Abstract
From the perspective of an artist who mines digital information to understand shifts in temporal culture, the analysis of Google books and the initial description of trends in our culture by J.-B. Michel et al. (“Quantitative analysis of culture using millions of digitized books,” Research Article, 14 January, p. [176][1]) is an important step forward in using current digital techniques as a window into history. Although Michel et al. 's study was rigorous, the selection of books has certain drawbacks. First, the sample reflects not all published books, but only those that Google or their partners deemed worthy of digital reproduction. Second, and more important, books are inherently more distant from the pulse of a culture than periodicals, in particular newspapers. Book publishing has a substantial lag time to print; periodicals are closer to real-time. Furthermore, as we move further away from news media, we see a shift toward greater analysis, filtering, and a narrowing of subjects. For these reasons, analyses of culture based on the written record should include a wide variety of texts. One of the ultimate challenges to this type of research is representing information in a manner that is effective and relevant to viewers within our culture. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1199644
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call