DIGITAL DOCUMENTS AND THEIR DISCONTENTS

LAST WEEK

THIS WEEK

1. About the Project2. About the Method

1. What is a Document?2. Issues with Digital Documents

1. What is a Document?

POPULAR UNDERSTANDING

Text on paper.

Status via its authorship by an individual or institution of esteem.

POPULAR UNDERSTANDING

Text on paper.

Status via its authorship by an individual or institution of esteem.

TRADITIONAL MODELLanglois & Seignobos, 1908

Documents are...“traces which have been left by the thoughts and actions of men of former times” (Langlois & Seignobos, 1908:46)

Facts can be retrieved from first hand documents.

Facts are viewed from multiple perspectives to avoid bias.

Langlois, C. V. and Seignobos, C. (1908) Introduction to the Study of History, London: Duckworth.

TRADITIONAL MODELSidney and Beatrice Webb,1932

Text of action...e.g. Correspondence from a King to his ministers.

DOCUMENT CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

Created by institutions and individuals of authority.

All other writings ‘contemporary to the time.

Considered background information.

Much lower status to the ‘document’.

Webb, S. and Webb, B. (1932/1975) Methods of Social Study, Cambridge University PressScott, J. (1990) A Matter of Record, Polity Press: Cambridge

EXPANDING THE MODELPaul Otlet, 1934

Any object is a document if it is possible to be informed by the observation of it.

Otlet, P. (1934) Traité de documentation, Brussels: Editiones Mundaneum (1989, Liege: Centre de Lecture Publique de la Communauté Française).

EXPANDING THE MODELSuzanne Briet, 1951

Anything is a document if treated as one.

“A document is evidence in support of a fact” (Briet, 1951:7).

Object? Document?Star in the sky No

Photo of the Star YesStone in a river No

Stone in museum YesAnimal in the wild NoAnimal in a zoo Yes

Briet, S. (1951) Qu’est-ce que la documentation, Paris (English translation available at http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/∼ roday/briet.htm).

EXPANDING THE MODELPaul Buckland, 1991 & 1997

Combining Otlet and Briet - A document has these features...• There is materiality: Physical objects and physical signs

only.• There is intentionality: Intention that the object be

treated as evidence.• The objects have to be processed: They have to be made

into documents.• There is a phenomenological position: The object must be

perceived as a document.

Buckland, M. (1997) What Is a ‘Document’? Journal of the American Society for Information Science 48: 804–809.

Buckland, M. (1991) Information as Thing. Journal of the American Society for Information Science 42: 351–360.

‘Document’ becomes a title bestowed upon ‘information as thing’.

EXPANDING THE MODELLindsay Prior, 2003

Prior, L. (2003) Using Documents in Social Research, London: Sage Publications.

Anything can be a document if relevant to the researcher’s...

‘Field of action’Wall Street CrashIndustrial Revolution

BitTorrentA day in your life

A document is both a receptacle of information and an actor within a field of action.

A DIGITAL DOCUMENT

• Flexible definition, “Follow the story”

• Definition of a document must be flexible when researching online.

• Does not absolve the need for critical evaluation.

2. Issues withDigital Documents

DOCUMENTS AND TRUTH

Platt, J. (1981) Evidence and Proof in Documentary Research 1: Some Specific Problems of Documentary Research. Sociological Review 29: 31–52.

Burgess, R. G. (1984) In the Field: An Introduction to Field Research, London: Allen and Unwin.

Scott, J. (1990) A Matter of Record: Documentary Sources in Social Research, Cambridge: Polity Press.

Issues in ‘Physical’ Documentary Analysis

Authenticity

Availability

Representative?

Bias Sampling

Credibility

Primary better than secondaryOriginal better than copy

MEDIATED INFORMATIONUndisclosed Politics

Finding Fact in Fiction

Traditional HistoriographyDefault to Distrust

Primary > SecondaryInternet Historiography

Account for Bias/Drama Report on Conflict

Cross-Reference for Fact

Everything is Secondary

Links to... BiasCredibilityPrimary/Secondary Sources

LACK OF INFORMATION

No custodianNever Recorded

Not maintained

Can lead to over-reliance on a small group of sources

Reliability with a small sample:Does this make sense Chronologically?

Biographically?

Links to... SamplingReliabilityAvailabilityBias

AUTHORITY

Sometimes the ‘real’ reporters are farthest from the source.

Under-reporting in traditional newsMisunderstanding of technical and organisational details

AmateursHighly integratedTrusted

Comments act as editor

Anonymity of sources

Significant reliance on community reporting

Links to... AuthenticityCredibility

INFORMATION OVERLOADFollowing stories as they break...

Inaccuracy

MisinformationConflicting Reports

Internet ‘Echoes’ can be usefuland can be confusing

Links to... SamplingReliability

AUTHENTICITY

Historical MethodDon’t use a Copy, use the Original

Which source is the ‘original’?Digital sources can be edited

Digital sources can disappear

Copies may be more ‘original’ than the originalAmalgamation rather than identification of the original

SUMMARY:USING DIGITAL DOCUMENTS

Changing ways of defining ‘document’

From...“This is a document because it has document qualities”

to...“This is a document because it can be treated as a document”

SUMMARY:USING DIGITAL DOCUMENTS

The issues of digital documents are...

Similar to those of physical documents,

but challenge some assumptionsabout...

and require flexible approaches to manage issues like...

AuthenticityAuthority +

Validity + Reliability

Bias

AvailabilityCredibility

Interpretation

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