The Digital Historiographic Turn and the Historian’s Changing Toolkit: From ‘Facts’ and ‘Events’ to ‘Datasets’

This essay explores the impact of the digital revolution on historical research, traditionally grounded in ‘facts’ and ‘events.’ It first reviews shifts in historical sciences since the 1960s, influenced by social sciences’ mid‑twentieth‑century adoption of mathematical tools and holistic methods for studying group behaviour. Historians developed their own analytical toolkit in response, blending classical concepts like ‘fact’ and ‘event’ with the social sciences’ notion of ‘actor.’ Today’s challenge is whether these tools suffice or need adaptation to leverage new technologies. Metadata of entities and properties offers a conceptual model for classifying occurrences into ‘critical systems’, where known variables frame analysis, and unforeseen reactions merit investigation. By linking these reactions to actors, historians could dynamically measure and interpret change within these systems, transforming their methodological approach.