Abstract

This paper aims to reflect the growing importance of the term "digital humanities", whether defined as a disciplinary field, a training profile or a movement linked to open access. Although closely related to library and information science, digital humanities is often used in projects without the collaboration of libraries. Developing specific support centres is one way to facilitate libraries' cooperation and participation in digital humanities projects.

Abstract

The production and use of digital resources is an increasingly important subject within the humanities. Currently significant amounts of resources are invested into digitization projects, databases, websites and other types of digital resources. However, there are few studies that address their production, use and dissemination. The present article introduces the main issues around the production of digital tools and resources as well as the concept of “digital humanities”. We present and analyze the results of an initial diagnosis of the digital humanities landscape, taking as a case study the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México – UNAM). These results are discussed and the main challenges and opportunities for the field presented.

Abstract

Digital humanities researchers experience some difficulties in accessing and using computational tools which are meant to assist them when carrying out queries of texts analysis in their studies. This is due to the fact that information concerning tools in this field and their effective usage is not linked to the information about their location and utilization. Clarin IULA-UPF Center aims at compiling and relating required information in a catalogue of linked data in order to offer researchers an integrated way of accessing it. This article presents details about the design and selection of the materials and description tools included in the catalogue.

Abstract

The central role that technology centers play in the consolidation of digital humanities (DH) is highlighted. For the library and information science area, and particularly for academic and research libraries, working with DH is a strategic opportunity to enhance their cyberinfrastructure. It is argued that to consolidate DH in Spain it is necessary to provide technology centers specific for the humanities and social sciences.

Abstract

Digital humanities (DH) have adopted different institutional forms in academia (centers, networks, projects, etc.). This study addresses the current state of DH through an analysis of its centers, as reported by the association CenterNet. We analysed websites, missions and social media presence of the centers in order to provide an overall picture. Results show a remarkable heterogeneity in the way DH are organised. Finally, some of the most debated issues (for instance, the borders of the field, problems of inclussion and exclusion, or a new cultural colonialism) are discussed.

Abstract

Digital humanities offer new possibilities to do historical research on journalism in the Modern age. Based on the so-called digital history techniques and methods, we suggest a need to find new, uniform strategies that use the most commonly used standards and protocols in the international scholarly community, so we can construct digitally tagged corpora for future systematic analysis. We review the traditional criteria used to describe newssheets, using the concept of seriality and propose a customized xml/TEI schema to codify this type of texts. We present the preliminary results of the mapping of the news flow networks in the Modern age in Europe. Finally, the conclusions shed some light on the relevance and benefits of applying digital humanities tools to the study of the first European manifestations of what was to become known as ‘journalism’.

Abstract

With the aim of preserving artistic heritage, in the past museums have removed paintings and furniture from the places they were created for. Over the decades the curators of these places have begun to request that these artistic works be returned, conscious of the significance that many of these works now have. Some institutions and museums have responded to these requests by providing copies of the original works. Traditionally these copies were handmade but now digital resources are used, such as audiovisual technology. The project Taüll 1123 (Lleida, Spain) is an example of the use of these new tools for the benefit of the artistic heritage and its visitors.

Abstract

With the rapid development of the digital humanities (DH) field, demands for historical and cultural heritage data have generated deep interest the data provided by libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs). In order to enhance LAM data’s quality and discoverability while enabling a self-sustaining ecosystem, “semantic enrichment” becomes a strategy increasingly used by LAMs during recent years. This article introduces a number of semantic enrichment methods and efforts that can be applied to LAM data at various levels, aiming to support deeper and wider exploration and use of LAM data in DH research. The real cases, research projects, experiments, and pilot studies shared in this article demonstrate endless potential for LAM data, whether they are structured, semi-structured, or unstructured, regardless of what types of original artifacts carry the data. Following their roadmaps would encourage more effective initiatives and strengthen this effort to maximize LAM data’s discoverability, use- and reuse-ability, and their value in the mainstream of DH and Semantic Web.

Abstract

It is argued that despite the many changes being experienced by research and specialized libraries, and documentation centers, which cause them doubts about their future, there are some certainties that allow these centers to properly address their activities. It is proposed to distinguish between minor and profound changes and it is affirmed that, for information centers, the fundamental change has been to go from a situation in which information was scarce and the time to look for it abundant, to another in which time to look for information is scarce and information is abundant. This should help redirect the activities of the information centers -following M. Buckland- to stop focusing on the ‘information- as-an-object’ to concentrate on the ‘information-as-a-process’. Two consolidated movements should help them to guide their future: the Open Science and the Digital Humanities. Some information products that reflect a change in the ways people approach and use information are examined: Museo del Prado’s The Collection, Transcribe Bentham, eBird and Mapa Literari Català. Finally, the author recommends to documentation centers, and specialized and research libraries to guide their services to digitize their heritage collections in an enriched manner, to promote citizen participation, and to create and strengthen communities.

Abstract

This paper critically addresses the conditioning factors and considerations underlying the projection of Digital Humanities, as an operational discipline, to the field of educational praxis. The colonisation of this new area of competence consolidates the trend of translation of Digital Humanities, from its consideration as a methodological apparatus at the service of research, to the environment of professional praxis in various areas of knowledge. In order to address this issue, a conceptual delimitation is layed out to characterise the Digital Humanities in the academic environment, as opposed to the common use of the concept of ICT in Education. From this perspective, the development of new epistemic cultures is addressed in terms of the new ways of thinking implied by the flows and channels of knowledge reception in digital educational environments, as well as the need to integrate the Digital Humanities into these ecosystems in order to design and implement tools and sources of information semantically adapted to the needs of the environment, in relation to the different curricular requirements or pedagogical perspectives of each academic context. Finally, a brief allusion is made to how all these issues come together in what is known as “digital didactics”, understood as the set of strategies that inspire the new teaching-learning processes, optimising the pedagogical possibilities offered by new technological developments.