Aarhus University and the State Library, Denmark
How can you study national webs? How are national webs today different from how they were 10 years ago? Is it possible to compare national webs? And what are the IT-related challenges when doing these kinds of studies?
These are some of the questions that will be addressed at a workshop on national webs, organised by the research project ‘The historical development of the Danish web’ (supported by the Danish Ministry of Culture), in collaboration with NetLab, Aarhus University, and the State Library, Denmark
We never experience the entire national web domain when browsing the web but it is always there as a horizon, as the national context of our browsing. Studies of national webs can provide valuable knowledge about the characteristics and use of different nations’ web. Studies of the history of national webs can shed light on the development and the changing patterns and trends within and across national webs. In addition, studying the characteristics of a national web will result in a baseline for other web studies, for instance by making it possible to determine whether a specific website at a given point in time is comparatively large or small, dynamic or static etc. This will be of use when analysing in-depth the web activities that take place within a nation and to which the national web constitutes the backdrop. It will also allow for international comparisons, both current and historical.
Studies of national web domains is an emerging field within web studies, and the workshop aims to bring together scholars, web archivists, curators and IT-developers working within this area in different countries with a view to advancing the field through knowledge exchange and new possibilities for cooperation.
Submissions could include:
- theoretical, methodological or case based studies at the intersection between national web studies and Digital Humanities
- case studies of one or more national webs
- contemporary cases or a historical perspective
- theoretical reflections on studying national webs
- methodological reflections on studying national webs, including discussions about software used for the study.
A selection of the papers from the research workshop will be considered for inclusion in a planned edited volume The Historical Web and Digital Humanities: National Web domains, to be part of a book series about digital research in the Arts and Humanities at an international publisher.
Please send an abstract of up to 300 words to Niels Brügger (nb@cc.au.dk), head of NetLab, Aarhus University. Abstract submission deadline: 14 August, 2016. Notification of acceptance: 1 September, 2016.