Born-digital big data and methods for history and the humanities

In recent years we have all become familiar with the notion of information overload, the digital deluge, the information explosion, and numerous variations on this idea. At the heart of this phenomenon is the growth of born-digital big data, a term which encompasses everything from aggregated tweets and Facebook posts to government emails, from the live and archived web to data generated by wearable and household technology. While there has been a growing interest in big data and the humanities in recent years, as exhibited notably in the AHRC's digital transformations theme, most academic research in this area has been undertaken by computer scientists and in emerging fields such as social informatics. As yet, there has been no systematic investigation of how humanities researchers are engaging with this new type of primary source, of what tools and methods they might require in order to work more effectively with big data in the future, and of what might constitute a specifically humanities approach to big data research. What kinds of questions will this data allow us to ask and answer? How can we ensure that this material is collected and preserved in such a way that it meets the requirements of humanities researchers? What insights can scholars in the humanities learn from ground-breaking work in the computer and social sciences, and from the archives and libraries who are concerned with securing all of this information?

The proposed research Network will bring together researchers and practitioners from all of these stakeholder groups, to discern if there is a genuine humanities approach to born-digital big data, and to establish how this might inform, complement and draw on other disciplines and practices. Over the course of three workshops, one to be held at The National Archives in Kew, one at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, and one at the University of Cambridge, the Network will address the current state of the field; establish the most appropriate tools and methods for humanities researchers for whom born-digital material is an important primary source; discuss the ways in which researchers and archives can work together to facilitate big data research; identify the barriers to engagement with big data, particularly in relation to skills; and work to build an engaged and lasting community of interest.

The focus of the Network will be on history, but it will also encompass other humanities and social science disciplines. It will also include representatives of non-humanities disciplines, for example the computer, social and information sciences. Cross-disciplinary approaches and collaborative working are essential in such a new and complex area of investigation, and the Network relates to the current highlight notice encouraging the exploration of innovative areas of cross-disciplinary enquiry. While there has for some time been a recognition of the value of greater engagement between researchers in the humanities and the sciences in the development of new approaches to and understandings of born-digital big data, only very tentative first steps have been made towards realising this aim (for example forthcoming activity organised by the Turing Institute). The Network will provide a forum from which to launch precisely this kind of cross-disciplinary discussion, defining a central role for the humanities.

During the 12 months of the project all members of the Network will contribute to a web resource, which will present key themes and ideas to both an academic and wider audience of the interested general public. External experts from government, the media and other relevant sectors will also be invited to contribute, to ensure that the Network takes account of a range of opinions and needs. The exchange of knowledge and experience that takes place at the workshops will also be distilled into a white paper, which will be published under a CC-BY licence in month 12 of the Network.

The proposed Network will have significant impact upon a range of audiences and sectors, including:

1 Institutions with responsibility for collecting and preserving big data
Archives, libraries and other memory institutions are increasingly concerned with the collection, preservation and ultimately publication of born-digital public data. If this material is to be of value to both current and future researchers it is essential that it is archived, described and structured in ways which meet their requirements and support innovative study and analysis. The proposed Network will provide a forum for the exchange of knowledge and development of methods among humanities researchers, computer scientists and archive and records professionals, establishing a community of interest in this emerging field.

2 Government and policy-makers
Government is one of the biggest creators and consumers of born-digital big data, and it has clear responsibilities to its citizens in how it stores, manages and analyses this information. The research Network is ideally placed to inform government policy in this area, notably in relation to ethical and methodological considerations, and to mediate the conversation between government and public about big data and its implications for interaction between the two.

3 The general public
A significant proportion of the born-digital big data generated in the late 20th and early 21st centuries is either produced by or contains information about ordinary men and women. It concerns their healthcare, their financial status, their social media lives, their professional and personal identities. The discourse about big data is often dominated by fears over surveillance and the consequent invasion of privacy, concerns which are only likely to be exacerbated by, among other things, the increasing prevalence of wearable technologies. The Network will address these issues in its workshops, but particularly in its public-facing communication, including a web resource which will present the issues in a clear and accessible form.

4 Journalists and other mainstream media-based researchers
Born-digital big data has become a mainstay of newspaper and other media coverage, from simple infographics to in-depth reflections on the importance of the archived web (e.g. 'Can the Internet be archived?' http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/26/cobweb). The Network will help to provide context for this analysis and generate both resources and expertise on which journalists and other media-based researchers can draw.

5 Funding bodies in the humanities
There has been a great deal of investment in digital humanities scholarship in the past two decades, and in recent years this has begun to include big data research and the analysis of born-digital material such as the web (both live and archived) and various forms of social media. By assessing the current state of the field and identifying those areas where it would be most useful to conduct further research, the Network will help to inform future funding priorities and establish a benchmark against which to measure success.

The Network's members will gain significant professional benefits from involvement in the project. The opportunity to share expertise with and learn from colleagues in other sectors and with different disciplinary and national perspectives will be invaluable in terms of career progression, and will support the preparation of further joint research proposals, notably at the EU level. The research and professional skills that they will develop in the course of the project will also equip them both to offer advice and guidance within their host institutions and to undertake consultancy work within the higher education and archive sectors.