Present and Past: The Relevance of Information History

abstract:This article contributes to the ongoing conversation about information history. The article argues for reformulating and pinpointing legitimacy and relevance as core issues characterizing information history and for drawing on theoretical input from historical disciplines such as conceptual history and microhistory. Different notions about history reflect how the individual historian approaches information as an object for historical scrutiny that ultimately allows for multiple research strategies. Information history also deals with traditional history topics such as structures versus actors, change versus continuity, and context. The article argues for seeing information history as histories of information.