Publication Date
12-2025
Presentation Length
15 minutes
College
College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
Department
History, Department of
Student Level
Undergraduate
Presentation Type
Talk/Oral
Summary
Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, I attempted to scrape Memphis City Directories images into text and to sort that data into an organized data table. While the project was ultimately unsuccessful, the purpose of the project extended beyond an organized data table. Incorporating interdisciplinary elements - in this project, a data science skillset - into historical research has become a useful, if not essential, aspect of the discipline of history. The second half of the presentation deals with the idea of the changing role of history after the advent of big data.
Recommended Citation
Betapudi, Simeon A., "From Directory to Database" (2025). SPARK Symposium Presentations. 956.
https://repository.belmont.edu/spark_presentations/956
