In 1973 Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie wrote that in history, as elsewhere, what counts is not the machine, but the problem. According to him, the machine is only a useful tool as it allows to tackle new questions and use original methods (“L’historien et l’ordinateur” in Le territoire de l’historien, Paris, 1973, pp. 11-14). The rise of digital technologies is changing the ways historians practice their craft. In the last twenty years, the practice of historians has changed rapidly. In the age of big data historians collect, disseminate, and store information in a different way. New digital tools in the field of history have transformed how historian can disseminate knowledge. A wide range of historians have also been brought together to focus on how digital history relate to area of traditional historical scholarships.

Argument

In 1973 Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie wrote that in history, as elsewhere, what counts is not the machine, but the problem. According to him, the machine is only a useful tool as it allows to tackle new questions and use original methods (“L’historien et l’ordinateur” in Le territoire de l’historien, Paris, 1973, pp. 11-14). The rise of digital technologies is changing the ways historians practice their craft. In the last twenty years, the practice of historians has changed rapidly. In the age of big data historians collect, disseminate, and store information in a different way. New digital tools in the field of history have transformed how historian can disseminate knowledge. A wide range of historians have also been brought together to focus on how digital history relate to area of traditional historical scholarships.

The book series “Tracce. Percorsi internazionali di storia contemporanea” (Edizioni Unicopli, Milan) will edit a collective volume on the changing practice of doing history in the digital age.

The call for papers is open for the authors that may pay attention to methodological and epistemological considerations and discuss some of the main changes in historical practice.

Main themes

We welcome methodological and theoretical contributions on:

•  Text Mining
•  Network Analysis
•  Historical GIS
•  Digital Historical Atlas
•  Digital Storytelling

The essays will be published in Italian. The author may also submit contributions in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. The editorial board will translate the essays accepted for publications.

Submission guidelines

The interested authors are welcome to submit a 250 words abstract to tracce.unicopli@gmail.com

by April 1^st 2018.

The authors of the accepted abstracts will be notified at 8^th April 2018 and will be invited to send the full essay (40.000-50.000 characters, references included) by the July 1^st 2018. The authors of the accepted essays will have time to revise the essays until September 1^st 2018. The volume will be published in December 2018.

Editor

Edited by Deborah Paci (Ca' Foscari University of Venice)