Conceptual and technological foundations for megadata modeling in Digital Humanities: a case study in history of science text corpora

Authors

  • Ana Maria Alfonso-Goldfarb Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology, Postgraduate Program in Intelligence Technologies and Digital Design, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5045-8736
  • José Luiz Goldfarb Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology, Postgraduate Program in Intelligence Technologies and Digital Design, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2430-3228
  • Márcia Helena Mendes Ferraz Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology, Postgraduate Program in Intelligence Technologies and Digital Design, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1090-8963
  • Odécio Souza Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology, Postgraduate Program in Intelligence Technologies and Digital Design, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23925/1984-3585.2020i21p25-43

Keywords:

History of science, Digital humanities, Knowledge organization and classification, Text corpora, Data modeling and mining, Computational linguistics

Abstract

The intense digitalization work done since the 1990s has made vast textual corpora available, including for remote access. More recently, new computer resources have been providing unprecedented possibilities for theoretical studies, also contemplating the modeling of megadata for the organization and classification of knowledge. The present case study is part of a larger framework of international cooperation, aimed at making research and documentary work in the history of science more effective. Specifically, its objective is to develop tools that allow the location and recognition of concepts common to groups of texts belonging to large databases in and for the history of science, as well as their change over time, with a view to their indexing and classification.

Author Biographies

Ana Maria Alfonso-Goldfarb, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology, Postgraduate Program in Intelligence Technologies and Digital Design, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Ana Maria Alfonso-Goldfarb is Professor of the Graduate Studies Program in History of Science at PUC-SP, which she helped create and of which she has been coordinator for several terms. She holds an undergraduate degree in Physics (UFSCar), a Master's degree in Philosophy and History of Science (McGill Univ., Canada), a PhD in History (with thesis in History of Science - USP), post-doctoral studies and research internships in European and American centers, and, since 2005, is an Honorary Research Fellow at University College London. She was founder and is Coordinator of the Centro Simão Mathias for Studies in History of Science / PUC-SP, where she has led teams and major research projects, and an extensive network of exchanges. She has experience in the History of Science and Epistemology, working mainly on the following topics: History of Science and Technology, Science Policy, History of Chemistry, Origins of Modern Science and Arab Medieval Science. Currently his research is centered on the history of theories of matter, with a special focus on seventeenth-century English science and the organization and trees of knowledge. Has oriented and supervised more than 60 post-graduate Master's, PhD and Post-Doctoral studies, resulting in several publications, awards and other distinctions. His academic production consists of more than a hundred publications, including articles in scientific journals, books and book chapters. She is a member of several national and international scientific committees, as well as a reviewer for funding agencies and scientific journals. She has received the Simão Mathias Medal, awarded by the Brazilian Chemical Society.

José Luiz Goldfarb, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology, Postgraduate Program in Intelligence Technologies and Digital Design, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

He has a bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of São Paulo (1978), a master's degree in Philosophy and History of Science - McGill University, Canada (1980), and a doctorate in History of Science from the University of São Paulo (1992). He is currently a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Director and member of the Board of EDUC, and President of the Chair of Jewish Culture at PUC/SP. He is also Director of Jewish Culture of the Brazilian Association 'A Hebraica' of São Paulo and director of KKL Brazil. He is a member of the Deliberative Council of the Association of Friends of the Jewish Museum of São Paulo, coordinator of the project #Rede MIS, at the Museum of Image and Sound of São Paulo. He is also an Honorary Member of the Academia Paulista de Educação. He has experience in the History area, with emphasis in History of Sciences, acting mainly in the following themes: history of science and science in the XVII century, hermetic influences in Isaac Newton, science and religion, history of science in Brazil; public libraries, public policies of book and reading promotion, Judaism, cinema, and elaboration, production, viabilization and implementation of cultural projects and events, and management of presence in social networks.

Márcia Helena Mendes Ferraz, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology, Postgraduate Program in Intelligence Technologies and Digital Design, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Márcia H. M. Ferraz is Professor and Coordinator of the Postgraduate Studies Program in History of Science at PUC/SP, of which she was coordinator in two previous administrations. She has a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (1977), a master's degree in Social History from the University of São Paulo (1991), and a doctorate in Communication and Semiotics from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (1995), with thesis and dissertation in the history of science. She is vice-coordinator of the Centro Simão Mathias for Studies in the History of Science at PUC/SP and, since 2005, Honorary Research Fellow, Science and Technology Studies, University College London. She has supervised around 50 MSc dissertations and 20 PhD theses. She is the main researcher of successive FAPESP Thematic Projects developed at CESIMA, under the coordination of A.M. Alfonso-Goldfarb since 2000, and has published dozens of papers among articles in renowned journals, book chapters and books (having received the Jabuti award in 1999). Currently, he is a member of the editorial board of the Current Bibliography of the journal Isis and works as a reviewer for several journals in the area. He has experience in the History of Science from the 17th to the 19th centuries, with emphasis on the History of Chemistry and related sciences, Science in Brazil and Science in the Colonial period.

Odécio Souza, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology, Postgraduate Program in Intelligence Technologies and Digital Design, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Post-doctoral researcher in History of Science & Artificial Intelligence (Digital Humanities), with the Centro Simão Mathias for Studies in History of Science - CESIMA / PUC-SP - acting as administrator and curator of CESIMA Digital, a Library for the History of Science (cesimadigital.pucsp.br). PhD and Master in History of Science by PUC-SP, with studies in Computer Science, especially Data Banks, Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence, acting, since 1990, as a Professor, System Analyst and Consultant in all types of Institutions, public and private, small, medium and large, having been one of the first 500 OCPs in the world; PMP; specialist in education, computer science subjects for high school; MBA in Project Management. Member of the Brazilian Society for History of Science (SBHC). Between 1979 and 1989 he worked in operations at the São Paulo Stock and Futures Exchanges.

References

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Published

2020-12-14

Issue

No. 21 (2020): Humanidades Digitais

Section

Dossiês

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