2007 AHC-UK Annual Conference
Distributed Ignorance and the Unthinking Machine: The Challenges of Teaching History and Computing
Saturday, 17th November 2007
The National Archives, Kew, London
"We have gone from a world of concentrated knowledge and wisdom to one of distributed ignorance. And we know and understand less while being increasingly capable." Prof. Peter Cochrane, formerly of BT Labs
"much pleasure would be lost on the unthinking machine" Ione Dobson, creator of the last 'hand made' concordance.
This year's AHC-UK Conference presents papers on the teaching of history and computing from the perspectives of undergraduate, postgraduate and amateur historian.
Whilst we have at our disposal ever expanding body of online and electronic resources, sophisticated applications and decades of experience the provision of ICT training for history students in the UK is at best patchy. Whilst we often lament the suspension of critical faculties that the use of online resources seems to engender, we do little to train students in 'digital diplomatics', how to use ICT applications to study history or consider how to more firmly establish computing in history teaching. These failings have implications for how well we are equipping history graduates for the world of work or the next generation of historians for the digital deluge. These challenges are no less important for memory institutions outside of higher education on whom the responsibility falls to provide access to the burgeoning ranks of amateur, local and family historians. Ultimately there is a danger that the historians of the future, faced with increasing volumes of born digital material, will surrender the discipline to scholars better equipped to deal with the digital age from subjects such as sociology, anthropology and political economy, with history increasingly defined as an analogue subject, chronologically constrained by the end of the 20th Century.
This year's AHC-UK Conference presents papers that address some of these issues and point the way forward for the role of computing in history teaching.
Conference Programme and Abstracts Here
Registration and Payment
AHC-UK Members
Attendance is free to members of the AHC-UK whose membership is current as of 31st October 2007 (for membership details see http://www.ahc.ac.uk). Although attendance is free to AHC-UK members you must complete the registration form below.
Online AHC-UK Members Conference Registration Here
Non-AHC-UK Members
For non-members of the AHC-UK the conference fee is £30. This includes conference registration, coffees and lunch. Conference booking and payment can be made by cheque (UK payment only).
The registration form below can be used until Friday 9th November 2007, after this date see Late Registration below. Please print off the registration form and mail it with your cheque (payable to 'UK Branch of the Association for History and Computing' in pounds sterling only, drawn on a UK bank) to:
Dr Ian Anderson
AHC - UK,
c/o HATII, 11 University Gardens,
University of Glasgow,
Glasgow. G12 8QH
Non Members Registration Form (opens in a new window rtf format)
Late Registration
Late registrations can be made after the 9th of November until 5pm on Wednesday 14th November by emailing Ian Anderson directly at i.anderson@hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk payment can then be accepted on the day by cheque or cash.
No refunds on cancellation or non-attendance are given. Delegates may be substituted if notified prior to Friday 9th November.
Postgraduate Bursaries
The AHRC ICT Methods Network (www.methodsnetwork.ac.uk), which exists to promote and support the use of advanced ICT methods in arts and humanities research, is offering a limited number of bursaries to post-graduate students who wish to attend the conference 'Distributed Ignorance and the Unthinking Machine: The Challenges of Teaching History and Computing'. The conference takes place on 17 November at The National Archives, Kew, London, and is organized by the UK branch of the Association of History and Computing (AHC-UK).
Applications for bursaries are sought from post-graduate students registered at UK Universities whose research includes the use of ICT methods or have a general interest in the use of ICT in history teaching. Successful applicants are required to write a conference report, which will be published online by the Methods Network and/or AHC-UK.
The bursaries are intended to help towards conference expenses. Successful applicants will be able to claim funds up to a total of £200 toward the cost of conference fees, accommodation and travel.
If you wish to apply for a bursary please submit a brief case for receiving a bursary via email to Torsten Reimer (torsten.reimer@kcl.ac.uk) and Ian Anderson (i.anderson@hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk) using the heading - AHC-UK Bursary Applications - in the subject bar.
Travel and Location
The National Archives is off Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey. TW9 4DU.
You can view the location of The National Archives on a detailed street map at multimap
Airports
Heathrow Airport is 12 miles away (under half an hour by car or taxi). You can
also take the Piccadilly underground line from Heathrow to Hamersmith and change
to the District line to Kew Gardens (destination Richmond trains only). Alternatively
buses run from all terminals at Heathrow to Feltham station every 10 minutes.
From Feltham there are direct trains to Richmond.
Gatwick Airport is 30 miles away and takes about 45 minutes by car or taxi. Alternatively take the train from Gatwick direct to Clapham Junction (NOT the Gatwick express which goes direct to London Victoria). From Clapham junction there are direct trains to Richmond.
City of London Airport is situated 10 miles from the West End and six miles from the City of London. At the front of the terminal you can take a special airport shuttlebus to link up with Canning Town, Canary Wharf and Liverpool Street, all on the London Underground. You can then take the tube to London Waterloo and get a train to Richmond, or change onto the District Line of the Underground for Richmond and Kew.
From Stansted Airport the Stansted express train leaves for Liverpool Street, London. The journey time is 41 minutes. From Liverpool street take the underground to London Waterloo. Direct trains to Richmond upon Thames leave on a regular basis from London Waterloo.
Luton Airport airport is 35 miles from central London. Trains to central London take about 25 minutes. A constant, free shuttle bus service operates to and from Luton Airport Parkway station, situated 1.8km from the airport terminal building.
Train and Underground and Bus
The nearest station to The National Archives is Kew Gardens (Underground - District
line and Railway - Silverlink Metro / North London line). Kew Gardens is in
both zone 3 and 4, and the journey from central London to Kew takes about 40
minutes. It is a 10 minute walk from the station via Ruskin Avenue to The National
Archives.
Other convenient railway stations for The National Archives at Kew are Richmond (Travel one stop from there to Kew Gardens) and Kew Bridge (a 15-20 minute walk).
The R68 bus route ends by the entrance to The National Archives, and the 65 and 391 bus routes run along Kew Road.
For more details see London Transport. For details of rail travel see UK Railways on the Net.
Car
The National Archives is half a mile south of Kew Bridge, on the South Circular
Road, A 205. Junction 2 of the M4 motorway is about one and a half miles away.
There are 116 spaces in the car park.
Visitors with disabilities: If you have a disability please look at The National Archives page on disabled access.
Accommodation
Participants are responsible for booking their own accommodation.
As well as searching the likes of expedia or travelocity the following sites provide details of hotels, guesthouses and bed and breakfast accommodation in Kew, Richmond and London.
http://www.visitrichmond.co.uk/ (Official Richmond Tourist Information Site)
Tel: +44 (0)20 8940 9125
(general enquiries)
Tel: +44 (0)20 8940 0057 (accommodation enquiries)
Fax: +44 (0)20 8940 6899
Minicom: +44 (0)20 8948 5970
Email: info@visitrichmond.co.uk
Open: Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm and Sundays (May-Sept) 10.30am - 1.30pm
http://www.visitlondon.com/ (Official London Tourist Site)
For those who wish to stay in central London, hotels in the Imperial Hotels Group have provided good priced accommodation for previous conferences