digital humanities @ #MLA15

MATT ROBERTS

WHAT DID I DO?

▪ 78 panels tagged “dh”(783 panels in total)

▪ attended product demonstrations (mla international bibliography, juxta editions, hathitrust research center)

1. @matt_robertsphd live tweeted from each panel

2. gained appx. 40 followers during conference and several more since

3. live tweeting’s positive effects

KEY PANELS

▪ postcolonial digital humanities: praxis #mla15 #s14

▪ what does it mean to publish: new forms of scholarly communication #mla15 #s242

▪ disrupting the digital humanities #mla15 #s448

▪ genealogies of the digital humanities #mla15 #s604

OBSERVATIONS

▪ asking “what is dh” is the wrong question; we’ve been digital for years

▪ dh is inter-disciplinary & requires institutional infrastructure that encourages collaboration

▪ dh articulated in the 3 interconnected domains– research (digital projects, data curation, access/preservation)– pedagogy/teaching (use technology to improve learning outcomes)– theory (e.g. dhpoco)

UCI LIBRARIES AND DH

▪ erds to contribute ti the majority of ‘digital scholarship’

▪ e-scholarship, web archiving, asset management only part of the pie

▪ current manifestation of ‘digital scholarship services’ geared toward sciences

▪ digital services for humanists lack cohesive and integrated structure

OPPORTUNITIES

▪ training

▪ clarify libraries’ digital scholarship services portfolio

▪ collaboration with humanities commons and other academic programs

▪ promote collaboration to overcome dept. siloization

▪ improve technology to support teaching needs (teaching is research!)

▪ largest public library in o.c. can better serve the public

▪ provide access to technology and support

CHALLENGES

▪ funding to develop services, but…

▪ funding protocol for external grants somewhat cumbersome and inefficient (e.g. recent neh grant opportunities)

▪ library services conceived of as mutually exclusive from collections (e.g. literary journalism needs)

▪ library space and current licensing agreements do not promote collaboration (e.g. technology in mrc not well integrated; access to advanced tech is limited)

▪ digital services structure that balances serving liberal arts and sciences, and that serves the public

▪ dhig and emerging technologies lack authority, though often “the creative”

QUESTIONS? RECOMMENDATIONS