Digital humanities sounds like an oxymoron at first glance, but the term has been floating around for over a decade and still a precise definition is difficult to pin down. Dhaka Tribune brought this news to our attention in their article, “The humanities go digital.”
Data, database, and metadata are the initial concepts but at its core, digital humanities is more akin to a common methodological outlook than an investment in any one specific set of technologies. It is also a social undertaking with networks of people who have been working together, sharing research, and collaborating for many years.
In higher education, the digital humanities have supported a remarkable diversity of teaching, scholarship and service bringing to life the promise of digital technologies for exploring the most important questions in the humanities.
In academic research, information from the data is used to mold analyses. Digital humanities makes new kinds of teaching and research possible, while at the same time studying and critiquing how these impact cultural heritage and digital culture.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Data Harmony, a unit of Access Innovations, the world leader in indexing and making content findable.
