ACTOZ数据库平台操作与使用第一次培训圆满结束

2013年6月24日至26日,ACTOZ数据库平台操作与使用第一次培训活动圆满结束。参加此次培训的人员有:Jean-Pierre Dedieu教授、安克强教授、柯柔副教授、石路副教授及里昂高师东亚学院博士生蒋杰、赵伟清,巴黎政治学院博士生徐翀。

在为期三天的培训中,Jean-Pierre Dedieu教授与安克强教授为参与培训的学员详细讲解了该数据库平台的使用方法和操作步骤。培训采取授课与实践相结合的方式,每天上午进行理论讲解,下午通过上机操作熟练该数据库平台的使用,发现操作中可能遇到的问题。

此次培训主要讲授了四个方面的内容:1、ACTOZ系统概论;2、在Actions Main界面下的人物和事件输入;3、族谱数据的输入;4、文献数据的输入。

通过此次培训,WMS项目组的法方成员对如何使用ACTOZ形成了深刻的理解,这将为其他同仁的学习与使用带来极大的便利。通过此次培训所得到的一些经验和心得,正在逐步转化为文字,发布在Virtual Cities Toolbox网站,大家可随时查看:

http://toolbox.virtualcities.fr/user_manual

 

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图片资料由东亚学院刘芳提供,在此表示感谢!

关于ACTOZ系统的一点简单介绍

由于在“War Made Shanghai”项目中,我们将采用ACTOZ系统,所以在安老师的帮助下,昨天有机会向开发者Jean Pierre Dedieu先生,学习了一点关于该系统的基础知识及简单操作方法。获得一些心得,在此与大家分享。

1、什么是ACTOZ?

ACTOZ是一款基于FILEMAKER数据库软件开发的信息管理系统。通过ACTOZ,使用者可以输入、存储信息,并通过建立“联系”,将信息与信息联系起来。例如,我们向ACTOZ中输入汪精卫和陈公博的信息,通过建立“关系”,就可以把这两条信息链接起来。通过大量信息的连接,可以构成一张信息网络。

2、学习ACTOZ的注意事项。

由于ACTOZ是一款数据库软件,所以对于我们学习历史的人来说(当然已经熟练掌握者除外)初学这种工具具有一定的难度。而且由于ACTOZ的功能强大,所以结构也比一般的数据库更复杂。因此,我建议在学习之前,大家可以找一些关于数据库的教材进行学习。了解它的原理和结构。由于我们使用的是FILEMAKER数据库软件,大家可在网上找一些视频教程学习,如果优酷上没有,大家可以告诉我,我在YOUTUBE下载以后,上传上去。

3、准备工作

昨天学习的是最简单的项目。JP Dedieu先生让我们准备一些关于人物的材料,其实就是人物大事年表,这样可以按照年代顺序把一个人的生平详细展现出来。(当然ACTOZ的功能很强大,不仅适合研究人物,也适合城市、机构、行会、街区的研究,但最开始我们将从人物学起。)昨天我们采用的是陈公博的资料。

资料的质量相当重要,最好能在时间上精确到日,比如“八一三”事变发生在1938年8月13日。当然,如果时间不明确也可以使用ACTOZ,但效果会受到影响。所以,在大家开始学习之前,我建议准备好自己感兴趣,或对于研究有帮助的资料,这样既可学习,又可将资料录入,一举两得。(说实话,资料录入是一件很辛苦的事情。)录入的资料最好准备两种语言,一种中文资料,一种英文资料。

 

“Wars made Shanghai” gets an official head start

The coordinators (Prof. Ma Jun 馬 軍 and Chr. Henriot 安克強) and the members of the SASS team (Prof, Jiang Wenjun 江文君, Li Zhiming 李志茗, and Mou Zhenyu 牟振宇; Ph.D graduates Lu Ye 陆烨 and Yue Qintao岳钦韬) of the “Wars made Shanghai” project have held three work sessions in the course of April 2013 to get the joint research project started. Moreover, one of the members of the IAO team, Prof. Christine Cornet,  will soon be in Shanghai for research in the archives and will team up with the SASS scholars.

The first session held on 10 April was devoted to an overview of the project, the presentation of each participant’s  past and current research, the set of tools to be used in the implementation of the project, as well as the modes of collaborative work. All the participants contributed to a lively discussion of the challenges ahead.

During the second session on 17 April, Christian Henriot made a presentation of the French institutional setup, especially the system of joint research units (UMR) and the unusual mix of institutions that characterizes French research units. Henriot took the opportunity of this presentation to introduce a mind-mapping application (X-mind) to demonstrate the flexibility of this application for “brain-storming”. This was followed by Feng Yi’s (馮藝) presentation of the digital resources for research at the Institut d’Asie Orientale, especially BN-IAO (IAO’s digital library), which the participants will use in the course of the project.

Finally, Henriot introduced the participants to one of the major digital applications to be used, Actoz, designed and developed by Prof. Jean-Pierre Dedieu in France. Actoz is a Filemaker-powered application. It is based on a thorough analysis of what constitutes historical data and how such data can to be broken down into significant units. Actoz  is a most powerful tool not just to store historical data, but to establish multiple links, many unforeseen or invisible to the human mind, through the data, to keep track of all the original sources and documents, to establish elaborate genealogies, to handle all kinds of cultural objects in relation with their contributors, and to integrate spatial data. This short description does not make justice to the many features to be found in Actoz, but it seemed important to highlight what amounts to a serious attempt at historical modelling. Training sessions on Actoz are to take place in Lyon in the spring and the fall, with follow up sessions in Shanghai.

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In the last session held on 25 April, the participants turned to a presentation of their proposed main lines of inquiry in the joint project. They formulated research directions based on their previous scholarly achievements that can match the objectives of the project. While each will pursue one’s own line of work, each will contribute to the collaborative platform based on Virtual Shanghai. Since collaborative work also requires both discussion and coordination, participants will avail themselves of a closed-circuit Wiki for internal discussions and well a regular meetings, real or online, every two months. One of the major features of the “Wars made Shanghai”  project, aside from substantive research, will definitely be the use of a large array of dedicated digital instruments to promote a new approach to history in both China and France.