Comments on: Scholarship and Digital Humanities

By: Liste non exhaustive des thématiques abordées lors des THATCamp | ThatCamp Paris 2010

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:09:22 +0000

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By: Kurt Knoerl

Kurt Knoerl — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:20:20 +0000

There is a growing realization in the archaeological community that the job is not done until the report is written and the data is shared with tax paying public that funds such work. As both a historian and an archaeologist I have increasingly wondered why publicly funded historians get a pass on the obligation for public outreach. “That’s the public historian’s job” some might argue. Personally I think that argument is weak. Why can’t historians write their scholarly works and make an effort to share that information with the public? No, it won’t get you tenure…now, but in the days of tighter funding, projects at public universities that engage a public audience provide tangible reasons for supporting university programs.

While this may not be the popular (or realistic some would say) position I believe the work of digital historians is a step in that direction by virtue of the more accessible nature of online projects. Even just reaching a broader age range of students is an excellent start. It is in the best interests of the field and I hope it’s a trend that continues. If my dissertation adviser can say to me “explain why we should care about your dissertation topic, why is it relevant,” I believe the public should ask the same question.

By: Dan Cohen

Dan Cohen — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:41:48 +0000

I have much to say about this, and have recently gone from optimism to pessimism about the future of scholarly communication in a digital age. Some good pre-camp reading: http://cshe.berkeley.edu/publications/publications.php?id=300

By: Karin Dalziel

Karin Dalziel — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:21:18 +0000

I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but I am interested in this too. I’m coming at it from a bit of a different angle- I’m a library student and may or may not end up with a tenure position, but I hope to be part of interdisciplinary teams to help scholars (and students!) with digital projects. So I’d like to know what to say when asked “well, will this count towards tenure?” or “will my teacher regard a digital project as highly as a traditional paper?” The answer, of course, will be different for each situation, but I think the more stories and ideas I hear, the more I’ll be able to help such people make their cases for digital scholarship.