George Mason University (Fairfax, VA 22030-4444)
Roy Rosenzweig (Project Director: July 2007 to January 2008)
Daniel J. Cohen (Project Director: January 2008 to September 2011)
PR-50019-08
Research and Development
Preservation and Access
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[Grant products][Media coverage]
Totals (outright + matching):
$320,000 (approved)
$300,000 (awarded)
Grant period:
6/1/2008 – 5/31/2011
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Text-Mining and Analysis Tools for Historical Research
Research, development, and testing of tools designed to locate documents in large digital corpora, extract information, and analyze large-scale patterns across texts.
In the last decade the library community and other providers of digital collections have created an incredibly rich digital archive of historical and cultural materials. Yet most scholars have not yet figured out ways to take full advantage of the digitized riches suddenly available on their computers. Indeed, the abundance of digital documents has actually exacerbated the problems of some researchers who now find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of available material. Meanwhile, some of the most profound insights lurking in these digital corpora remain locked up. We believe the absence of appropriate methods and interfaces is largely to blame: digital content providers have not yet developed the kind of sophisticated and flexible search, extraction, and analysis tools capable of capitalizing on this vast investment in a digitized cultural heritage.
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