Notecards for the New Century: Best Practices for Personal Databases

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Jordan

I’m interested in having a conversation about how historians’ construct their personal databases. This topic has come up in some more traditional conference sessions – Friday’s ”Digitally Informed Dissertation,” for instance – but I’d like to discover whether scholars are using software like Zotero, Evernote, DevonThink, or FileMaker to organize their research, explore new questions with their historical data, and share their research with others, both pre- and post- publication. We could split our meeting time between more theoretical questions (What are the merits of open, iterative research practices? How can we protect the intellectual property of archives and libraries? When is adding more metadata just fiddling?) and basic tips and tricks (Is geocoding worth it? How can I hack my tags? And so forth).

Categories: Linked Data, Metadata, Open Access, Research Methods |

About Jordan

I’m a public historian and a Ph.D. candidate at American University. My work focuses on the intersections of slavery, freedom, and capitalism, and my dissertation will examine the history of slave-catching in the United States. I also oversee the exhibition website and blog for the upcoming *American Enterprise* exhibition at the National Museum of American History.

2 Responses to Notecards for the New Century: Best Practices for Personal Databases

  1. Susan Garfinkel says:
    January 4, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    I’m interested in discussing this (and also just to note that it could well be combined with Ron Coleman’s proposal).

  2. Rebecca says:
    January 5, 2014 at 1:41 pm

    (Posting on my proposal and this one in the hopes that it gets seen): Apparently, AHA takes a lot out of you. We’re both feeling blergh and are going to try to make it in for the pm session. I’m so sorry and I hope you guys have a good discussion (and that I’m still allowed to sign up for a future THATcamp). I blogged a little bit about what I’m doing last night here: www.rebeccaerbelding.com/index.php/blog/creating-a-digital-repository-one-historians-story/
    And Ron copied up his “best practices” for creating a digital repository here:
    docs.google.com/document/d/11Kl-F-FD10Awvk35EqgTxLFQQ6JasPrqJg3qdW6LyrA/edit

    Any feedback would be great and questions too, either here or on another channel.

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