Singlecentury

Singlecentury refers to a conceptual framework in which data, artifacts, or events are organized around a single century, conventionally a period of 100 consecutive years. The focus is on a fixed temporal boundary that makes cross-comparisons within the same century more straightforward and reduces heterogeneity introduced by longer or shorter spans.

Etymology and scope: The term is a compound coinage from single and century; not tied to a specific language or organization, but used in digital humanities, archives, and data science to describe time-bounded corpora. A singlecentury collection typically encompasses all items dated within a chosen century, sometimes starting at a century boundary such as 1800-1899 or 1900-1999; in other cases, it may align with culturally defined centuries.

Applications: In archives and libraries, singlecentury arrangements facilitate cataloging and retrieval. In data science and bibliometrics, they support analysis of trends, language, and networks within a fixed temporal window. In exhibitions and teaching, singlecentury framing helps viewers place material in a coherent historical context.

Limitations and considerations: The singlecentury approach can obscure longer-term patterns, cause artificial boundaries, and reflect the biases of the chosen century. Researchers must document the selected window, boundary rules, and inclusion criteria to maintain transparency.

See also: Century; Time period; Temporal dataset; Historical dataset.