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Key research themes
1. How can digital archives and web archives transform the study and preservation of historical information?
This research theme explores the potential and challenges of using digital and web archives to understand, preserve, and represent historical information. It addresses how digital surrogates of historical data can be redocumented using contemporary paradigms, the socio-technical processes behind web archiving platforms like the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, and the role of born-digital and reborn-digital materials in historical research. This theme is significant because it highlights the transition from analogue to digital preservation and historiography, and the new methodologies needed to unlock the past from present-day digital resources.
Key finding: The paper introduces the concept of ‘Big Data of the Past’ by demonstrating that historical datasets, produced during moments of data acceleration characterized by information overload and technological invention, require... Read more
Key finding: This work outlines the unique value of web archives as critical historical sources for the 21st century, emphasizing the need to understand the socio-technical context of the web's creation and usage. It documents cases where... Read more
Key finding: By applying a forensic social science approach, the paper reveals that the Internet Archive Wayback Machine’s historical knowledge production is not merely passive archiving but an active socio-technical process involving... Read more
Key finding: This study foregrounds the concept of ‘reborn-digital’ material—digitized or born-digital content that has been archived and transformed—highlighting that future historians will rely heavily on digital surrogates rather than... Read more
Key finding: The paper presents a practical case study on the organization, digitization, and reuse of multimedia historical materials within a digital archive dedicated to the early history of Italian computer science. It finds that... Read more
2. What methodological and epistemological challenges shape the development of information history as a research field?
This theme investigates the foundational scholarly debates concerning the positioning, methodology, and explanatory frameworks of information history within broader historical and information science disciplines. It centers on issues of causation, explanation complexity, interdisciplinarity, and the conceptual clarity of ‘information’ in historical studies. Understanding these challenges is vital to advancing rigorous scholarship in information history that transcends mere description and integrates social, technical, and cultural dimensions of information processes.
Key finding: This paper argues that information history must rely on complex, interdisciplinary explanations combining social science and humanities approaches because historical causation is rarely straightforward. It emphasizes that... Read more
Key finding: The author conceptualizes information history as a distinct historical discipline focused on the multifaceted role of information—beyond just technologies or libraries—in past societies. It highlights how information’s... Read more
Key finding: This literature review identifies emerging historiographic coherence in information history scholarship marked by recognition of its distinct perspective compared to library or media history. It underscores the dual focus on... Read more
Key finding: Building upon Boyd Rayward’s influential work, this paper illustrates how historical explanation in the field demands rigorous research strategies that address the complexity of social and technical factors shaping... Read more
Key finding: The report proposes 'historical information science' as a distinct discipline dealing with the creation, management, and use of historical information through computational means. It argues for a unified methodological... Read more
3. How do the dynamics of language globalization, information infrastructure, and digital technologies influence the socio-cultural construction of information history?
This theme examines the intersection of linguistic dominance, technological infrastructures, and socio-political contexts and their impact on the production, dissemination, and historiography of information. It includes an analysis of English as a global language shaping information flows, the political economy of information infrastructures, and the challenges of intellectual sovereignty and cultural identity in the digital information age. These factors influence both the past and future construction of knowledge and historiographic narratives.
Key finding: This article highlights the global dominance of English and its implications for knowledge production, noting the increasing proportion of non-native English speakers reshaping language standards. It discusses how... Read more
Key finding: This research conceptualizes the evolving role of the individual within the information society as a socio-historical product influenced by rapid technological development, social transformation, and globalization. It... Read more
Key finding: The paper identifies emerging domains within information history, including the history of information architecture and information archaeology, framing them within a broader exploration of how information practices have... Read more