Socially reconstructing history: the Social History Timestream application

Abstract

For centuries, print media controlled by powerful gatekeepers have played a dominant part in the recording and construction of history. Digital media open up new opportunities for the social construction of historical narratives that reveal personal and situated viewpoints. In January 2012, work began at the University of Edinburgh on the design, development and distribution of a web-based Social History Timestream application for social history research projects across a range of disciplines. The application enables researchers to establish dynamically generated timelines (divided into days, months, years, decades, etc.), to which researchers and members of the public can post photographs, textual descriptions and other media. With the addition of meta-data such as tags and locations, the resulting timelines provide a way to compare thematically related events across time. A primary aim of the application is to provide opportunities for researchers to discover serendipitous time-based connections between topics and events that might not previously have been considered. Key to the project's success will be an engaging interface that allows visitors to see public imagery (e.g. items from the news) alongside personal imagery (e.g. what a given person was doing on that day), organized by themes (e.g. geography, health, politics or media). Among other things, the interface will allow comparison of mainstream versions of particular themed histories with the personal accounts of those who experienced them, or to visualize the development of ideas, technologies and social categorizations over time. At the time of writing, the Timestream application is still in development and is being piloted with three research projects. This paper will focus on one of these – a History of Photography Practices – to describe emerging theoretical and methodological design considerations, demonstrate the interface and offer insights into the process of using the Timestream application.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the University of Edinburgh's College of Humanities and Social Science Challenge Investment Fund for funding the Timestream project.

Notes on contributors

Tim Fawns

All authors are employed by the University of Edinburgh. Tim Fawns researches digital photographs and memory and is Programme Coordinator of the MSc in Clinical Education.

Sian Bayne

Sian Bayne's guiding idea is that ‘the digital’ opens up profound challenges for the project and purpose of education. Sian is Personal Chair of Digital Education.

Jen Ross

Jen Ross's research focus is online distance learning, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), digital futures, reflective practices, and cultural and educational institutions online. Jen is Programme Director of the MSc in Digital Education.

Stuart Nicol

Stuart Nicol has worked on projects exploring geography and time and is an eLearning Advisor for Information Services.

Ethel Quayle

Ethel Quayle's research focuses on Internet sex offending and the role of abuse images. Ethel is Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology.

Hamish Macleod

Hamish Macleod's primary focus is the uses of digital communication technologies and games in higher education practice. Hamish is Senior Lecturer on the MSc in Digital Education.

Karen Howie

Karen Howie is the IT Manager in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology. She supports eLearning and distance learning and is interested in the recording of historical timelines.