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docs/index.md

@@ -13,11 +13,11 @@ hide:
 
 
 
-The aim of the [GLOBALISE project](https://globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/) is to develop an online infrastructure that unlocks the key series of VOC documents and reports for advanced new research methods. On this Docs page, we provide background documentation about the project. Currently limited to information about the ethics policy, we will soon extend the information provided here with documentation about the GLOBALISE ontology, source corpus, and guiding principles for the design and development of the online interfaces, among others. We welcome your feedback through our [contact form](https://globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/contact-us/).
+The [GLOBALISE project](https://globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/) aims to develop an online infrastructure to unlock key VOC documents and reports for advanced research. This Docs page provides background on the project, including sections on our [Mission and scope](mission/mission_researchthemes.md), and [Ethics policy](ethics/policy.md). Future additions will include documentation of the GLOBALISE ontology, a description of source corpus, and guiding principles for interface design. We welcome your feedback through our [contact form](https://globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/contact-us/).
 
 ## Table of Contents
 
-### GLOBALISE Guiding Principles
+### GLOBALISE Mission and Scope
 
 - [Mission and Research Themes](mission/mission_researchthemes.md)
 - [Guiding Key Research Questions](mission/themes-questions.md)

docs/mission/mission_researchthemes.md

@@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
-# GLOBALISE Guiding Principles
+# Mission and Research Themes
+
+Authors: [Matthias van Rossum](https://iisg.amsterdam/en/about/staff/matthias-van-rossum) and [Manjusha Kuruppath](https://www.huygens.knaw.nl/medewerkers/manjusha-kuruppath/)
+Version: October 2024
+
+-------
 
-[Matthias van Rossum](https://iisg.amsterdam/en/about/staff/matthias-van-rossum) and [Manjusha Kuruppath](https://www.huygens.knaw.nl/medewerkers/manjusha-kuruppath/)
 
 The creation of this mission and research themes document has been enriched by the valuable advice of Arno Bosse, Lodewijk Petram, and Leon van Wissen as team leads of the different work packages in the GLOBALISE project. Other team members, including Sophie Arnoult, Mrinalini Luthra, Kay Pepping, Brecht Nijman, Merve Tosun, Henrike Vellinga, and Stella Verkijk, also provided constructive input. We also thank the many participants in the Globalise researcher panels for discussing and providing critical feedback on the themes document in the early stages of the project.
 
+--------
+
 ## Introduction: Our Position and Contributions
 
 The extensive and detailed archives of the Dutch East India Company (the Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie, or VOC) are invaluable for studying not only the VOC world itself but also the often under-documented societies of early modern Africa, Asia, and Australia. They shed light on the many local, regional, and global interactions between these regions (e.g., [Kuruppath 2019](https://doi.org/10.18352/bmgn-lchr.10688)). Funded to create a research infrastructure for these archives, the GLOBALISE project focuses on the *Overgekomen Brieven en Papieren* (OBP), which contains copies of reports, letters, and other documents from regions where the VOC was active. We make the OBP’s contents available by identifying entities and events in a full transcription of the archival text, further contextualised with high-quality reference data and documentation. This information is freely accessible in a user-friendly, advanced research environment. With these activities, the GLOBALISE project aims to foster new, diverse, and more representative histories based on VOC archives.
@@ -33,20 +39,20 @@ Shaping our vision based on the three interventions described above, we have for
 
 To answer these questions, we have identified a series of themes and sub-themes that can stimulate a wide range of research into the social, political, economic, and cultural history of European expansion, non-Western societies, early globalisation, and related interactions. The key thematic domains we have defined are:
 
-1. [Political](https://docs.globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/mission/themes-questions/#political)  
-2. [Economic](https://docs.globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/mission/themes-questions/#economic)  
-3. [Social](https://docs.globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/mission/themes-questions/#social)  
-4. [Cultural](https://docs.globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/mission/themes-questions/#cultural)  
-5. [Environmental](https://docs.globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/mission/themes-questions/#environmental)  
-6. [Other](https://docs.globalise.huygens.knaw.nl/mission/themes-questions/#other)
+- Political
+- Economic
+- Social
+- Cultural
+- Environmental
+- Other
 
 These themes will guide the development of a research infrastructure allowing extraction of useful historical observations from the *Overgekomen Brieven en Papieren*. While we recognise that any selection is inherently subjective, we have based our choices on several factors: the content of the source material (what appears most frequently), the relevance of themes for the widest range of research interests (which domains and information are most essential for diverse questions and research types), and the potential for contributing new perspectives and histories (especially for studying local and non-Western societies, globalisation, and histories of colonisation and encounter).
 
 Given the prominent place of political and economic history, it may appear that our work prioritises themes that have traditionally dominated historiography over the last two centuries. However, it is important to note that our focus on seemingly conventional themes is paired with deliberately unconventional efforts: (i) in the case of political history, we aim to highlight lesser-known Asian polities that have received minimal attention in traditional historiography; and (ii) we seek to mitigate the prevailing emphasis on Dutch trade and shipping by also examining the more invasive aspects of European colonialism, as well as the economic, political, and social activities of non-European actors.
 
 ## From Themes to Research Practice
 
-The GLOBALISE infrastructure enables both simple and sophisticated text searches on the resource corpus. Our temporary, though basic, transcription viewer already allows for this ([https://transcriptions.globalise.huygens.knaw.nl](https://transcriptions.globalise.huygens.knaw.nl)). In our future user interface, researchers will be able to query combinations of entities and events that yield results with contextual information. Notably, while these queries are descriptive (what, where, and when), researchers must further analyse and interpret results to answer explanatory research questions (how and why).
+The GLOBALISE infrastructure enables both simple and sophisticated text searches on the resource corpus. Our temporary, basic, [transcription viewer](https://transcriptions.globalise.huygens.knaw.nl) already allows for this. In our future user interface, researchers will be able to query combinations of entities and events that yield results with contextual information. Notably, while these queries are descriptive (what, where, and when), researchers must further analyse and interpret results to answer explanatory research questions (how and why).
 
 Key infrastructure components that allow querying on entities and events, and provide contextualised results, include:
 
@@ -62,7 +68,7 @@ Key infrastructure components that allow querying on entities and events, and pr
 3. **Ontology**  
    The ontology structures relations between entities, concepts, and events.
 
-The labour-intensive development of these components, especially high-quality reference data and ontologies, requires strategic choices about the scope and coverage of themes and contextualisation efforts. A set of [Guiding key research queries](mission/mission/themes-questions.md) help direct this work, ensuring we provide the necessary elements to support a wide range of research questions.
+The labour-intensive development of these components, especially high-quality reference data and ontologies, requires strategic choices about the scope and coverage of themes and contextualisation efforts. A set of [Guiding key research queries](mission/mission/themes-questions.md) for each of the thematic domains help direct this work, ensuring we provide the necessary elements to support a wide range of research questions.
 
 ## Reflections on Project Implications for the Historical Method
 
@@ -77,9 +83,9 @@ Similarly, a critical perspective is required when using the project’s curated
 
 This discussion of the potential drawbacks or shortcomings of our infrastructure is not intended as an excuse, but rather as a reminder and call to action: to engage with the archive responsibly, to design our infrastructure in an open and reflective manner, to check and improve the quality of its content, and to instruct, educate, and challenge users to fully explore its potential (while remaning aware of the limitations), and continuing to develop our source and methodological criticism.
 
-### The Convenience of Big Data and the Necessity of Critical Methods
+### Harnessing Big Data Responsibly
 
-As researchers engage with the new possibilities of digital archives, we emphasise the need for critical methods when interpreting digital sources. Researchers should reflect on each document's type, context, authorship, and purpose. The archives do not provide unfiltered historical truths; they offer fragmented observations and interpretations that require careful contextualisation. Advanced search functions enable researchers to extract snippets of information, but these should be understood as representations of historical realities shaped by the document's context.
+As researchers engage with the new possibilities of digital archives, we emphasise the need for critical methods when interpreting digital sources. Researchers should reflect on each document’s type, context, authorship, and purpose. The archives do not provide unfiltered historical truths; they offer fragmented observations and interpretations that require careful contextualisation. Advanced search functions enable researchers to extract snippets of information, but these should be understood as representations of historical realities shaped by the document’s context.
 
 While the infrastructure project remains transparent about the processes, tools, and methods used, we cannot anticipate all forms of future usage. We call on users to engage responsibly and contextually, and we will work to provide guidance on how to do so.
 
@@ -109,4 +115,4 @@ For more information, visit our websites:
 
 Please note that this document is not a final statement but a plan for developing themes, reference data, and queries over time based on project demands, infrastructure, and user interaction. We welcome any input, advice, and questions to improve our work.
 
-[^1]: The ‘General Letters’ We have since widened the scope of our project to include a significantly larger corpus - the Overgekomen Brieven en Papieren (the letters received from the VOC in the Dutch Republic) of which the General Letters are a small part. We think this better fit the aims of the project, as also described in this statement.
+[^1]: The ‘General Letters’ are summarising reports within the *Overgekomen Brieven en Papieren* (OBP) archival document series. Early in the project, we have widened the scope to include the full OBP series. We think this better fit the aims of the project, as also described in this statement.