Scholarship in the Age of Perpetual Research

This presentation proposes that we adapt research methods and standards to a radically changed digital landscape. Historians are now using physical archives purely for collecting massive digital collections of document images, with as-yet-unknown consequences for the processes of analysis and writing. What we mean by "research" today is both compressed in time since archival visits can be shorter, and also extended to be potentially endless as scholars have 24/7 access to their own bottomless digital archives along with commercial and public databases. We will explore how researchers can employ new methods in their own work and how standards of scholarship must adapt to this new environment of abundance.