The Problem of History in the Age of Abundance

Abstract

Our collective cultural heritage faces a serious problem: In the digital age, we can document and "remember" more than ever before. But the scale of historical material is so huge that it will decisively change how scholars interested in the past research and write. This article considers the technical challenges and intellectual implications of a historical record being created on the web and suggests new possibilities and opportunities for historians and archivists to work with these records.