Why does Digital Curation matter to historians?
"The emergence of the Internet has transformed the practice of the humanities and social sciences — more slowly than some may have hoped, but more profoundly than others may have expected." (Our Cultural Commonwealth, 2006.)
The Digital Curation Center defines data as "A reinterpretable representation of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing." The Cultural Commonwealth report characterized digital data as "notoriously fragile, short-lived, and easy to manipulate without leaving obvious evidence of fraud." Regardless of it's definition, the humanities revolve around data. For historians specifically, data serves as a vehicle for enhanced research, scholarship and assists in a greater historical understanding.
As The Digital Curation Center states, "Digital curation is about maintaining and adding value to a trusted body of digital information for current and future use." It constitutes an "umbrella term for digital preservation, data curation, and digital asset and electronic records management" and brings together the scientific, educational, and professional communities with governmental and private curation organizations. Put simply, curation adds value to digital assets and therefore enhances the quality of our research.
The Digital Curation Center defines data as "A reinterpretable representation of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing." The Cultural Commonwealth report characterized digital data as "notoriously fragile, short-lived, and easy to manipulate without leaving obvious evidence of fraud." Regardless of it's definition, the humanities revolve around data. For historians specifically, data serves as a vehicle for enhanced research, scholarship and assists in a greater historical understanding.
As The Digital Curation Center states, "Digital curation is about maintaining and adding value to a trusted body of digital information for current and future use." It constitutes an "umbrella term for digital preservation, data curation, and digital asset and electronic records management" and brings together the scientific, educational, and professional communities with governmental and private curation organizations. Put simply, curation adds value to digital assets and therefore enhances the quality of our research.