Ian Milligan, Professor of History at the University of Waterloo (Canada), describes his approach to digital history as rather coincidental. Originally working in social and cultural history, he came across an extensive collection of children's websites, which seemed impossible to evaluate without digital methods. At the same time, a lecture on digital history inspired him to systematically apply his technological skills to his research. With regard to the situation in Canada, Milligan emphasises the low level of institutional consolidation in the field. He attributes this primarily to declining student numbers and the resulting downsizing of history departments, which makes it difficult for universities to create new programmes or specialised positions for digital history.
