I’m now working my way through “Raw Data” is an Oxymoron, an anthology of short essays about data. I recommend it for anyone who is seriously interested in thinking about the many ways in which data has influenced (and continues influencing) our lives. I especially recommend “facts and FACTS: Abolitionists’ Database Innovations,” by Ellen Gruber Garvey. As its title suggests, the essay focuses on what proves to be an absolutely fascinating period of U.S. history in which the anti-slavery movement harvested data from real advertisements in Southern newspapers to paint a vivid and believable picture of the routine horrors inflicted by the slave system on real human beings.
That 19th century use of data mining built support for the anti-slavery movement, both in the U.S. and in England. The data played a key role in making the case for abolishing slavery — even though it required the bloodiest war in U.S. history to make abolition a fact.
Data itself has no quality. It’s what you do with it that counts.
- More Here
That 19th century use of data mining built support for the anti-slavery movement, both in the U.S. and in England. The data played a key role in making the case for abolishing slavery — even though it required the bloodiest war in U.S. history to make abolition a fact.
Data itself has no quality. It’s what you do with it that counts.
- More Here
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