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final stages. I think the explanatory-oriented approach might be useful in helpinginformants to think about and describe their work in specific terms. 118Hopefully I will be able to do tape recordings during the interviews, which requirecooperation from the informants, but it should be possible since researchers who are“confident of the positive knowledge in their fields” often have an open attitude andtherefore have no wishes to hide that knowledge. 119 On the other hand this method is verylabour intensive since it requires someone (i.e. myself) to transcribe the tapes and to learn atranscription method.In addition to records from observations and interviews I will use the already collected datafrom the other studies in the first case (humanities computing/TEI/OTA) and in the othercase (bioinformatics) I will collect records addressing uses of their digital archives, such asarticles, presentations, syllabus, internal notes etc. This kind of records might be somewhatfragmentary but better than no records at all. 120When analysing uses of digital archives I intend to use a procedure where I adddescriptions of each of the collected items. 121 When compiling and combining selecteditems, e.g. different kinds of texts and protocols from observations, with the descriptions ofusage of a particular item in a table, it might be a useful mechanism for learning howresearchers are using specific sources as well as to find out any attributes or relativesignificance that may be attached to the uses and/or items. 122 Moreover, using thisprocedure might enable a possible documentation on how arguments are constructed inrelation to their use. 123The case studies will result in two articles, were the first one probably focus onmethodological and data collection issues and the second one focus on the data analysisand the results.Third step: Application of tools and methods for content designBesides, the above mentioned mapping of actual practices within research I also wish toexplore and to some extent promote the application of a few tools. This will beaccomplished by setting up an experimental environment in which a user study focused ontesting of some tools aimed for manipulation, encoding and provision of digital content onthe web and the development of an experimental (and very modest) digital archive. Here Iwill gain from previous experiences from earlier mark-up activities and work withinDigital Literature 124 and from the extensive body of experiences and good practices I havehopefully will find through the initial overview.An experimental content archive will be built on a few resources/texts, marked upaccording to the TEIXLITE DTD (the Text Encoding Initiative Document TypeDefinition). The archive will initially consist of different kinds of texts, such as a researchreport on Social Science Classics 125 and selected chapter(s) from a book in the history of118 Brockman et al. and Knorr Cetina (1983 & 1999) used this kind of approach successfully in their casestudies.119 Knorr Cetina, 1999:21.120 See ibid. pp. 21-23 for a discussion on collecting records.121 What would be considered as an item is yet to be decided. For instance: should a new version of text in thedigital archive be treated as a new item or as an(other) instance of the same item?122 For example each of the items collected will be equipped with a description (metadata) such as type,format, name, date, subject/content, location, role.123 A similar procedure has been used in Brockman et al. (2001)124 See e.g. Broady, 1996; 1997; 2001 and Juliusson, 1997.125 Broady, 1998. “Läsestycken för samhällsvetare i urval och översättning av Donald Broady”. 5 upplagan.pm-030505.doc utkast avh.pm. Monica Langerth Zetterman 26(34)
philosophy 126 , and biographies created within the research project: Formation for the publicsphere (FFO). Eventually this archive also might be including the digital editions of AugustStrindberg’s work prepared and encoded in SGML in 1996-1998. 127The subject to be addressed here will foremost be focused on issues in the design andencoding of the collective biography with the TEI DTD. The encoding is done on newlyproduced and changing research material, i.e. all the biographies compiled to a largecollective biography instead of already existing text. The design of the textual database willalso be subject to an analysis and a comparison with other similar projects and initiatives.This study is supposed to result in one or possibly two articles. At least on of the articleswill be written together with Donald Broady.Formation for the public sphere –exploring a collective biographyOne study will be about the experimentation with and an exploration of a specific kind ofdigital archive: a collective biography in the project “Formation for the public sphere” weredetailed biographies on bourgeois women, around the turn of the century 1900 in Swedenare produced and compiled. 128 In this study I will focus on methodological issues duringdesigning and encoding of the collective biography and historical database. The materialconsists of data collected with a prosopographical method and the projects aim is to studythe history and structure of this field rather than the individual woman.The scholars in the project are working physically dispersed at different universities anddepartments. Therefore they need a stable web based repository and working environment.The research group has chosen to use the web based platform (BSCW) for handling all thedocuments produced. Therefore I will also to some extent studying the work process usingthis platform aimed for collaboration and sharing of common documents. A key issue hereis possibilities for versioning handling of the collectively produced documents. Besides, itprovides a private area for the collective since the project participants do not want topublish work in progress on the web but nevertheless need to be able to reach thedocuments from any available computer.The period around the turn of the century 1900 was of crucial significance for the women’sway from the private to the public sphere. In the research program “Formation for thepublic sphere” the aim is to study the impact and importance of meeting places and socialnetworks for women in entering the public sphere in Sweden. The focus in the project is onthe women’s contributions in philanthropy, health-care, culture, and education during theperiod of 1880 to 1920. The goal is to create a historical database based on a collectivebiography of the bourgeois women, encoded according to the TEIXLITE DTD fortransformation into a database enabling further export to different software used forstatistical analysis.A method called prosopography 129 , is used to collect detailed information on all women(about 100) aimed for analysing the women’s careers, strategies and formations. The126 Andersson, J. (1998) Filosofisk tanke. 2:a upplagan.127 See Broady, 1996.128 Donald Broady, Uppsala University; Boel Englund, Uppsala Univeristy; Ingrid Heyman, UppsalaUniversity; Agneta Linné, Stockholm Institute of Education; Kerstin Skog-Östlin,University of Örebro; EvaTrotzig, Stockholm Univeristy Library; Annika Ullman, Stockholm Institute of Education“Formation for the Public Sphere. A Collective Biography of Stockholm Women 1880—1920”. A researchprogram, 2000 Available in Swedish: http://www.skeptron.ilu.uu.se/broady/sec/p-ffo-00.htm129 See Broady, 2002 for definition of prosopography. The study on the Parisian academic field is an exampleof prosopograhy. Pierre Bourdieu: Homo academicus. Paris: Minuit, 1984, English translation: Homoacademicus Cambridge: Polity Press, 1988.pm-030505.doc utkast avh.pm. Monica Langerth Zetterman 27(34)
Page 1 and 2: Deschooling information:exploring u
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Page 33 and 34: Knorr Cetina, K.& Mulkay, M (1983).

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