History and Computing: Expansion and Achievements

Abstract

Increasingly cheap and user-friendly computing has brought a massive increase in computer use by historians in the past 10 years. The formation of the Association for History and Computing in 1987 and the publication of its journal, History and Com puting, in 1989 has provided a focus for this activity. The creation of several large databases is beginning to bring substantial increases in historical understanding, in family, urban, political, medieval and many other areas of history. Text analysis and graphical databases promise further advances for historians. This activity receives necessary and increasing support from data archive work and computer-based teaching in history Keywords: Association for History and Computing, historical databases, text analysis, graphical databases, teaching and computers, data archives.