Digitization and Digitalization of Historical Datasets from Archival Sources: Insights from Two Cases

ABSTRACT This research considers the methodological approaches, choices made, and experiences in compiling and digitizing two historical datasets from three archival sources. The datasets relate to the British South Africa Company (BSAC), which Cecil Rhodes established by royal charter to colonize Rhodesia, and the Forestal Land, Timber and Railways Company Limited (“La Forestal”), which was listed on the London Stock Exchange and extracted quebracho from trees in Argentina to manufacture tannin used in making leather goods. The research considers the approaches taken to locating, identifying, gathering, recording, and digitizing the data, highlighting the gamble, challenges, and rewards of undertaking such research. The paper then describes the digitalization processes adopted to analyze the data using large data processing methods.