Prospects of using information technologies in historical ethnography: case study of Russians of the 17th-18th centuries in Siberia

For the first time in Russian historiography, the article discusses the prospective use of information technologies in historical ethnography. It is shown that source base makes it possible to create databases. Libraries of full-text collections of historical sources and research articles, specialized applied packages of statistical analysis, methods of content analysis, spatial data analysis and virtual reconstructions are needed for that purpose. Mathematical modeling of ethno-historical processes can be used for creating simulated, analytical, and statistical models. High capacity of techniques and methods which may bring ethnographic studies to a new level corresponding to the modern technical and technological development is revealed.