Workshop: uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the arts and humanities

Organisers: Lorna Hughes, King’s College London, Rob Procter, University of Manchester

5th September 2010, room AA103 DRHA Conference, Brunel University

Background

What do arts and humanities researchers want from e-Infrastructure services? What services and resources make up the e-Infrastructure for the arts and humanities? How are these services accessed and used by researchers across the disciplines? How are they transforming the research practice, and enabling new forms of scholarship? What are the barriers to using these services in the arts and humanities, and how might these be addressed? If academic research is to build on the foundations of the emerging e-Infrastructure, it is essential to understand potential barriers to wider adoption and uptake of these services, and to develop strategies to address them.

The JISC recently funded the project “Enabling uptake of e-Infrastructure services” (part of its Community Engagement strand) to investigate barriers to uptake of e-Infrastructure services in the UK. The project has now concluded, and a final report and other materials are now available. This workshop will discuss the findings of the project with a selected group of arts and humanities researchers and practitioners to discuss the impact of these findings on shaping future policy for research support. The workshop will specifically focus on issues of adoption of e-Infrastructure, and use of related support services, for research in the arts. It will be an opportunity to discuss strategies for increasing engagement with, and adoption of, e-infrastructure services in the UK, and to frame the findings of the project within the way that researchers see their practice and the role that advanced information technologies play in their work. At the same time, we wish to provide service providers, and funders, with a sound grasp of the issues.

Who should attend?

Researchers, IT service providers, and those planning and implementing computing for the arts and humanities. We particularly welcome the participation of early career researchers, and postgraduates. This event will discuss the broader impact of the e-Uptake findings for the arts, and stimulate debate on what should happen next.

Registration

There is no charge to attend the workshop, but you must register. To register, please send e-mail to anna.ashton@kcl.ac.uk

Provisional Workshop programme:

13:00
arrival and sandwich lunch

13:30
Rob Procter: About the e-Uptake project and its findings
Lorna Hughes: enabling e-Uptake in the arts and humanities
Both: aims and objectives of the workshop

14:00
presentations and discussions: e-Research services for the arts and humanities
David deRoure, Oxford e-Research Centre
Daisy Abbott, Glasgow School of Art
Martin Turner, Research Computing at the University of Manchester

15:00
Presentations and discussions: arts and humanities researchers will give short presentations on their perspectives on:
“the use and delivery of e-research and e-infrastructure support services, tools and methods for the arts and humanities”
Helen Bailey, University of Bedfordshire
Vince Gaffney, University of Birmingham
Paul Ell, Queen’s University Belfast

15:45
Tea

16:00
Final discussion

16:45
Close