Digging into the Digital Humanities:A Guide for Evaluating DH Projects

Caroline FuchsUniversity Libraries

CTL Summer Technology ExplorationJune 19, 2014

First things first –Defining the digital humanities

• Hands-on project based scholarship • Applying technology to research & scholarship• More than repository building and editing

It is also

• Collaborative• Project-based scholarship• Exploratory• Trans-disciplinary/interdisciplinary• Computationally engaged

“Digital Humanities is less a unified field than an array of convergent practices that explore a universe in which print is no longer the primary medium in which knowledge is produced and disseminated.”

from "A Short Guide to the Digital Humanities" p. SG2

Blurring the lines

• Humanities• Social sciences• The arts• Natural sciences• Technology

In the “print plus” era research is:

• No longer linear• Fluid• Faceting• Filtering• Multiple pathways• Process rather than product

Incorporating

• Statistical processing (computational linguistics)

• Linking (hypertext)• Modeling (architectural and visual displays)• Structured data (XML)• Iterative editing and version control (critical

editions, analysis, creative practices)

"A Short Guide to the Digital Humanities" p. SG3

Teaching & Learning

• To learn by making and doing• Becoming part of the research community• Actively engaging in scholarly communication• Sharing knowledge, skills, expertise

Getting involved

• Create• Use • Access• Navigate• Evaluate

So how do we evaluate a digital humanities project?

At the heart

• Peer review (impact, intended audience, originality, and excellence)

• Original scholarship• Intellectual rigor

Peer review groups for DH projects

• NINES (Nineteenth-century Scholarship Online)

• 18thConnect (Eighteenth-century Scholarship Online)

• MLA Committee on Scholarly Editions

Then what’s different?

• The media/technology in which the content is realized

• Must evaluate the “work” as well as its “environment”

• Assess the content and the delivery

Not just about new content

– but new ways of engaging with the content

A “good” digitial humanities project will allow the student/researcher to interact with the content (i.e. data)

Must also take into account

• Platform• Interface• Performance• Data structures• Back-end database • The Code

To begin

• Evaluate the work in the medium in which it was produced and published

• For websites: authors should include system requirements for optimal use

• For virtual simulations: required hardware should be noted and made available

What else to look for

• Authors/creators• Their roles• Grants/funding• Partnerships• Citations• Status of the project (i.e. beta, in progress,

final, etc)

Ask

• How does this DH project advance or contribute to scholarship in the field(s)?

• Does it transform the learning environment?• How is this project in “dialogue” with others in

the field?• Is it field-specific or trans-disciplinary?• Is it a true “print plus” project, or simply a

digitized analog project?

Research questions & digital media

• What is being done with this project that could not be done in print-based scholarship?

• Is it transformative?

Putting something online is not enough – the data must be “usable”

Also consider

• How does the “tool” and the “content” interact?

• Does the project have a thesis or guiding principle?

• Is the content digitized? Born digital? Both?• Is the project

trans-disciplinary/interdisciplinary?

Sharing

• What are the licensing agreements?• Are there intellectual property rights

restrictions?• Can content be re-used/re-purposed?• How accessible is the project?• Is it fee-based or free?

Structure & responsibility

• Is the interface “user friendly” or “intuitive”?• Does it make sense for the content?• Are collaborators and their roles clearly listed

and defined?• Are collaborators’ contributions and expertise

clearly articulated?• Are funding sources disclosed?

Don’t forget usability

• Is the information appropriately organized?• Is it easy to navigate?• Does the project make use of standards in

web design? In metadata? In encoding?• Is the site interoperable with others?• Is the design aesthetically pleasing?

And the nitty-gritty

• Where does the data “live”?• Is the project “open source? Is it

“proprietary”?• Does the project allow for sharing (or

development) of code, tools, applications, etc?

• Is it an on-going project or is it complete?• Does the site address digital preservation?

In summary

• Evaluate the project in the medium in which it was produced & published

• Are roles clearly stated? At each phase?• What is the nature of the newly created

“knowledge”?• Does it allow more interaction than its print or

analog counterpart?

Remember

• In digital scholarship, new “knowledge” is not just content

• It is new ways of:– Organizing– Classifying– Interacting

This makes web design & coding very important!

Multiple applications

• Can be used for research, teaching, service• But ask:– “How has this project transformed the learning

environment?”– “What contributions has the project made to

teaching?”– “How can these contributions be assessed?”

Peer review

• Has the project been peer reviewed?• Has it resulted in a peer-reviewed publication

or presentation?• Has it won a prize from a professional

organization?• What funding grants has it received?

Digital humanities projects and the bigger picture• Think about critical ethical issues of:– The nature and value of cultural preservation– Public history– Participatory culture– Open access– Digital diversity– Collection curation

Digital Humanities evaluation checklist

• Is the project easy to navigate and use?• Is the purpose clearly articulated?• Is it aesthetically pleasing?• What is being done with this project that could not be

done in print-based scholarship?• Who are the authors/contributors? Their roles?• Is it a collaborative project?• Who is the primary audience?• What contribution does it make to scholarship?• What are the strengths? What are the weaknesses?

To learn more about digital humanities

• Visit our guide http://campusguides.stjohns.edu/dh• Get involved at SJU

http://stjdh.wordpress.com/ • Publications, blogs, journals, etc

http://campusguides.stjohns.edu/dhpublications

Contact:Caroline FuchsUniversity Librariesfuchsc@stjohns.edu

Bibliography

1. “The Short Guide to the Digital_Humanities,” an open pdf excerpt from Digital_Humanities, by Anne Burdick, Joahanna Drucker, Peter Lunenfeld, Todd Presner, Jeffrey Schnapp, MIT Press, 2012, pp 121-136