Scissors and paste: The Georgian reprints, 1800–1837

This dataset, part of the Scissors and Paste Project (https://osf.io/nm2rq), describes instances of reprinting and text reuse (scissors-and-paste journalism) in British newspapers between 1800–1837. It was derived from the 19th-Century British Library Newspapers, Part 1 digitised newspaper collection by using plagiarism detection software to identify instances of substantially similar text. It contains a series of manifests that describe a) instances of shared content b) the likely directionality of copying and c) which instances are evolutionary dead-ends and have no known reprints. It is comprised of 1,824 TSV files, divided into four directories, each representing one month between January 1800 and December 1837

Close readings of big data: Triangulating patterns of textual reappearance and attribution in the Caledonian Mercury, 1820-1840

This essay demonstrates how the iterative use of close and distant reading with historical newspapers can provide new and complementary evidence of the role of scissors-and-paste journalism, or reprinting, in the spread of news content. Using Gale's nineteenth-century British newspaper collections, this paper suggests how best to read the evidence of duplicated content obtained through text mining and explores the extent to which this level of analysis can distinguish between different editorial or production styles. Delving into a close reading of the Caledonian Mercury between 1820 and 1840, this study then tests hypotheses about word count and publication frequency developed through distant reading and determines its most common editorial structures. The study concludes with an exploration of how to extrapolate conclusions from close readings to support a more nuanced understanding of the results of large-scale textual analyses. Overall, it argues that iterative testing through both big data and close reading methodologies, a so-called middle-scale analysis, provides a better method for understanding the ambiguous and shifting structures of nineteenth-century newspapers as well as the points of connection between them

Stuck in the middle: Developing research workflows for multi-scale text analysis

Stuck in the middle: Developing research workflows for multi-scale text analysi

Review of Jude Piesse, British Settler Emigration in Print, 1832–87 (2016)

Review of Jude Piesse, British Settler Emigration in Print, 1832–87 (2016

Perceptions of emigration in southern Scotland, c1770 - c1830

The dissertation examines the personal and public reactions to the emigration taking place in the Border region of Scotland at the turn of the nineteenth century. Separated into four parts—the landed, the church, the press and the families left behind—it explores the perceptions of each group and the motives and rationales behind this varied response. The assessment of landholder policies and rural population management indicates that a long-held interest in maintaining and expanding the population did not wane among the greater landholders until around 1830 when estate improvements were completed and rural manufacturing declined. Rather, those most likely to advocate population management were the lesser lairds and rate payers. These men and women had less of an attachment to the eighteenth-century paternal relationship and were likely to view population as an economic resource or burden rather than a social asset. Therefore, the importance of landowners as agents of emigration in these counties is likely less than previously believed. The examination of the Kirk found that its ministers’ oft-quoted emotive language against emigration was in fact derived from a long-held belief that numerical depopulation was a sign of economic and moral decay. They felt that the reorganisation of the rural population was detrimental to religious education and social deference. When agricultural rationalisation and urbanisation brought a rise in material wealth and a stricter, rather than more lenient, eye upon working-class behaviour, the objection was to some extent recanted. Their concern was less for the immediate welfare of the emigrants than for the survival of the rural community. Concerning the provincial press, the extent to which these papers relied on pandering to public opinion in order to survive offers rare insight into demand-side economics in this period. Though all of the editors spoke against emigration, the papers were heavily supported by advertising for emigrant passage and devoted a sizable proportion of their local news to emigrant advice and colonial “intelligence”. Their conflicting content indicates that while the editors personally disagreed with emigration, this stance was not commercially viable. Finally, a comparison of reactions by family and friends remaining in Scotland suggests that most saw the practical benefits of emigration, both to the emigrants and those left behind, but had a very strong emotional reaction against it nonetheless. It further suggests that when present, emotional factors, such a need for communal identity and support, were usually more important than economic issues in dictating long-distance migration. Overall, this dissertation argues that a re-examination of the role played by sending communities is vital to a more accurate understanding of the emigration process as a whole.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Perceptions of emigration in southern Scotland, c1770 - c1830

The dissertation examines the personal and public reactions to the emigration taking place in the Border region of Scotland at the turn of the nineteenth century. Separated into four parts—the landed, the church, the press and the families left behind—it explores the perceptions of each group and the motives and rationales behind this varied response. The assessment of landholder policies and rural population management indicates that a long-held interest in maintaining and expanding the population did not wane among the greater landholders until around 1830 when estate improvements were completed and rural manufacturing declined. Rather, those most likely to advocate population management were the lesser lairds and rate payers. These men and women had less of an attachment to the eighteenth-century paternal relationship and were likely to view population as an economic resource or burden rather than a social asset. Therefore, the importance of landowners as agents of emigration in these counties is likely less than previously believed. The examination of the Kirk found that its ministers’ oft-quoted emotive language against emigration was in fact derived from a long-held belief that numerical depopulation was a sign of economic and moral decay. They felt that the reorganisation of the rural population was detrimental to religious education and social deference. When agricultural rationalisation and urbanisation brought a rise in material wealth and a stricter, rather than more lenient, eye upon working-class behaviour, the objection was to some extent recanted. Their concern was less for the immediate welfare of the emigrants than for the survival of the rural community. Concerning the provincial press, the extent to which these papers relied on pandering to public opinion in order to survive offers rare insight into demand-side economics in this period. Though all of the editors spoke against emigration, the papers were heavily supported by advertising for emigrant passage and devoted a sizable proportion of their local news to emigrant advice and colonial “intelligence”. Their conflicting content indicates that while the editors personally disagreed with emigration, this stance was not commercially viable. Finally, a comparison of reactions by family and friends remaining in Scotland suggests that most saw the practical benefits of emigration, both to the emigrants and those left behind, but had a very strong emotional reaction against it nonetheless. It further suggests that when present, emotional factors, such a need for communal identity and support, were usually more important than economic issues in dictating long-distance migration. Overall, this dissertation argues that a re-examination of the role played by sending communities is vital to a more accurate understanding of the emigration process as a whole

Of global reach yet of situated contexts:An examination of the implicit and explicit selection criteria that shape digital archives of historical newspapers

A large literature addresses the processes, circumstances and motivations that have given rise to archives. These questions are increasingly being asked of digital archives, too. Here, we examine the complex interplay of institutional, intellectual, economic, technical, practical and social factors that have shaped decisions about the inclusion and exclusion of digitised newspapers in and from online archives. We do so by undertaking and analysing a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with public and private providers of major newspaper digitisation programmes. Our findings contribute to emerging understandings of factors that are rarely foregrounded or highlighted yet fundamentally shape the depth and scope of digital cultural heritage archives and thus the questions that can be asked of them, now and in the future. Moreover, we draw attention to providers’ emphasis on meeting the needs of their end-users and how this is shaping the form and function of digital archives. The end user is not often emphasised in the wider literature on archival studies and we thus draw attention to the potential merit of this vector in future studies of digital archives

Interview questionnaire about the selection criteria used by digital archives of historical newspapers

The questionnaire is related to 'Of global reach yet of situated contexts: an examination of the implicit and explicit selection criteria that shape digital archives of historical newspapers', forthcoming in Archival Science.Abstract:A large literature addresses the processes, circumstances and motivations that have given rise to archives. These questions are increasingly being asked of digital archives, too. Here, we examine the complex interplay of institutional, intellectual, economic, technical, practical and social factors that have shaped decisions about the inclusion and exclusion of digitised newspapers in and from online archives. We do so by undertaking and analysing a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with public and private providers of major newspaper digitisation programmes. Our findings contribute to emerging understandings of factors that are rarely foregrounded or highlighted yet fundamentally shape the depth and scope of digital cultural heritage archives and thus the questions that can be asked of them, now and in the future. Moreover, we draw attention to providers’ emphasis on meeting the needs of their end-users and how this is shaping the form and function of digital archives. The end user is not often emphasised in the wider literature on archival studies and we thus draw attention to the potential merit of this vector in future studies of digital archives.</div