Wednesday 12 November 2008, 16.00 hrs,
Woudestein Campus, room T3-02
Title: Working with Large Historical Databases
Abstract
When in 1991 the Historical Sample started, about ten to twenty large public historical databases existed. With public we mean that they are open for more researchers than the main researcher or research team that constructed the database. Nowadays the number of this kind of databases counts over hundred. The various databases constructed around micro-data have stimulated and especially rejuvenated the field of family history.
So far, work on databases with longitudinal information on individuals and their families has been localized, only rarely covering an entire country. The logical next step in this scientific development is comparing life courses across local and national databases. To achieve comparison a new Intermediate Data Structure (IDS) is developed which will be tested for implementation by some large databases in 2009.
By way of the Historical Sample of the Netherlands the challenging task of gathering data on individuals in a longitudinal way will be explained. I will continue with the IDS and the open source software that will be developed around this structure. Finally I will go into the possibilities of visualization in this field.
The lecture will be followed by a reception.
For more information on Kees Mandemakers, click here.