Processing the Past explores the dramatic changes taking place in historical understanding and archival management, and hence the relations between historians and archivists. Written by an archivist and a historian, it shows how these changes have been brought on by new historical thinking, new conceptions of archives, changing notions of historical authority, modifications in archival practices, and new information technologies. The book takes an "archival turn" by situating archives as subjects rather than places of study, and examining the increasingly problematic relationships between historical and archival work. By showing how nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historians and archivists in Europe and North America came to occupy the same conceptual and methodological space, the book sets the background to these changes. In the past, authoritative history was based on authoritative archives and mutual understandings of scientific research. These connections changed as historians began to ask questions not easily answered by traditional documentation, and archivists began to confront an unmanageable increase in the amount of material they processed and the challenges of new electronic technologies. The authors contend that historians and archivists have divided into two entirely separate professions with distinct conceptual frameworks, training, and purposes, as well as different understandings of the authorities that govern their work. Processing the Past moves toward bridging this divide by speaking in one voice to these very different audiences. Blouin and Rosenberg conclude by raising the worrisome question of what future historical archives might be like if historical scholars and archivists no longer understand each other, and indeed, whether their now different notions of what is archival and historical will ever again be joined.

Processing the Past explores the dramatic changes taking place in historical understanding and archival management, and hence the relations between historians and archivists. Written by an archivist and a historian, it shows how these changes have been brought on by new historical thinking, new conceptions of archives, changing notions of historical authority, modifications in archival practices, and new information technologies. The book takes an "archival turn" by situating archives as subjects rather than places of study, and examining the increasingly problematic relationships between historical and archival work. By showing how nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historians and archivists in Europe and North America came to occupy the same conceptual and methodological space, the book sets the background to these changes. In the past, authoritative history was based on authoritative archives and mutual understandings of scientific research. These connections changed as historians began to ask questions not easily answered by traditional documentation, and archivists began to confront an unmanageable increase in the amount of material they processed and the challenges of new electronic technologies. The authors contend that historians and archivists have divided into two entirely separate professions with distinct conceptual frameworks, training, and purposes, as well as different understandings of the authorities that govern their work. Processing the Past moves toward bridging this divide by speaking in one voice to these very different audiences. Blouin and Rosenberg conclude by raising the worrisome question of what future historical archives might be like if historical scholars and archivists no longer understand each other, and indeed, whether their now different notions of what is archival and historical will ever again be joined.

The role of IT is becoming more prominent in people's daily lives and we are becoming increasingly dependent on computers. More and more business transactions are being automated, for example, ordering a book at an online bookstore or transferring money to a bank account in another part of the world. No matter the type of transaction, we want it to be accurate and we want to have no doubts about its outcome. Transactions are also becoming more complex, driven by new ways of conducting business and new technologies. Smartphones now allow us to conduct transactions anywhere and at anytime. Technology paradigms, such as Web 2.0 and business event processing, enable businesses to increase the dynamics of a transaction through instrumentation that captures events, analyzes the associated data, and proactively interacts with the client in order to improve the customer experience. To adapt to the increasing volume and complexity of transactions requires an ongoing assessment of the current way of supporting transactions with IT. No matter what your business is, you need to ensure that your transactions are properly completed with integrity. Wrong or incomplete results can adversely affect client loyalty, affect company profits, and lead to claims, lawsuits, or fines. Companies need to be able to rely on computer systems that are 100% reliable and guarantee transaction integrity at all times. The IBM® mainframe is such a platform. Clients that have been using an IBM mainframe are conscious of its added value. For this IBM RedguideTM publication, we surveyed a number of companies that use the IBM mainframe and we asked them to tell us its most distinguishing qualities. They answered unanimously "reliability, availability, and scalability." They also do not see an alternative for running their mission-critical business workloads other than the IBM mainframe. When we surveyed our clients, we also asked them about the future. Clearly, major future trends demand significantly smarter, faster, and bigger transaction processing systems than we have today. Some of these trends are the availability of new computing paradigms, continuing growth of the mobile channel, further integration of organizations, massive growth of unstructured and uncertain data, and increasing complexity of IT systems. IBM continues to invest in mainframe technology leadership, which protects years of client investments on this platform. Today, well-known transaction processing (TP) middleware, such as the IBM CICS, IBM IMS, IBM z/TPF, and IBM WebSphere Application Server products, and also solutions for service-oriented architecture (SOA) and business process management (BPM) are available and fully optimized on the IBM mainframe running the mission-critical business workloads of many companies the world over. In 2010, IBM announced the IBM zEnterprise® system introducing a hybrid computing platform that combines the traditional IBM mainframe capabilities and the ability to use IBM blade servers, managed by a single management software. With zEnterprise, you can significantly reduce the complexity of your IT and achieve better service levels, while continuing to benefit from traditional mainframe strengths in transaction processing.

In recent years, interest in old photographs has grown significantly among a broad public, from collectors, conservators, and archivists to amateurs seeking to preserve precious family albums. Although the medium of photography is barely 150 years old, its relatively brief history has witnessed the birth of a wide range of photographic processes, each of which poses unique conservation challenges. Photographs of the Past: Processes and Preservation provides a comprehensive introduction to the practice of photograph preservation, bringing together more information on photographic processes than any other single source. Introductory chapters cover issues of terminology; the rest of the book is divided into three parts: positives, negatives, and conservation. Each chapter focuses on a single process--daguerreotypes, albumen negatives, black-and-white prints, and so on--providing an overview of its history and materials and tracing the evolution of its technology. This book will serve as an irreplaceable reference work for conservators, curators, collectors, dealers, conservation students, and photographers, as well as those in the general public seeking information on preserving this ubiquitous form of cultural heritage.

This is the first systematic attempt to compare Herodotus and Thucydides as contemporaries, that is, as pre- Socratic thinkers who employed rather similar concepts and intellectual tools and who worked within the same theoretical framework or space. The work also brings to the study of the ancient historians widely accepted and recognizable concepts derived from contemporary historiography and the methodology of the social sciences. Originally published in 1982. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Criticizes the way history is presented in current textbooks, and suggests a more accurate approach to teaching American history.