Humanities Informatics “The application of information technology to the understanding of the human record” Steering Committee for Computer Science and

Humanities InformaticsHumanities Informatics

“The application of information technology to the understanding of

the human record” Steering Committee for Computer Science and Humanities, 1998

Humanities Informatics: Excellence Humanities Informatics: Excellence in Research and Educationin Research and Education Challenge and Importance Existing Work Participants Specific Objectives Management and Evaluation National Excellence Existing Programs and Collections Educational Aspects Accomplishments


ChallengeChallengeInformation technology and

networking are revolutionizing traditional scholarly practice

Fundamentally challenging our notions of research and teaching in the humanities

ChallengeChallengeImperative that we prepare our

students for the new forms of scholarship

Expanding research opportunitiesExpanding interdisciplinary course

offerings

Importance NationallyImportance Nationally

Steering Committee for Computer Science and the Humanities (August 1998)– National Academy of Sciences– National Academy of Engineering– Computer Science and Telecommunications

Board (NRC)– Coalition for Networked Information– American Council of Learned Societies– National Initiative for a Networked Cultural

Heritage– American Historical Association


Steering committee goals– Foster the establishment of a scalable

and extensible humanities informatics (HI)

– Ongoing storage and retrieval of the human record

–Means to create new knowledge upon a stable base


Steering committee goals– Establish HI as an academically

recognized, integral component of, and bridge between, CS and Humanities

– Encourage research and development of mutual benefit

– Advance understanding of knowledge representation and information preservation in the digital era

Importance LocallyImportance Locally

Vision 2020– Texas A&M University’s long range

planning document– Identifies key areas for improvement– Goal: to be recognized as one of the ten

best public universities

Importance LocallyImportance Locally

Critical areas for enhancement– Strengthening graduate programs in the

Humanities–Maintaining and enhancing our

leadership role in information technology research and application

Humanities Informatics InitiativeHumanities Informatics Initiative

Responds to the national and local needs

Consortium to catalyze the discipline of Humanities Informatics at Texas A&M

Goal: excellence in research and education


Internationally recognized scholarsEstablished external funding recordsAreas: human-centered systems,

digital libraries and bibliographical, textual, and archival studies

Builds on strong base of interdisciplinary collaboration and established scholarly projects


Create new knowledge through cutting-edge, externally funded research

Prepare next generation of humanities scholars

Develop innovative computing tools, digital library collections, and hypertextual archives

Broadly significant academic and educational value to the humanities


Build a culture of excellence in graduate research and education

Host a series of invited workshopsLay the groundwork for developing a

graduate degree in Humanities Informatics


Existing WorkExisting Work

Digital collection developmentInformation technology research


Digital collection development– Cervantes Project–World Shakespeare Bibliography– Science Fiction and Fantasy Research

Database

Cervantes ProjectCervantes Project

Comprehensive web-accessible reference and research site on life and works

Comprised of:– International Bibliography Online– Digital Library– Digital Archive of Images

Current focus: – Electronic variorum edition of Don Quixote de

la Mancha

Cervantes ProjectCervantes Project

– Started in 1995– Three year NSF ITR grant in 2000– Drs. Richard Furuta and Eduardo Urbina– Dr. Urbina

• Nominated to receive National Humanities Center’s Richard W. Lyman award (in recognition of outstanding achievement in humanities through innovative use of information technology)

• Named permanent visiting professor and holder of the Cervantes Chair at University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

– http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/cervantes/

http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/cervantes/









World Shakespeare BibliographyWorld Shakespeare Bibliography

Records and annotates all important books, articles, book reviews, dissertations, theatrical productions, audio-visual resources, and other popular and scholarly materials

Published in cooperation with The Arden Shakespeare (London) and The Folger Shakespeare Library (Washington)

Recognized as one of the preeminent serial bibliographies in the humanities

World Shakespeare BibliographyWorld Shakespeare Bibliography

Edited with the assistance of more than 100 Shakespeare scholars around the world

WSB Online awarded the Besterman Medal by The Library Association (London) in 1997 and 2001 (in recognition of its pioneering use of information technology)

Dr. James L. Harner, Editor www.worldshakesbib.com

http://www.worldshakesbib.com/



Science Fiction and Fantasy Science Fiction and Fantasy Research DatabaseResearch Database More than 50,000 history and criticism

titles Based upon previously published

reference books titled The Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Index

Received the Pilgrim Award of the Science Fiction Research Association (in recognition of lifetime achievement in science fiction and fantasy scholarship)

Science Fiction and Fantasy Science Fiction and Fantasy Research DatabaseResearch DatabaseEarlier versions won Choice

magazine’s outstanding reference books (1988) and the J. Lloyd Eaton Memorial Award (1991)

Hal W. Hall, Editorhttp://library.tamu.edu/cushing/sffrd/

http://library.tamu.edu/cushing/sffrd/










Information technology research–Metadocuments– Distributed Digital Libraries– Evaluation Protocols

MetadocumentsMetadocuments

Metadocuments as Communicative Artifacts to Enable Use of a Research Digital Library in Undergraduate SMET Education

Funded by NSF/NSDL program Explores the applications of paths as an

organizing mechanism in support of undergraduate education

Drs. Richard Furuta and Frank Shipman http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/walden/

http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/walden/









Controls Annotation

Original Web page

Distributed Digital LibrariesDistributed Digital Libraries

Design and Evaluation of Maintenance Tools for Distributed Digital Libraries

Funded by NSF/NSDL program Explores tools that recognize problems

with referenced resources in distributed digital libraries

Drs. Richard Furuta and Frank Shipman

Guided pathsGuided paths

WWW Host

Web Page

Internet BackboneA Path

Guided path - An ordering of

existing materials

independent of underlying structure.

Evaluation ProtocolsEvaluation Protocols

National Science Digital Library Evaluation Protocol

Funded by NSF/NSDL program Goals:

– Define dimensions of DL service quality from user perspective

– Develop a tool for measuring user perceptions and expectations of DL service quality across NSDL DL contexts

– Identify DL best practices that permit generalization across operations and platforms

Evaluation ProtocolsEvaluation Protocols

Goals (continued):– Enhance student learning by effectively

managing user perceptions and expectations of DL services

– Establish a DL service quality assessment program as an integral part of the library service quality assessment program (LibQUAL+) at the Association of Research Libraries

Drs. Colleen Cook and Fred Heath www.arl.org/libqual/

http://www.arl.org/libqual/






ParticipantsParticipants

College of Liberal Arts– Center for Humanities Research– Cervantes Project– World Shakespeare Bibliography Online

College of Engineering– Center for the Study of Digital Libraries– Human Centered Systems group (Computer Science)

Texas A&M University Libraries– Digital Library Evaluation Project– Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Database


– College of Liberal Arts• Content and scholarly processes

– College of Engineering• Information technology and pedagogy

– Texas A&M University Libraries• Information infrastructure and evaluation

methodologies


– Center for Humanities Research• Fosters research on humanities scholarship• Dr. James Rosenheim• www.tamu.edu/chr/

– Center for the Study of Digital Libraries• Fosters research on theory and application of DLs• Drs. Richard Furuta and John Leggett• http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/

– Texas A&M University Libraries• Ranks in top 40 of Association of Research Libraries• Acquiring resources globally and ensuring enduring

access to scholarly research• http://library.tamu.edu/

http://www.tamu.edu/chr/







http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/







http://library.tamu.edu/






Specific ObjectivesSpecific Objectives

Four areas– Collections development– Digital library evaluation– Transferring research collections to

production– Environment building

Six Objectives

Specific Objective OneSpecific Objective One

Increase national relevance of existing award-winning collections– Number of artifacts– Breadth of coverage– Quality of expression– Educational and scientific reach

Develop IT for ingesting, digesting and presenting content

Specific Objective TwoSpecific Objective Two

Incubate new and diverse collections– Funding seed efforts– Offering workshops–Maintaining a clearinghouse for IT tools

and processes– Partnering on research proposals

Specific Objective ThreeSpecific Objective Three

Integrate evaluation across activities and research products– Artifact acquisition– Accession– Indexing/organizing– Preservation– Use

Specific Objective FourSpecific Objective Four

Bridge divide between research and production collections– Migrating CSDL research collections to Texas

A&M Libraries– Institutional commitment

“Few, if any, DL research projects at universities are actually working with their libraries on sustainable economic models for their collections”

Mike Lesk

Specific Objective FiveSpecific Objective Five

Building a culture of excellence– Focus on graduate student research– Externally-funded research projects– Creation of new knowledge– National impact

Specific Objective SixSpecific Objective Six

Lay foundation for future graduate degree in Humanities Informatics– Cutting-edge research– Promoting interdisciplinary research

committees– Building research community– Identify graduate education needs


ManagementManagement

Center for Humanities Research– Institutional umbrella for HI projects– Clearinghouse for HI information– Outreach through lecture series,

stipendiary fellowships, travel grants, seed funding

Governed by board of PI’s

EvaluationEvaluation

Formative and summative evaluations

E-Metrics guidelines (ARL)– Collection growth and usage

Modified LibQUAL+– End user satisfaction with quality of

service


National ExcellenceNational Excellence

Potential is based upon:– High quality of collections– Broad applicability of IT tools– Stability of infrastructure– Efforts to develop a community of active

scholars


Selected Existing Programs and Selected Existing Programs and Collections in the HumanitiesCollections in the Humanities Exemplary university HI efforts Notable digital collections NSF/DLI2 Projects

Exemplary University HI EffortsExemplary University HI Efforts

IATH: The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities (Virginia)

MITH: The Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (Maryland)

STG: Scholarly Technology Group (Brown) CCARH: Center for Computer Assisted

Research in the Humanities (Stanford)

Notable Digital CollectionsNotable Digital Collections

Rossetti Archive (University of Virginia)– http://www.iath.virginia.edu/rossetti/

Shakespeare Electronic Archive (MIT)– http://shea.mit.edu/

Canterbury Tales Project (De Montfort University)– http://www.cta.dmu.ac.uk/projects/ctp/

LOC’s American Memory Project– http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/

http://www.iath.virginia.edu/rossetti/









http://shea.mit.edu/







http://www.cta.dmu.ac.uk/projects/ctp/









http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/





NSF/DLI2 ProjectsNSF/DLI2 Projects

– DL of Folk Literature (UC Davis)• http://flsj.ucdavis.edu/home/

– Digital Music Library (Indiana University)• http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/

– Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Stanford)• http://plato.stanford.edu/

– Digital Atheneum (University of Kentucky)• http://www.digitalatheneum.org/

http://flsj.ucdavis.edu/home/







http://www.dlib.indiana.edu/variations/







http://plato.stanford.edu/







http://www.digitalatheneum.org/




Educational AspectsEducational Aspects

Existing courses– Human Centered Systems (9)– Humanities (2)– Library Science (1)

New courses– Effects of IT on society and scholarly practice

in CS (2) – Application of IT to scholarly practice in the

Humanities (2)– Information delivery/assessment (2)


Accomplishments (6 months)Accomplishments (6 months)

ResearchOutreachSeed Grant ProgramProposalsPublications

Accomplishments – ResearchAccomplishments – Research

Development of textual iconography for Don Quijote (Cervantes Project)


Establishment of Shakespeare website repository (World Shakespeare Bibliography)

http://www.worldshakesbib.org/

http://www.worldshakesbib.org/


IT Infrastructure– Image manager– Timeline editor/viewer– Bibliography management/presentation


IT Infrastructure– Image manager


IT Infrastructure– Timeline editor/viewer

Depicts variants along their offset in the text

Depicts several editions at once

Provides overview

Provides more detail

Analyzing copies of the same edition

Identifying false variants


IT Infrastructure– Bibliography management/presentation


Algorithms and Environments– Storytelling engines– Social construction of metadata– Collection understanding via streaming

collage


Algorithms and Environments– Storytelling engines


Algorithms and Environments– Social construction of metadata


Algorithms and Environments– Collection understanding via streaming

collage

Accomplishments – OutreachAccomplishments – Outreach

HI website established– www.tamu.edu/hi/

HI technology open house HI lecture series– Andrew Dillon, Cliff Lynch, Greg Crane

HI working group

Accomplishments – Seed GrantsAccomplishments – Seed Grants

Texas A&M Genre Evolution Project A Semantic Associative Model for

Streaming Collage Browsing On-Line Picasso Project Hum Dekhenge: A Digital Archive of

Resources By and About South Asian Women

The Virtual Texas Art Museum Texas Images: An On-Line Repository of

Pre-1900 Prints


Texas A&M Genre Evolution Project– Testing the hypothesis that culture and

cultural materials co-evolve much as do biological organisms, that is, as complex adaptive systems

– Areas: literary criticism, text coding, statistical analysis

– L. Brett Cooke, Modern and Classical Languages and Halbert W. Hall, Cushing Library


A Semantic Associative Model for Streaming Collage Browsing– An ambient visualization mechanism that

affords dynamic knowledge building by sifting through focused subsets of the web space

– Areas: term-based information retrieval and natural language processing added to the existing Collage Machine

– Andruid Kerne, Computer Science and Center for the Study of Digital Libraries


On-Line Picasso Project– Digital library of artworks, biographical data

and critical analysis of Pablo Picasso– Areas: Information presentation/organization,

personalization, culturally situated knowledge– Enrique Mallen, Modern and Classical

Languages

Visualizing and Exploring Picasso’s WorldVisualizing and Exploring Picasso’s World

Visualizing and Exploring Picasso’s WorldVisualizing and Exploring Picasso’s World

Overview

1st level of detail

2nd level of detail

3rd level of detail

Analyzing Picasso’s WorldAnalyzing Picasso’s WorldWhat kind of artworks did he create during any given period of time? Was there any trend in which he painted in two different decades? What kind of techniques did he use the most in any given year or season? Was he more productive during a particular season: summer, fall, spring, or winter? Discovering correlations of Picasso’s series in different periods.

Discovering Patterns in PicassoDiscovering Patterns in Picasso


Hum Dekhenge: A Digital Archive of Resources By and About South Asian Women– Digital library documenting the efforts and

writings of individual women scholars, artists, and activists from South Asia

– Areas: Acquisition and digitization of texts, bibliography, information organization/presentation

– Jyotsna Vaid, Sociology


The Virtual Texas Art Museum– Digital library of artworks, biographical

data and bibliography of Texas arts and artists

– Areas: Acquisition of images, bibliography, information organization/presentation, copyright

– James Baker, Architecture– http://archone.tamu.edu/texmus


Texas Images: An On-Line Repository of Pre-1900 Prints– Digital library documenting the culture, history

and people of Texas prior to 1900 through the printed visual record

– Areas: Acquisition of images of first edition illustrations, bibliography, information organization/presentation

– Steve Smith, Cushing Library– http://library.tamu.edu/cushing/txi/index.htm

Accomplishments – ProposalsAccomplishments – Proposals

NSF/ITR– Exploring the Design Space for

Interactive Scholarly Communication– Enhancing Interactive Information

Organization and Presentation for a Heterogeneous Display Environment

– Visualizing a recombinant knowledge space for the purpose of augmenting creative process

Accomplishments – ProposalsAccomplishments – Proposals

NEH Preservation and Access Program– Editorial History and Textual

Iconography of Don Quixote (1605-2005)Institute of Museum and Library

Services– Texas Images Project

Accomplishments – PublicationsAccomplishments – Publications

E. Urbina, R. Furuta, et al. “Texto, contextos e hipertexto: La crítica textual en la era digital y la edición electrónica variorum del Quijote.” Quaderni di letterature iberiche e iberoamericane (Milan) 27 (1999-2000) [2002]: 21-49.


Ong, T. and Leggett, J., “Design of the HEFTI Storytelling Engine,” Proceedings of the TIDSE 2003 Conference, Darmstadt, Germany, March 2003, forthcoming.

Ong, T., and Leggett, J., “A New Approach to the Design of Interactive Storytelling Engines with Applications in the Educational Setting,” Proceedings of the Ed-Media 2002 Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, June 2003, forthcoming.


Monroy, C., Furuta, R. and Mallen, E., “Visualizing and Exploring Picasso’s World,” Proceedings of the JCDL 2003 Conference, Houston, Texas, May 2003, forthcoming.

ConclusionConclusion

“Humanities Informatics is a very important research area that is fundamental to all institutions that claim scholarship as their primary activity”

John Leggett

Documents

Humanities Informatics “The application of information technology to the understanding of the human record” Steering Committee for Computer Science and