Sources to Data (Workshop)

Beginners

This workshop will examine database creation from historical documents. Extracting data from these can be hard work and involves quite unusual skill combinations. You may need to digitise and transcribe from primary sources, and then design and build a database from scratch with the information. Other sources you use could already be digitised but may be arranged or filed in an unsuitable way for your project and therefore need conversion. We will look at techniques used when employing crumbling manuscripts, printed documents, books, or text searchable images, to harvest historical data. Techniques include manual data-entry, scanning and OCR, and handwritten text recognition systems.

• PhD students and staff at the University of Cambridge
• Further details regarding eligibility criteria are available

Basic IT skills. Attendees should be ready to talk about work and to contribute to the session.

Number of sessions: 1

• Presentation and small group discussion

• One session of one and a half hours

• Creating Databases from Historical Sources (Workshop)