Retrieval and systematisation of data from historical texts: tabular analysis of reports from technical railway schools in the Russian Empire and creation of a database

This article investigates the activities of technical railway schools (TRS) in the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The paper presents an experience of retrieving, structuring, and analysing information from TRS reports, using tabular analysis and data modelling methods. Based on the collected information on the activities of TRS in the Ural, Siberia and the Far East, a relational database «Technical railway schools of the Russian Empire» was developed in Microsoft Access database management system. The source base of the study is represented by materials of annual reports on the activities of TRS covering the period from 1895 to 1916, as well as periodicals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and scientific publications by contemporary researchers. Research methods: historical-descriptive, comparative-historical analysis, quantitative analysis, data modeling, interpretation and generalization. The structure of the database provides systematic storage and prompt access to key parameters of the educational institutions’ activities, including information about the personnel, school property, expenses, educational process, and student admissions and graduations. For comparative analysis, reports from other similar educational institutions under the jurisdiction of the Southern, Libava–Romny, Syzran-Vyazma, Northern and other railways of the Russian Empire were considered. The analysis of the data presented in the database revealed common and specific features of the TRS functioning in different regions of the empire, and made it possible to trace the dynamics of their development, examine the characteristics of the student body and analyse the effectiveness of graduate training. The database is available online and is intended for use in research related to the history of training personnel for the railway industry in the Russian Empire.