutto inattuali.... more
в статье дается обзор современного состояния и перспектив развития информационного обеспечения исторической науки, т.е. деятельности по поиску, сбору, обработке, накоплению и хранению, распространению и использованию репрезентативной и... more
O historiador, a esferográfica e o computador I Há dois anos, na véspera do 1º Colóquio de Londres sobre História e Informática, um dos participantes confessou-me ainda ter dúvidas sobre o sentido de uma reunião como aquela, tão... more
The title of my lecture this evening is 'new questions and new methods in historical research'. The order is not arbitrary. I did not want to offer you yet another lecture on how computers have opened up a promised land for historians, or... more
Dodici anni fa Lawrence Stone pubblicava un articolo 1 in cui descriveva il "ritorno alla narrazione" nella storiografia più recente e preannunciava la fine dell'egemonia, durata sin dall'immediato dopoguerra, della cosiddetta "nuova... more
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