The aim of this seminar is to gather researchers from different communities with an interest in the history of information in order to explore and further the discussion of information as a concept that designates a particular way of studying history. The hope is to continue and facilitate academic contact and collaboration, for instance in the shape of recurring seminars on different also empirical aspects of information history.

The present seminar focuses on the why: why are histories of information as topical as ever? The seminar positions itself within the broader historical community and investigates what information offers as a perspective on history and as a phenomenon in history. What are the main research questions offered by information in history? What possible new histories can we write and how do they differ from other histories (e.g. of bureaucracy, the history of knowledge, or intellectual history)?

Yet, it is also important not to neglect the how of information history: how do we do information history? Do we understand information differently defined by the different historical contexts we study and perhaps more prominently defined by our affiliations to different research traditions?

A further intriguing position regards the where of information history. The most recent publications about information history originate in American universities but span globally. Yet it is tempting to ask: What happens outside America? Is the European agenda defined by the history of knowledge?

At the seminar, invited speakers present their understanding of information history in shorter position statements that encourage debate amongst the participants. Summing up the seminar would point at how we can continue the discussions about histories of information.