Presentation on "Digital Humanities: where should we be going?", School of Advanced Study, October 22nd 2014

1. Digital Humanities: Where should we be
going?
Prof. Lorna M. Hughes
University of Wales Chair in Digital Collections
National Library of Wales
@lornamhughes
School of Advanced Study, University of London, October 22nd 2014

2. Digital Humanities™
Computers for the Humanities?
A Record of the Conference
Sponsored by Yale University
on a Grant from IBM
January 22-23, 1965
The Digital Humanities Manifesto, 2.0
2009
http://manifesto.humanities.ucla.edu/

3. NLW Research Programme in Digital Collections
• Develop new digital
content that addresses
specific research needs,
in partnership with
academics and other key
stakeholders
• Enhancing digital
content for research,
teaching or community
engagement
• Understand use of
existing digital content
• http://llgc.org.uk/resear
ch

4. NeDiMAH: Network for Digital Methods in the Arts and
Humanities
ESF Research Network, 2011-15 Lorna Hughes, UK (Chair)
 Researching the digital
methods in arts & humanities
 A collaborative forum of
communities of practice
 Outcome: a formal ontology
for Digital Humanities,
including classification and a
shared vocabulary
 Contributed to ESF Report,
Research Infrastructures in the
Arts and Humanities
www.nedimah.eu
NeDiMAH activities and participants

5. From digital humanities to scholarly ecosystem
• Challenge 1: create and sustain better digital
content as a process of co-production with libraries,
archives and museums
• Challenge 2: create environments for better use, re-use
and linking of digital content
• Challenge 3: understand the opportunities of the
new funding landscape

6. Challenge 1: create and sustain better digital content as a process
of co-production with libraries, archives and museums
http://welshnewspapers.llgc.org.uk

7. Challenge 1: create and sustain better digital content as a process
of co-production with libraries, archives and museums
•Cymru1914.org The Welsh Experience of the First World War
•Consolidated Archive: newspapers, images, audio, photographs
•Content from six HEI special collections, four local archives and BBC Wales archive
•Developed in collaboration with academic researchers of the First World War
•Retains archival hierarchy of content

8. Challenge 1: create and sustain better digital content as a process
of co-production with libraries, archives and museums
‘The snows of yesteryear: narrating
extreme weather’
eira.llgc.org.uk
Welsh wills online
www.llgc.org.uk

9. Challenge 2: create environments for better use, re-use and
linking of digital content
Variants on “Belgian refugees”
In Welsh and English, 1914-19
cymru1914.org
1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

10. Challenge 2: create environments for better use, re-use and
linking of digital content
“We hoped to be able to
send send all these people to
Glasgow at Easter…”
19th April, 1916: War
Refugees Committee
cymru1914.org
W.D. Roberts manuscripts,
NLW MS 9982E

11. Challenge 3: understand the opportunities of the new
funding landscape
Watson, W., Huth, H., & Bromhead, A. C. 1., 1642. The resolution of the women
of London to the Parliament... [London]: printed for William Watson

12. Addressing the challenges
• Better collaborations with the cultural heritage sector
• Better partnerships around data creation and
management
• Develop creative approaches to funding, inward
investment and capacity building

13. Thank you!
• www.llgc.org.uk/research
• Twitter: @lornamhughes