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The Way We Write History Has Changed
Archives and the digitization of knowledge
Unlike libraries, archives have generally resisted the digitization of knowledge. They are still mostly paper where you might spend weeks to months working through all the boxes of interest.
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Difference between libraries and archives
History comes out of an archive, not a library.
- Libraries spread knowledge that's been collected and compressed into books and other media.
- Archives are where collections of papers are stored. Archives contain materials from the people and institutions near it. For example, the Silicon Valley Archives at Stanford contain everything from Atari's business plans to HP co-founder William Hewlett's correspondence.
The tools are changing
With the use of smartphones, instead of reading papers during an archival visit, historians take digital photos of the documents to look at them later.
The practice might seem insignificant, but the ways that information is collected and managed is changing what historians can learn from it. As a result, different histories will be written.
Archives for the modern mind
With digitization, archives are now accessed through many mediums by more than just the historian.
Different types of people outside the professionalized historical tradition could do history, which will lead to more diverse authors, and ultimately a different account of events.
How history could change
With the ability to capture more documents, the depth of archival work will increase. At the same time, because you are able to find relevant information beyond your project, you may lose what's going on locally.
When you digitize more, you may overestimate your knowledge and believe that your record is complete.
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430 B.C.: Plague of Athens
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The disease, suspected to have been typhoid fever, weakened the Athenians significantly and played a big role in their defeat by the Spartans.
165 A.D.: The Antonine Plague
It may have been an early appearance of smallpox that began with the Huns.
The Huns then infected the Germans, who passed it to the Romans and then returning troops spread it throughout the Roman empire. This plague continued until about 180 A.D., claiming Emperor Marcus Aurelius as one of its victims.
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