organizaonal strategies in dh centersdhlabs2016.lach.edu.pl/pdf/smiljana_ubois... · this place was...

Organiza(onalStrategiesinDHCenters

Dr.SmiljanaAntonijevićUboisThePennsylvaniaStateUniversity

DHCentres:ExperiencesandPerspecAvesUniversityofWarsawDecember8,2016

2011-2015

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences

Penn State University

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research

23 institutions, USA and Europe; 258 participants

Interviews, observations, contextual inquiry

Faculty, students, administrators, developers

Individual, disciplinary, and organizational levels

11 DH centers

Pioneers and those still in the making

Research-intensive universities; dedicated physical space

5-15 staff members

Strategies

Whatisthemission?RevoluAonizethewayhumanistsaredoingtheirwork.Inspirehumaniststothinkaboutdigitaltechnologies.

WhodevelopsaDHcenter?BoSom-up;scholars(notnecessarilyhumanists);earlydevelopments.Top-down;administrators;laterdevelopments.

“ThisplacewasthecreaAonoftwoofus,humaniAesfaculty.AXerfiveyears,ouruniversityfinallyinvested,andthatmade[thecenter]possible,butitwasaboSom-upthing.Itwasn’ttheuniversitysaying,‘Weneedtohaveoneofthosethings;giveusadigitalhumaniAescenter.’

ProfessorofEnglishDirectorofaDHcenter

“TheimpetusforestablishingthecenterwastoseewhatwouldhappenifwemovedcentralITandthelibraryclosertogetheraroundsupporAngDH.Iwasthelibrarianforliteratureandhistory,andmybosssaidoneday,‘Well,whydon’twejustaddthewordsdigitalhumaniAestotheendofyourjobAtleandseewhathappens?LibrarianDeputydirectorofaDHcenter?

HowtodevelopaDHcenter?Build(anicespace,fullofnewdevices,etc.)itandtheywillcome.Planandstrategizecarefullywhatkindofacenteryouwanttodevelop.

“Whenwejustthrewthedoorsopen,withoutaclearsenseofwhowe’retargeAngservicesto,theundergraduatessawthemonitorswerethebiggestaroundandmovedin.GraduatestudentsandfacultywouldpoketheirheadsinthedoorandseeFacebookingundergraduates,anddidn’treallyusethespacelikewethoughtthattheywould.?ManagerofaDHcenter?

“Wedecidedwereallywantedtomakearesearchenvironment,andnotaroomfullofhardware.So,thecenterisnoplaceyoucangoandfindlotsofgadgetsandplaywithwires.ProfessorofRhetoric

DirectorofaDHcenter?

People

Whoaretheusers?FormulaAnggoalsandidenAfyingtheintendedusercommunity-veryimportantinplanningDHCs.SupporAnghumanistsordigitalhumanists?ReachingandrecruiAngusers.

“Wemadeadecisionindevelopingthecentertoconcentrateonthosetoolsthatwouldbeofusetothebroadestpossiblespectrumofhumanists.WewantedtobuildasitethatwouldnotincreasethegheSoizaAonofDH,butbringitasmuchaspossibleintothemainstream.Professorofhistory

DirectorofaDHcenter?

“Theseareverybusypeople,andtheyareulAmatelymakingchoicesbetweendotheygoandpayaSenAontoourdemonstraAonaboutdigitaltools,ordotheyspendthathourandfocusontheirownresearchquesAons.Andso,we’recompeAngwithnaturalprioriAesinascholar’slife. ProgramdirectorofaDHcenter?

“Ifyoucanreachtherightpeopleoutinthefacultyorevengradstudents,that’samuchmorecompellingargumentthananythingwecansay.EventhoughwemayhavePhD’sandmayusetechnologyforourownresearch,we’renotinthesameroleastheyare.Archeologist

R&DspecialistinaDHcenter?

Whoisthestaff?SelecAonandcombinaAonofskills.RecogniAonandreward.Careerpaths.

“SmartorganizaAonswillhavemorepeoplelikeme,whocanspeakbothprogrameseandscholarese.IfyouhaveaDHcenter,youneedsomebodywhocantalkandmoAvatepeopleintheprogrammingsideandactuallyexplainwhatahumanististalkingabout.

ResearcherofRussianliteratureDeveloperinaDHcenter

?

“FromanadministraAvepointofview,howarewethinkingaboutpeople’sAmeandlabor?It’sgoingtobemaybetheissuethatIthink[DH]centersshouldengagewith,becauseourinheritedsystemsofclassifyingemployeesarenotwellsuitedtoDHpracAces.ProfessorofSpanish

DirectorofaDHcenter?

“Ifwecan’tgetthisgeneraAonofgraduatestudentscomfortablewithalternatemodesofwork,notfeelingliketheyarefailuresiftheydon’tgetatenure-trackposiAon,andseeinggoodcareerpathsforthemselveswithintheDH,we’regoingtolosethatgeneraAonofscholars.ProfessorofDutchliterature

DeputydirectorofaDHcenter

Activities

Ontheirown.

“It’ssuchanindividualizedthing,whataparAcularpersonneedsandwherethey’reatintheirlearningprocess,andthoseclassesaresogenericthatitjustmissesthemarkalot.So,learningaboutnewtoolsandmethodswouldbefromcolleaguesmostly. Assistantprofessorofarthistory

“Ithinkwe’vebeenabletobreakthat[digitalscholarship]downintosmallerstepsthatpeoplecanmakewithoutdumbingitdown,withoutmakingitseemtrivial,butreallyemphasizingtheshiXinthinkingthat’shappeninginthehumaniAes,andsupporAngthatwiththetechnicalside. Manager of a DH center

Conclusions and recommendations

ThetransiAontowardsdigitalscholarshipisacomplexprocessthatneedstobehandledinanequallycomplex,systemaAc,andinclusivemanner.TheenArehumaniAessocio-technicalsystemsneedtoco-developwithtransformaAonsincontemporaryscholarship.

EquippingaDHCwiththerightspaceandtechnologymaSers,butisinsufficientforsuccess.Digitalscholarshipisnotmerelysupportedbytechnology,butconsAtutedthroughit,shapingbothhowandwhatweknow.

OrganizaAonalframeworkthatsupportsinnovaAon,yetavoidstop-downiniAaAvesformulatedirrespecAveofpracAce,andwithliSleornosupportforalternaAveandspontaneousdevelopments.

PosiAoningDHCsbothconceptuallyandphysicallyconnectedwithotherstreamsofhumaniAesscholarship.DoDHCsshelterinnovaAvehumaniAesworkfrompotenAallydogmaAcapproachesin“tradiAonal”humaniAes,orkeepthelaSerimmunefrom“dangerousepistemicvirus”(Liu,2009)?

UniversiAesneedtopromotehybridityofresearch,workforce,andknowledgeproducAonintheoveralluniversitysystemratherthanprovideisolatedplaygroundsforsilo-stylework.

Hardback 9781137484178 Oct 2015 $95.00 $66.50

212 pp 216 mm x 140 mm

Amongst(Digital(Humanists!An(Ethnographic( Study(of(Digital(Knowledge(Production!!Smiljana(Antonijević,(Ph.D.(www.smiljana.org!("This&thorough&and&far0reaching&study&of&academic&research&practices&fills&an&important&gap&in&debates&about&the&Digital&Humanities.&Using&extensive&ethnographic&research&at&&twenty0three&institutions&in&Europe&and&the&US,&Antonijević&provides&engaging&analysis&&of&digitally&mediated&knowledge&practices&in&the&humanities&from&three&perspectives:&&individual&scholar,&discipline,&and&institution.&An&invaluable&contribution&to&research&&into&the&changing&roles&and&habits&of&the&(increasingly&digital)&Humanist.”&Paul%Spence,%Senior%Lecturer%in%Digital%Humanities,%King’s%College%London,%UK%&“At&last,&a&thorough&field&study&that&does&not&approach&the&digital&humanities&as&a&&sole&entity,&but&puts&the&practices&of&humanities&researchers&central.&This&&comprehensive,&multifaceted&ethnography&of&the&expectations,&successes,&but&also&&failures&of&all&sorts&of&actors&using&digital&methods&in&humanities&research&should&&not&only&be&read&by&(digital)&humanists.&Policy&makers&of&universities&and&funding&organizations&could&also&benefit&from&this&empirical&exploration&of&how&digital&humanists&work&in&practice.”&–&Charles%van%den%Heuvel,%Chair,%Digital%Methods%and%Historical%Disciplines,%University%of%Amsterdam,%The%Netherlands%&“This&ethnography&of&258&digital&humanities&practitioners&–&seen&as&individual&scholars&doing&‘boundary&work,’&and&as&participants&in&disciplinary&and&organizational&&evolution&–&moves&us&decisively&beyond&the&‘who’s&in/who’s&out’&misunderstandings&&of&the&past&several&years.&Antonijević’s&insightful&study&demonstrates&that,&when&it&&comes&to&new&modes&of&knowledge&production&in&the&humanities,&we’re&all&in.”&&Bethany%Nowviskie,%Research%Associate,%Professor,%Digital%Humanities,%%University%of%Virginia,%USA%%“Finally&someone&is&paying&attention&to&what&people&really&are&doing&when&they&say&&they&are&doing&digital&humanities.&Antonijević&brings&empirical&depth&and&analytic&&clarity&to&a&field&often&characterized&either&by&overblown&claims&of&radical&&transformation&or&deep&skepticism&about&the&possibilities&of&digital&technologies.&&This&book&is&essential&reading&for&those&engaged&with&digital&humanities.”!!Sally%Wyatt,%Professor%and%Programme%Leader,%eHumanities%Group,%%Royal%Netherlands%Academy%of%Arts%and%Sciences,%The%Netherlands%!About%the%book&Amongst!Digital!Humanists& brings&an&ethnographic&account&of&the&changing&landscape&&of&humanities&scholarship&as&it&affects&individual&scholars,&academic&fields&and&institutions,&and&argues&for&a&pluralistic&vision&of&digital&knowledge&production&&in&the&humanities.&Based&on&fieldwork&conducted&at& twenty0three&academic&&and&funding&institutions&in&the&US&and&Europe&and&on&interviews&with&researchers,&students,& librarians,&web&developers,&policy&makers,&and&funders,&this&study&shows&&how&digital&technologies&transform&the&ways&humanists& envision,&carry&out,&communicate,&and&organize&their&work&and&approach&their&objects&of&inquiry.

CONTENTS Introduction&1.&Digital&Humanities&as&Theory&and&Practice&2.&Workflows&of&Digital&Scholars&3.&Disciplinary&(Re)Orientations&4.&Organizational&Patterns&5.&Beyond&Expectations&Appendix&&

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