Sport History in the Digital Era

The Internet has transformed industries across the globe and while segments of the research sector have embraced it quickly, sport historians have stepped into the digital era at a more considered pace. The editors Gary Osmond and Murray G. Phillips admit sport historians have in fact been “slow to adapt” to digital technologies (p. 6). This theme returns throughout this thoughtful, informative range of contributions to an area traditionally focused on documents, physical archives, and accuracy. Clearly, digital technologies have numerous advantages for historians, with easy access to a wealth of resources and sources from any computer. However, there are also downsides to the expanding accessibility of information, including issues over quality, openness, and curating versus discovery. Osmond and Phillips also recognize in this new environment the fact anyone can become a historian “can be threatening” for the academic practitioners (p. 7). The editors are careful not to stereotype sport historians as “dinosaurs” (p. 3) but it is evident many in this field are uncomfortable with the transformations associated with the digital era.