Database thinking and deep description: Designing a digital archive of the National Synchrotron Light Source

Abstract

Over the past few years, research carried out at large-scale materials science facilities in the USA and elsewhere has undergone a phase transition that affected its character and culture. Research cultures at these facilities now resemble ecosystems, comprising of complex and evolving interactions between individuals, institutions, and the overall research environment. The outcome of this phase transition, which has been gradual and building since the 1980s, is known as the New (or Ecologic) Big Science [Crease, R. and Westfall, C. (2016). The new big science. Physics Today, 69: 30-6]. In this article, we describe this phase transition, review the practical challenges that it poses for historians, review some potential digital tools that might respond to these challenges, and then assess the theoretical implications posed by "database history'.