Planning for Success in the Digital Realm

We are all digital historians now, whether we use advanced methods or not. Yet it is quite possible to arrive at a dead end, even though the database you are using contains millions of pages of material. A zigzag path with many course corrections is a classic research itinerary, and this remains true today even in the era of full text searchable digital resources. I offer some perspectives on the choices that you face as you consider whether learning to use “big data” software is a good fit for your particular project. The chapter concludes with some practical strategies, but also warns about common trouble spots, particularly for the all-digital project.