Call for Submissions special issue TMG—Journal for Media History
Media historians increasingly have to deal with the fact that the object of their study or their historical sources only exist in digital form. Since the explosive growth of the internet in the 1980s and the web in the nineties, reconstructing internet history or histories depending on internet-based media are completely dependent on what is archived or still accessible. Most born digital source materials have never been stored in a sustainable way and at most are preserved by chance in forgotten corners of the web or on obsolete digital storage formats. The web historians of the future must therefore learn to “dig” in online sources to what is left of an antique website, an online video forum or a virtual media community. The found artifacts must then be reconstructed. In this way insight into the operation, use and meaning of the object can be acquired and the past can be reconstructed and interpreted. The need for exploring new tools and new digital methods, including source criticism, is gaining in importance, also for media historians. In addition, the worldwide web itself is increasingly becoming a dynamic archive in which sources appear and quickly disappear: what opportunities are there for research and what should we be prepared for in the near future?
In order to gain a better insight into the recent developments of web archaeology and web history, TMG asks for this theme issue contributions on the following topics and approaches:
• Theoretical and concrete explorations of web archeology as a method
• How can we use the web / digital-born data as a source for media-historical research?
• What historical transformations have taken place on the internet and the web and how can we period it?
• What are the limitations and possibilities in using the web as a dynamic archive?
Preferably, authors focus on topics related to the Dutch / Flemish media and communication history, but TMG is also open to international contributions.
This special TMG issue will be edited by dr. Susan Aasman (TMG), in collaboration with guest editors dr. Kees Teszelszky (Conservator digital collections KB) and Tjarda de Haan (Head of the Atria knowledge institute). Proposals (about 300 words) for peer-reviewed articles (6000-8000 words) can be submitted to Susan Aasman (s.i.aasman@rug.nl) no later than 30 September 2018. It is also possible to submit a proposal for a (non-peer reviewed) review of tools and methods for web historical research or preservation of digital media heritage. The manuscript of the article is expected before Monday 3 December 2018.
