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This thesis analyses the development of the database for historical research within the context of the historical discipline. The first chapter gives a brief outline of the history of database technology and describes the theoretical perspectives from the history and sociology of technology which inform this work. The second chapter charts the development of the database for historical research from its beginnings in the 1960s to the present. This chapter situates the development of the database for historical research within the methodological and institutional frameworks that influenced its production. The third chapter analyses the historical database within the specific national context of Canadian historiography. This chapter provides an opportunity to investigate more closely the social constitution of a technology among a specialized group of users.