RECOMMENDED: Research data: To keep or not to keep?

A recent study, “Research data: To keep or not to keep?”, by Neil Beagrie (Charles Beagrie Ltd) aims to assist researchers in determining whether or not data collected should be retained. According to the study, reproducibility and research integrity and the potential for reuse of data for research are the primary factors in determining to keep ...

POST: Humanities Savior Narrative (The First Draft)

Glen Worthey joins The First Draft podcast hosts Elijah Meeks, Jason Heppler, and Paul Zenke (all of Stanford University) for an episode entitled “Humanities Savior Narrative.” Their lively, wide-ranging conversation touches on the recent Digital Humanities 2014 conference (including discussion of keynotes, #dhsheep, and multilinguality), the “big tent,”  the question of whether DH will save or become synonymous with ...

TaDiRAH: Building Capacity for Integrated Access

TaDiRAH: Building Capacity for Integrated Access
In this post, Quinn Dombrowski (UC Berkeley) and Jody Perkins (Miami University in Ohio) introduce the digital humanities taxonomy project known as TaDiRAH, reviewing the motivating factors behind its inception and outlining future goals of the project. Both are members of the TaDiRAH Coordinating Committee. TaDiRAH, the Taxonomy of Digital Research Activities in the Humanities, ...

RESOURCE: Defining Digital Humanities: A Reader

Ashgate Publishing Group has recently released Defining Digital Humanities: A Reader. Edited by Melissa Terras, Julianne Nyhan, and Edward Vanhoutte, the book includes contributions from Geoffrey Rockwell, John Unsworth, Jerome McGann, Willard McCarty, Julia Flanders, Chris Forster, Fred Gibbs, Bethany Nowviskie, and many others. The compilation includes essays and blog posts from the last 10 years, and ...

RESOURCE: Encouraging Digital Scholarly Publishing in the Humanities: White Paper

The University Press of North Georgia has released the final white paper from its NEH-funded project, “Encouraging Digital Scholarly Publishing in the Humanities” [pdf]. In addition to going over the design of the project and the conclusions to be drawn, the paper attends to areas of common interest for “libraries, presses, faculty, and administrators,” and includes ...

RESOURCE: Best of Both Worlds: Museums, Libraries, and Archives in a Digital Age

G. Wayne Clough, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Insitution, recently published a freely available ebook outlining the efforts of libraries, archives, and museums like the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the British Library to create and sustain digital strategies while maintaining meaningful in-person experiences. Clough calls for collaboration among institutions as well as ...

RESOURCE: Now Available, Software Takes Command, Open Access Edition

Lev Manovtch has announced an Open Access edition of his new book Software Takes Command, published by Bloomsbury Academic. First released in July 2013, as volume 5 of a series of International Texts in Critical Media Aesthetics, the book traces the concepts and techniques of contemporary software like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Final Cut back to development ...

RESOURCE: Humanities Unbound: Supporting Careers and Scholarship Beyond the Tenure Track

The finished report and data from the Scholarly Communication Institute’s study on graduate education and career development is now available. “Humanities Unbound: Supporting Careers and Scholarship Beyond the Tenure Track” includes specific recommendations on how to better prepare graduate students for alt-ac jobs, including: Evaluate and modify required aspects of graduate-level curricula Rethink standard methods ...

RESOURCE: Walk This Way: Detailed Steps for Transferring Born-Digital Content from Media You Can Read In-house

OCLC has released the third report in the “Demystifying Born Digital” series: Walk This Way: Detailed Steps for Transferring Born-Digital Content from Media You Can Read In-house [pdf]. Designed to be a practical guide for those beginning to work with born-digital content, the report: [C]ollects the assembled wisdom of experienced practitioners to help those with less ...

RESOURCE: Archive Journal, Issue 3: Data Curation

Patricia Hswe (Penn State) and Erin O’Meara (Gates Archive) have edited the latest issue of the open access Archive Journal, focused entirely on data curation. As their opening contribution, “Curating the Analog, Curating the Digital,” explains: In essence, this issue explores the various roles, perspectives, and practices grounded in the commitment to preserve data, for ...

POST: Respect Des Bits: Archival Theory Encounters Digital Objects and Media

In his latest post for The Signal, Trevor Owens explores digital objects through the lens of archival theory, such as respect des fonds, or the archival imperative to maintain original order. He explains: While the representations of digital objects often appear non-linear it is critical to not be seduced by the flickering and transitory view of ...