How to Make a Database in Historical Studies

101 Pages·2021·2.095 MB·English

by  Tiago Luís Gil

SPRINGER BRIEFS IN HISTORY OF SCIENCE
AND TECHNOLOGY
Tiago Luís Gil
How to Make
a Database
in Historical
Studies
123
SpringerBriefs in History of Science
and Technology
SeriesEditors
GerardAlberts,UniversityofAmsterdam,Amsterdam,TheNetherlands
TheodoreArabatzis,UniversityofAthens,Athens,Greece
BretislavFriedrich,FritzHaberInstitutderMaxPlanckGesellschaft,Berlin,
Germany
UlfHashagen,DeutschesMuseum,Munich,Germany
DieterHoffmann,Max-Planck-InstitutefortheHistoryofScience,Berlin,Germany
SimonMitton,UniversityofCambridge,Cambridge,UK
DavidPantalony,UniversityofOttawa,Ottawa,ON,Canada
MatteoValleriani,Max-Planck-InstitutefortheHistoryofScience,Berlin,
Germany
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/10085
Tiago Luís Gil
How to Make a Database
in Historical Studies
TiagoLuísGil
DepartmentofHistory
UniversityofBrasilia
Brasília,Brazil
ISSN2211-4564 ISSN2211-4572 (electronic)
SpringerBriefsinHistoryofScienceandTechnology
ISBN978-3-030-78240-5 ISBN978-3-030-78241-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78241-2
Translation:RickHarderandtheauthor.
TranslationfromthePortugueselanguageedition:Comosefazumbancodedados(emHistória)byTiago
LuísGil,©TiagoGil2015.PublishedbyLadeiraLivros,PortoAlegre,Brazil.AllRightsReserved.
©TheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2021
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Preface
Thisbookwaswrittenforhistorystudentsorforanyonecreatingadatabaseusing
digital tools from the very beginning. This book is not a technical manual. This
book will introduce the reader to various databases and information technology
resourcesthatcanenhancehistoricalresearch.Thegoalistohelpthereaderautom-
atizetheirresearchbyemployingsomeexcitingapplicationsfromsocialsciences.
Fromthebeginningoftheresearch,wecandothisfromtheproposaloftheproblem
tothewriting,collection,analysis,andwritingincludedintheplanning.Thefocus,
however,willbeonthewaythematerialisconceivedandorganized.
Writingabooklikethishasitsproblems.Ifitwastooreliantoncurrenttechnolo-
gies,theinformationinthisbookwouldbeoutdatedinafewyears.Forthisreason,I
triedtowritekeepingtimelessissuesinmind,basedonclassicalworksofhistorians.
I have researched the primary debates about the relationship between history and
digital tools in the last 50 years. These debates present some chronic problems in
historical data organization. As a firm believer in planning, I tried to write a text
whichwouldstandthetestoftime.Weshallseethatitisnecessarytodothesame
thingwithdatabases.
Oneofthesignificantissuesfacingatextlikethisisthatdigitalhumanitiescan
often rely on specific software that, while popular and accessible at the time of
publication, can easily be replaced by other programs (better and not) that are not
yet on the market. To minimize the built-in obsolescence, this text considers the
mostgeneralfeaturesofdatabasesoftware,withoutreferringtoaparticularpackage.
Ichosetoshiftourfocusfromasingleplatformbecauseofthedangerofobsolescence
andbecausefocusingonasoftwareprogramcangivetheimpressionthatbuildinga
database(orusingsocialnetworkanalysis,forinstance)onlyrequirespluggingour
dataintoaprogram.Thisisnotthecase.Inthisbook,Iwanttoemphasizetherole
thatourtrainingashistoriansplaysincreatingdatabases;highlightingtheskillswe
alreadyhavethatcanhelpustocreateourdatabases.
ThereaderwillnotethatIoftenusegastronomicalmetaphorsrelatedtothekitchen
universe, not only because metaphors have a didactic purpose but also because I
believe there are several similarities between creating a database and cooking a
perfectmeal.Take,forexample,thefollowing:theideaisnottocreateacompletely
mechanizedsystemthatdoesalltheworkforyou.Iamnotproposingthatwecreate
v
vi Preface
a‘machine’whereweinputmilk,potatoes,butter,garlic,andsalt,tohavebeautiful
mashed potatoes as output. The idea is to be familiar with the working parts of a
database to be able to find the computational equivalent of the midpoint between
a simple craftsman’s work—in our gastronomical metaphor mashing the potatoes
byhand—andaterriblemachinethatdoeseverythingwithoutneedingtheguiding
handofthechef.Forks,knives,peelers,andmultiprocessorscanbeuseful.Ipropose
an“automatedhandicraft”informedbythedeliberate,judicioususeofdigitaltools.
Being the craftsmen that they are, the historians need to know-how to create their
toolsandknowhowtoadaptthemfornewuses,thelatterbeingaskillmuchusedin
historywriting.
Totheskepticalreader,whodoesnottrustusingdigitaltoolstoproducehistorical
knowledge,Icanpromiseyouthatthisisabookabouthistory.Wewilltalkabout
specific research problems, working through how digital tools can be integrated
from the start of our project when we formulate our research problem, to the end
of our project when we present our findings in written form. To the reader who
believesthatdatabasesarejustatechnicalissue,rememberthattherearethousands
of technically perfect databases but which are now obsolete and unusable because
theycannotaccountfornewhistoricalresearchquestionsandmethods.Thereare
databasesmadeforspecificusesbutbecauseofthenarrowchoicesmadewhenthey
werecreated,cannotbeadaptedtootherpurposes.Databasesaredirectlyrelatedto
ourresearchquestionsorshouldbe.Itisnecessarytoplanthemwell,tomakethem
moreuseful.Thebettertheyareplanned,thelongertheywillbeofuse.
Theconstructionofadatabasecaneventuallyshowourtheoreticalpositions,even
thehiddenones.Whenweareobligedtorationalizeourresearchobjecttothepoint
ofitbeingabletofitinsideatable,weneedtoexposeourpositionsevenmore.There
is no room for the argument that “our theme is very complex” (as if some themes
weresimple).Itisnecessarytoknowhowtodealwithcomplexityandweneedto
dothisclearlysothatevenacomputercanunderstand.Weonlygetoutofamachine
whatweputintoit(Charle1985).
In 1996, an engaging book was published in England, of which I had planned
tomakegooduseofDatabasesinhistoricalresearch,fromCharlesHarveyandJon
Press,whichhadallthepotentialofbecomingareferenceworkamonghistorians.
Thebookseemstopredictthatinthenearfuture,moreandmorehistorianswould
use databases to enhance their research. However, it did not happen that way and
HarveyandPresswerenoteventhefirsttoerrwiththisprediction.Whentheywrote
their work, Databases were starting to be adopted by a wide range of academic
disciplines. It really looked like they were becoming a hegemonic theme in the
relationshipbetweenhistoryandinformationscience(HarveyandPress1996).
Thisbookdoesnotrelivetheolddayswhendatabasescouldbeseenasthefuture
ofhistory.Sincethe90s,historianswhohavedialoguewithinformationtechnology
arenotthesameasthosewhohavebuiltdatabasesfortheirresearch.Ourproblem
hereistodebategoodwaystoundertakehistoricalresearchutilizingdatabases,as
HarveyandPressdefendedinthe90s.
Preface vii
So,Iinvitethereadertoembarkonabriefadventurebywayoftechnology,but
withoutleavingourrootsashistorians.
Brasília,Brazil TiagoLuísGil
March2021
References
Charle,Christophe.1985.“Problemesdetraitementinformatiqued’uneenquetesurtroisélitesen
1901”.InInformatiqueetprosopographie,EditedbyHélèneMILLET.CNRS
Harvey,C.andJ.Press.1996.Databasesinhistoricalresearch.Theory,methodsandapplications.
London:MacmillanPress
Acknowledgments
IamdeeplygratefultoCarlosValencia,WernerStangl,AdrianoComissoli,Andréde
MeloAraújo,andNeumaBrilhantefortheirinsightfulcommentsandsuggestions.
Therefereesmaderelevantremarks,andIamimmenselythankfultothem.Iwant
toexpressmygratitudetoRickHarderforthetranslation.Iwanttooffermyspecial
thankstoAlexandraMacdonaldforthecarefultechnicalproofreading.
ix
Contents
1 SomeTheoreticalandMethodicalQuestions ....................... 1
1.1 Introduction ................................................ 1
1.2 OneCraftsman,OneOperation ................................ 3
1.3 DismantlingThingsinanOrganizedWay ....................... 7
1.4 OntheShouldersofGiants ................................... 12
1.4.1 TheExperienceofFatherBusain1949 ................... 12
1.4.2 TheColloquiumoftheÉcoleNormaleSupérieurede
Saint-Cloud,1965 ..................................... 13
1.4.3 LawrenceStoneintheEarly1970s ...................... 15
1.4.4 TheFirstComputationManualforHistorians ............. 17
1.4.5 ReconstructingHistoricalCommunities:APioneering
Project .............................................. 18
1.4.6 ManfredThallerandtheKleio .......................... 20
1.4.7 TheFichozsystem .................................... 21
References ...................................................... 22
2 SomeComputerIssues ........................................... 25
2.1 OnGranularity .............................................. 25
2.2 DatabaseModels ............................................ 28
2.2.1 Flat-File ............................................. 28
2.2.2 Hierarchical .......................................... 29
2.2.3 Graphs .............................................. 29
2.2.4 Key-Value ........................................... 30
2.2.5 Document-OrientedDatabases .......................... 31
2.2.6 RelationalDatabases .................................. 32
2.2.7 Conceptual,LogicalandPhysicalModels ................ 40
2.3 VisualFormofDatabases ..................................... 44
2.3.1 DifferentWaysofViewingData ......................... 44
2.3.2 Colors ............................................... 47
2.3.3 Forms ............................................... 47
2.4 Technique and Theory: Everyday Problems and Practical
Decisions .................................................. 48
xi