Bodleian Bytes: Ismail Prada Ziegler and Golnaz Sarkar Farshi
Bodleian Bytes is a new series of online talks hosted by the Centre for Digital Scholarship at the Bodleian Libraries. The series engages with innovative national and international research in digital scholarship. It is a virtual space for discussions surrounding different tools and methodologies whilst also providing inspiration for future digital research.
The series begins with Ismail Prada Ziegler, University of Bern, and Golnaz Sarkar Farshi, Philipps University Marburg.
Ismail Prada Ziegler will discuss the project 'Economies of Space' which is unlocking new ways to explore the Historical Land Records of Basel using modern techniques to annotate, extract, and connect key information.
In the talk 'Decolonize Text Data!', Golnaz Sarkar Farshi will introduce a new tool for multilingual network analysis, demonstrating how it can be used to remove language barriers when accessing the content of digitised text documents.
Ismail Prada Ziegler
The 'Economies of Space' project is unlocking new ways for historians and researchers to explore the Historical Land Records of Basel - an extensive collection documenting property transactions and economic activities in the city from 1400 to 1700. In this talk, Ismail Prada Ziegler will present his work on using modern techniques to annotate, extract, and connect key information such as actors, relationships, and events, demonstrating how digital tools can offer fresh insights into this rich historical dataset.
Ismail Prada Ziegler finished his MA in History and Computational Linguistics at the University of Zurich in 2022. He is currently doing his PhD in Digital Humanities at the University of Bern as part of a member in the historical research project 'Economies of Space' at the University of Basel. His research is focused on questions surrounding data modelling and the application of natural language processing methods on German-language historical documents.
Golnaz Sarkar Farshi
'Decolonize Text Data! Introduction of a new tool for multilingual network analysis'
In a world where libraries and archives are placing increasing emphasis on the digitalisation and publication of their inventories, it becomes less excusable to exclude text documents from around the globe in historical research. Nevertheless, the publication of books with titles like “History of Media” or “History of Art” in German and English focus solely on the history of media and art in Europe and North America. They might argue that they cannot include text documents in their research if they do not understand the language. Golnaz Sarkar Farshi has initiated a Python package that uses multilingual network analysis to largely remove this language barrier.
In this talk, Golnaz Sarkar Farshi will introduce the functionalities of this package, demonstrating how it can be used by scholars to access the content of digitised text documents without needing to understand the language first. She will also discuss how the approach to multilingualism that underpins this package has enabled her to think about media history beyond geographical borders in her own research. With this tool, Golnaz Sarkar Farshi hopes to enable the inclusion of knowledge produced in non-European languages in European research and vice versa, thereby contributing to the decolonization of text data.
Golnaz Sarkar Farshi is a PhD in Media Philosophy and a Data Science graduate. She is currently working as assistant professor at the Data Competence Center HERMES, at Phillips University Marburg. Her research interests include media history of the global south and the use of data science to create an inclusive documentation of history
Centre for Digital Scholarship
The Centre for Digital Scholarship (CDS) at the Bodleian Libraries is a space and place for engaging, leading and shaping discussions around digital scholarship practice and research within and beyond the University of Oxford.
