206 words This paper introduces resources on newspapers and magazines developed by the Heidelberg Research Architecture (HRA), the Digital Humanities unit of the Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in a Global Context”. Its focus will rest on the Early Chinese Periodicals Online (ECPO) project, a collaborative endeavor between Academia Sinica, Taipei, the Cluster project MC15 “Powers of the Press,” and the HRA. The technical core of ECPO is the development of a database of women’s magazines and entertainment newspapers. This database combines and significantly expands two resources developed in the Cluster’s first funding period which represent two complementary methodological approaches: The “Xiaobao Entertainment Newspapers” database covers more than fifty newspapers and provides information from a macro perspective (“extensive approach”). It offers characteristic features of individual newspapers and illustrates these with a number of examples. The “Chinese Women’s Magazines” database approaches its material from a micro perspective (“intensive approach”). It covers four major publications and records and analyses every single item, including advertisements. While both methods have their advantages, with the extensive analysis providing characteristic features of a larger set of publications, and the intensive analysis offering detailed information for individual magazines, their combination within one system will offer a powerful research framework for the study of Early Chinese Periodicals.

1. Periodicals and Newspapers in
Projects of the Heidelberg Research
Architecture
Matthias Arnold
Newspapers and Transculturality: New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers, 30. 1. 2014

2. Agenda
1. The Heidelberg Research Architecture
2. Small-scale digitisation
a. Tokyo Puck
b. Abou Naddara Collection
3. Larger databases
a. Xiaobao Entertainment Newspapers database
b. Women‘s Magazines database
c.
Early Chinese Periodicals Online
4. Outlook / Wrap-up
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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3. The Heidelberg Research Architecture
Digital Humanities Unit at the Cluster of Excellence
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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4. The Heidelberg Research Architecture
Digital Humanities Unit
Main expertise:
General Digital Humanities consultancy for projects - Conceptual design
for DH related tasks
Digitisation, MediaLab - Workflows and documentation - Data migration Workshops and trainings - Participation in classes
Project databases – Research analysis
Development: Metadata Framework Tamboti
Small team: 4.5 positions - 5 persons
Functional requirements from the
projects, Sustainability specs from DFG
Webportal: http://hra.uni-hd.de
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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5. Agenda
1. The Heidelberg Research Architecture
2. Small-scale digitisation
a. Tokyo Puck
b. Abou Naddara Collection
3. Larger databases
a. Xiaobao Entertainment Newspapers database
b. Women‘s Magazines database
c.
Early Chinese Periodicals Online
4. Outlook / Wrap-up
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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6. Abou Naddara Collection
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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7. „By-product“ of Eliane Ettmüller‘s Ph.D. thesis
Discovery of unique original material, permission by heirs for online
publication, collaboration B1 with HRA, additional Cluster funding
Complete digitisation of James Sanua‘s newspapers 1878-1910
Ca. 2200 pages
Image optimisation
Collection of metadata:
Excel for editing,
transformed to MODS XML
Website in Tamboti with
individual design
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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8. Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects

9. Agenda
1. The Heidelberg Research Architecture
2. Small-scale digitisation
a. Tokyo Puck
b. Abou Naddara Collection
3. Larger databases
a. Xiaobao Entertainment Newspapers database
b. Women‘s Magazines database
c.
Early Chinese Periodicals Online
4. Outlook / Wrap-up
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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10. Xiaobao Entertainment Newspapers
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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11. Started by Prof. Yeh in conjunction with a class on Chinese
entertainment newspapers
Goal: introduce xiaobao as important primary source
Provide a „profile“ for each newspaper:
• What characterises its typical contents?
• Who were the main contributors, founders, illustrators?
• What kind of (serialised) literature, essays, reviews?
• Which illustrations, phtographs, advertisements?
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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12. Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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13. Chinese Women‘s Magazines
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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14. Research project
Interdisciplinary research project „A New Approach to the
Popular Press in China: Gender and Cultural Production, 19041937“
• History (Joan Judge, York University)
• Cultural studies (Barbara Mittler, Heidelberg University)
• Literature (Grace Fong, McGill University)
• Literature (Michel Hockx, SOAS)
• Art history (Julia Andrews, Ohio State University)
• History (Christian Henriot, Lumière-Lyon 2 University)
• Linguistics (Elisabeth Kaske, Carnegie Mellon University)
Main Funding: SSHRC (Canada), Humboldt Foundation (Germany)
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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15. Research project – Magazines
Selection of four important women’s journals as research
objects:
Women’s World (Nüzi shijie, 女子世界, 1904-07)
The Women’s Eastern Times (Funü shibao, 婦女時報, 1911-17)
Ladies’ Journal (Funü zazhi, 婦女雜誌, 1915-31)
Elegance (Linglong, 玲瓏, 1931-37)
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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16. Methodology
1. Horizontal reading
close reading of all material included in one issue
2. Vertical reading
close reading of one particular theme over time
3. Integrated reading
reading journals against other journals, within the same
"family of journals"
4. Situated reading
reading journals against other source materials
cf. Joan Judge, Barbara Mittler and Michel Hockx ed., A Space of Their Own:
Women and the Periodical Press in China's Long Twentieth Century,
forthcoming (2014).
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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17. Database
Requirements:
• Provide access to large amounts of metadata and images
• Cross-reference individual items
•
Articles – Images – Advertisements (…and Agents)
• Collaborative online editing platform
• Research tool
•
Read/browse magazines online
•
Search analytical data (e.g. Keywords, genres) and metadata
• Open access via website
Conceptualization and implementation:
Heidelberg Research Architecture
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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18. Database - Features
Important features
•
Read/browse all issues online, cover to cover (if pages available)
•
Every item on a page was recorded: articles, images, ads
•
Pages arranged in original order, incl. blank/missing pages
•
Records cover Chinese, Pinyin transcription, and English translation
•
Some records provide full textual contents (Chinese only), esp.
advertisements
•
All types of agents were recorded with their roles:
e.g. authors, photographers, organisations, translators, incl. mentionings
•
Search and filter functionality
•
Analytical and research data:
keywords, genres, notes, together with magazine columns
Access: http://womag.uni-hd.de
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19. DB Features - Horizontal reading
Close reading of all material included in one issue
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20. Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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21. DB Features - Vertical reading
Close reading of one particular theme over time
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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23. Early Chinese Periodicals Online
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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24. Early Chinese Periodicals Online (ECPO)
Collaborative project Academia Sinica - University of
Heidelberg, with international research team (esp. York
University, Toronto, and Boston University)
Funded by Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, with additional
support by Cluster of Excellence, University of Heidelberg
Technically important:
Combination of different material sets
Combination of different databases
Larger number of publications covered
Larger number of editors
Matthias Arnold | University of Heidelberg | The Chinese Women’s Magazines Database - An Introduction
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25. New challenges
• Newspapers AND magazines within one DB-system
• Extensive and Intensive recording of metadata in one DB
• Integrated access to data from different existing databases
•
Three databases: ECPO – WoMag – Xiaobao
• Expansion of database system
•
More distributed editors -> track changes
•
Mix of image-scans (1, 2, or 3 pages on one sheet)
• Preparation and launch of ECPO Website for Academic research
(large proportions as open access)
• And: Always open for additional requirements from researchers
Matthias Arnold | University of Heidelberg | The Chinese Women’s Magazines Database - An Introduction
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26. Early Chinese Periodicals Online
Combines two very successful Cluster databases with Academia
Sinica Taipei, funded by the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation

27. Early Chinese Periodicals Online
Combines two very successful Cluster databases with Academia
Sinica Taipei, funded by the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation

28. ECPO – The „three supporting columns“
ECPO
SEARCH
SEARCH
SEARCH
SEARCH
WoMag
Additional magazines (Jingbao, Funü
Xiaobao
xunkan, etc.)
(intensive)
(intensive & extensive)
(extensive)
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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29. ECPO – The „three supporting columns“
ECPO
SEARCH
SEARCH
SEARCH
SEARCH
WoMag
Additional magazines (Jingbao, Funü
Xiaobao
xunkan, etc.)
(intensive)
(intensive & extensive)
(extensive)
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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30. Outlook / Wrap-up
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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31. From small-scale digitisation…
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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32. …to larger international endeavors
ECPO
SEARCH
SEARCH
SEARCH
SEARCH
WoMag
Additional magazines (Jingbao, Funü
Xiaobao
xunkan, etc.)
(intensive)
(intensive & extensive)
(extensive)
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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33. HRA – Partner for Co-operations
HRA as possible co-operation
partner for your project
•
From small-scale digitisation to fullfledged international collaborative
research endeavors
•
Reasearch annotations (vs. fulltext)
•
Expansion of projects is possible, e.g.
to add character recognition (OCR),
textual markup (TEI XML), quantitative
or qualitative analysis
•
Integration of project data within
Tamboti for better access and
sustainability
•
Interested?
Contact us:
hra@asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de
Workshop "New Approaches to Working with Historical Newspapers" | Matthias Arnold | Periodicals in HRA Projects
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34. „Feasible Links“
http://abou-naddara.uni-hd.de
http://xiaobao.uni-hd.de
http://womag.uni-hd.de
http://hra.uni-hd.de
http://tamboti.uni-hd.de
hra@asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de
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