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Humanists Have Data. Digital Humanists Need Data Skills

As the materials and analytical practices of humanities research become increasingly digital, the theoretical knowledge and practical skills of information science, librarianship, and archival science — which come together in the research, and practice of data curation — will become more vital to humanists.

Carrying out computational research with digital materials requires that both scholars and information professionals understand how to manage and curate data over its entire lifetime of interest. At the least, individual scholars must be able to document their data curation strategies and evaluate those of collaborators and other purveyors of humanities data. More fully integrating data curation into digital research involves fluency with topics such as disciplinary research cultures, publication, information sharing, and reward practices, descriptive standards, metadata formats, and the technical characteristics of digital data.

The Digital Humanities Data Curation Curriculum

The three-day workshop will provide a strong introductory grounding in data curation concepts and practices, focusing on the special issues and challenges of data curation in the digital humanities. Learning will be largely case-based, supplemented by short lectures, guest presentations, and practical exercises.

All participants will also have access to an online resource for sharing knowledge about data curation for the humanities. This resource will build on material from the existing DH Curation Guide.

Participants will learn how to:

• Model humanities data for sustainable computational research
• Identify, assess, and mitigate risks to their data
• Evaluate tools and systems for working with data from a curatorial perspective
• Plan and implement data management during all phases of a project's lifecycle
• Leverage data curation skills to improve scholarly publications, grant applications, and promotion dossiers
• Understand and stay current with the landscape of data curation research

Audience

The Digital Humanities Data Curation Institute workshops are aimed at humanities researchers — whether traditional faculty or alternative (alt-ac) professionals — as well as librarians, archivists, other information professionals, and advanced graduate students.

Application Instructions

The institute will run from Monday morning, June 24, through Wednesday afternoon, June 26. Thanks to support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, limited funding will be available to offset the cost of attending the institute and will be awarded based on need. Subvention of travel and lodging costs will be handled via reimbursement. Up to three people from a single institution may apply. The Institute will be limited to 20 participants.

ApplicationTo apply, please complete the application form by February 15, 2013.

Questions? Contact Institute Coordinator Megan Senseney at mfsense2 [at] illinois.edu or (217) 244-5574.

Future Digital Humanities Data Curation Events

The Summer 2013 Workshop is the first in a three-event series funded by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and is organized by the Center for Informatics Research in Science and Scholarship (CIRSS) at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS), the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH), and the Women Writers Project (WWP) at Brown University.

Two more Digital Humanities Data Curation Institute workshops will be held at Brown University and the University of Maryland in 2013-14. Sign up below to receive more information about future events.