WORKSHOP INVITATION
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY: ITS ROLE IN HUMANITIES RESEARCH
MONDAY 13 OCTOBER 2008

The Humanities Research Institute (HRI) at the University of Sheffield invites you to attend a community-building workshop on digital research in the arts and humanities. This workshop is the second in a series of events organised by the AHRC- and JISC-supported Network of Expert Centres in the digital arts and humanities. Further information about the Network, and about the purpose of the workshops and the questions that they seek to address, is attached. See also http://www.arts-humanities.net/noc.
This workshop is the second in a series of events organised by the AHRC- and JISC-supported Network of Expert Centres in the digital arts and humanities. Further information about the Network, and about the purpose of the workshops and the questions that they seek to address, may be found at http://www.arts-humanities.net/noc.

The workshop will focus on the role of digital technology within humanities research and the extent to which the current landscape—technological, methodological and cultural—helps or hinders scholars and institutions with an interest in pursuing digital research. The event will draw upon the experience of the HRI and other centres, projects and individuals (creators and users of digital resources). It will also involve scholars who would not identify themselves as practitioners of the digital humanities, but who are interested in learning more about the potential of digital technologies, and are also in a position to contribute to the discussions from the perspective of ‘traditional’ humanities research.

PROGRAMME

The venue is the Conference Room in the Douglas Knoop Centre of the Humanities Research Institute (HRI) at the University of Sheffield. A location map, together with information about travel and transport links, may be found at http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/location/map.html. Please enter through the gates on Gell Street (signed ‘Douglas Knoop Centre’).

10.00–10.30 Arrival and coffee
10.30–10.45 Welcome and introduction (David Shepherd, Director, HRI)

Session 1 (10.45–12.30): Methodology (chaired by Michael Pidd, Research and Development Officer, HRI Digital)

The first session will examine models of collaboration and use, exploring how technology can assist with answering research questions and, often, help to formulate new ones. Each presentation will last for no more than 20 minutes, leaving ample time for discussion.

• Bob Shoemaker (University of Sheffield) on the Old Bailey (http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/) and Plebeian Lives (http://www.shef.ac.uk/hri/projects/projectpages/plebeianlive...) projects, and the challenges faced in terms of integrated analysis of diverse datasets and distributed searching
• Mike Meredith (University of Sheffield) on Virtual Vellum (http://www.shef.ac.uk/hri/projects/projectpages/virtualvellu...) and associated projects
• Ian Gregory (University of Lancaster) on ‘From historical censuses to Lake District literature: Uses of GIS in the humanities’

12.30–1.30 Lunch

Session 2 (1.30–3.00): Scale and critical mass (chaired by David Robey, Director of the AHRC’s ICT in Arts and Humanities Research Programme)
The second session will explore the extent to which use and long-term sustainability of humanities research resources depend on national and international infrastructure. Each presentation will last for no more than 20 minutes, leaving ample time for discussion.

• Martin Lewis (Director of Library Services, University of Sheffield) on progress with the UK Research Data Service feasibility study (http://www.ukrds.ac.uk/)
• Alastair Dunning (Digitisation Programme Manager, JISC) on how we might develop a critical mass of digital resources—and whether we need to.

3.00–3.15 Tea

Session 3 (3.15–4.15): Culture (chaired by David Shepherd, Director, HRI)
The final session will be an open discussion of the implications of the digital humanities for the culture of humanities research, with reference to matters such as peer review, attitudes to risk, impact and embedding. A key question to be addressed will be the contribution that the Network of Expert Centres can make to overcoming barriers to the integration of the digital humanities into the broader humanities research culture.

The discussion will be opened by Professor Sylvia Adamson (School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, University of Sheffield), who will respond to the presentations in earlier sessions, and raise questions about the extent to which the digital humanities as currently conceived and practised address the expectations and needs of the ‘traditional’ humanities researcher.

4.15 Workshop ends