GEOGRAPHICAL RECORD EXPLORING THE AMERICAS IN A HUMBOLDT DIGITAL LIBRARY

摘要

New computer technology, with the ability to access bodies of texts from on-line libraries and to conduct comprehensive searches, is transforming the way in which research is conducted. The question is whether this new technology can create a clear understanding of the precise geographical and historical context at any one point in a given text, especially in a text that deals with travel or exploration. Can a digital library become a resource to access a text's total environment, including its background and its influence? If so, are these links genuinely enlightening? Can the navigation tools efficiently elaborate on the text and then return to it? If the Humboldt Digital Library, a joint project between the Max Kade Center for German-American Studies at the University of Kansas and the Computer Center at the University of Applied Sciences in Offenburg, Germany, is to become a viable research tool and a model for treating texts with geographical dimensions, we must consider ways of dealing with anumber of challenging background issues and technological problems (Doherr 2005).