Digital Technologies and Information Resources to Study Wars and Military Conflicts in the Russian South: Experience and Prospects

Abstract

The article considers the use of digital technologies to study wars and military conflicts in the south of Russia in the 18th – 21st centuries. It analyzes the prerequisites for changing the theoretical and methodological foundations of scientific research addressing the problems indicated. Particular attention is paid to the description of the conceptual approach and the structure of the source database on the history of military clashes in the south of the country. The article provides a list of archives and funds that formed the basis of the database and also contains the description of the possibilities and prospects for its further use for research purposes to select, systematize and group sources. The analysis of information resources, in particular the existing data on memorial culture objects mapping,  made it possible to emphasize the topical necessity to map monuments dedicated to military conflicts in southern Russia. The mapping has been carried out on the basis of the database of Rostov-on-Don and Rostov region’s monuments. Its constituent elements were the information about the restoration work, the source of funding for the monument installation, its physical condition and demand. The introduction of expert interviews as a separate type of sources into the database made it possible to identify the prospects of their content analysis by means of MAXQDA software package.