Tools of Knowledge: Revitalising a Legacy Database of Scientific Instrument Makers

Resource type
Lecture
Creator (person)
Higgitt, Rebekah
Abstract
This talk presents some reflections on the UK Arts & Humanities Research Council funded project, “Tools of Knowledge,” which has remodeled a legacy database of scientific instrument makers in the UK and Ireland from 1550–1914 as a semantic database (i.e., one structured to create relationships and reveal implicit meaning within data). An introduction to the new database will be followed by a discussion of the ways in which the project experimented with data visualization and linking to additional sources about instruments to represent their individual "lives," or itineraries. Some lessons learned will be shared, including issues common to other digital humanities projects related to labor and credit. Consideration will also be given to possible audiences and to the potential for public engagement around the project’s work.
Project(s)
Tools of Knowledge: Modelling the Creative Communities of the Scientific Instrument Trade, 1550-1914
Funder
Funder nameAwards
Arts and Humanities Research Council
Event title
Tools of Knowledge: Revitalising a Legacy Database of Scientific Instrument Makers
Publisher
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
Official URL
Related URL
Rights statement
In Copyright
Keywords