디지털 인문학과 시민 교양 : 서울시 역사문화유적 표석 관련 사료 디지털화의 필요성 및 그 방안

Abstract

‘Historical markers (標石)’ are signs installed at historic sites, or spaces in which historically meaningful episodes have occurred. First built in 1985, the number of historical markers of Seoul account to 324 as of 2022. The city has carried out an extensive maintenance project from 2014 in order to correct the errors in locations and phrases of the markers. In the <Investigation of Historical Markers of Seoul>, conducted by Yonsei University’s Office of Research Affairs/University Industry Foundation, the inspection on all historical markers was completed by examining the 174 cases that were previously left uninvestigated. Including the results from this commissioned research, historical records related to historical markers owned by the city are data accumulated from years of effort and a large sum of budget; being such, its value can increase from the production and operation of a digitalized, open database. The 2018⋅2019 research on historical markers were conducted with an aim to provide the materials for ‘civil culture’, in the perspective of digital humanities which pursue a public communication of knowledge. Digitalizing records concerning historical markers will allow the memory/knowledge of Seoul’s history and culture to expand beyond the sites of historical markers, and be broadly utilized as sources of civil culture in a more extended and open space – in other words, the digital space. Following the discussion on the necessity of digitalization, this paper examines the plans and matters in building a database on historical markers, by deliberating on the case of a sample database that was created during the commissioned research. Citizens already display a high interest to historical markers; thus a database on historical markers can serve as a fine material for civil culture. More active attention from researchers of related fields and the city of Seoul is warranted.