Full Citation
Title: ICT use in knowledge work: GIS and historiographical practices
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2013
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Abstract: This dissertation project investigates the influence of the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) on the scholarly practices and mode of discourse in history. GIS technologies are of interest here because they have made spatial analysis and visual evidence more salient in a field that has over the years been text oriented (letters, diaries, manuscripts, etc.). The study is guided by the principles of social informatics (SI) and grounded theory in gathering and analyzing data about historians' perceptions and accounts of GIS use. It is built on the premise that technology user practices and research outcomes are mutually constituted by the interactions between technology affordances and broader context. The research involved 51 in-depth preliminary interviews and 8 follow-up interviews with researchers from four different countries either in person or by phone. In addition, three research site visits were made, 13 researchers working in interdisciplinary teams were observed, and supporting documents were analyzed. Furthermore, three in-depth topical comparative case studies were developed-The Great Dust Bowl, Railroads and Spatial Politics in California's Wheat Growing Districts and the Ghettoization of Budapest in 1947-to demonstrate how the historical accounts of these events were different before and after the introduction of GIS, and thereby create the grounds for understanding how the availability of the new tool has influenced historical reasoning. The study demonstrates that affordances provided by GIS are influencing historical research in four different ways. One, they are enabling discovery of relationships among different data types and at different scales that previously went unnoticed. Two, interactive capabilities of digital artifacts such as animated maps are drawing attention to the role of geographical elements in historical events. Three, the use of new technologies is stimulating new questions that were not raised until now. Four, the availability of geo-visualization techniques using custom choropleth maps are stimulating new ways of framing questions and advancing historical arguments. The study also found that a number of structural factors are shaping the use of GIS in historical research.
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Authors: Suri, Venkata, R
Institution: Indiana University
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Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
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Pages: 350
Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS
Topics: Other, Population Data Science
Countries: United States