Tim Sherratt (Canberra) Collections, interfaces, power and people

Interfaces, Margaret Hedstrom reminds us, are sites 'where power is negotiated and exercised'. As cultural heritage collections become available online, new interfaces are developed. Instead of the intimidations of the reading room or finding aid, our first connection might be made through a search box, gallery or RSS feed. But while online interfaces might be more welcoming, they still embed arguments.

Using the tools and technologies of the digital humanities we can investigate the politics of cultural heritage interfaces by dismantling them and building our own. This talk will look at a few examples of how such interfaces can be hacked and reconstructed. In particular I'll examine the possibilities of text mining within the National Library of Australia's Trove newspaper database, and explain how the 'Invisible Australians' project aims to change the way we see the records of the White Australia Policy.

Do these sorts of projects change the types of questions we can ask? Do they change the distribution of power?

Sheratt has defined himself as an 'impatient historian'.聽 Based in Canberra his work wrestles with the development of online resources for archives, museums, and history.聽 He's helped develop resources such as Bright Sparcs, Mapping our Anzacs, and the History Wall.