tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14256487557257215112024-03-13T13:48:10.676+00:00Anna Dowling's BlogCharting my forays into the world of Digital Humanities and my never ceasing love for English literature, simultaneously.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-18201299723599351352013-03-12T21:27:00.002+00:002013-03-12T21:27:16.969+00:00Masking Reality: Baudrillard and the Simulacrum<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.ub.edu/histofilosofia/gmayos/img/BaudrillardJPG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.ub.edu/histofilosofia/gmayos/img/BaudrillardJPG.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(<a href="http://www.ub.edu/histofilosofia/gmayos/1presentacio.htm">http://www.ub.edu/histofilosofia/gmayos/1presentacio.htm</a>)</div>
<br />
Having read <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Baudrillard">Jean Baudrillard's</a> philosophical work,<i> <a href="https://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/baudrillard-simulacra_and_simulation.pdf">Simulacra and Simulation</a> </i>for a recent MA class, I have come to the conclusion that it is a difficult task to navigate the literary minefield of postmodernist theory, no matter how well you think that you understand it. The following post will attempt to shed some light upon Baudrillard's philosophical musings in this complicated work.<br />
<br />
The simulacrum is advocated as a mask or representation which conceals the lack of truth within reality. The word simulacrum is derived from the Latin which translates to 'likeness or similarity'. Baudrillard presents the simulacrum to be the only truth in this world of falsities. His theory proposes that there is no original, there are only copies of things, which the simulacrum exposes. This ability to expose the truth of falsity represents the simulacrums threat to society.<br />
<br />
The key examples which Baudrillard uses to support his argument are that of Disneyland and the Watergate Scandal. These examples are analysed as false distinctions and they are the key to his idea of the "hyper-reality" (Baudrillard, 5). This is said to give us the sense that we can tell the difference between what is true and what is false; what is real and what is imagined; when really it is all just apart of the facade.<br />
<br />
From a linguistic perspective it is important to focus upon Baudrillard's use of language; his use of Latin in this case. The very fact that the word Simulacrum is in a different language reinforces his argument upon masks. It evokes the word simulation also. He argues that "to simulate is to feign to have what one hasn't" (2). Baudrillard is questioning whether we have gained meaning from language at all or whether it has been lost in translation and in communication. One language masks another, which exemplifies the fact that there is no end to language in this hyper-reality. The 'word' provides meaning to that which is meaningless. In relation to language, this hyper-reality is endless, as language never ends. What I gathered from this insinuation of linguistics is that there is a cyclical nature evident in language, which effects representation, and how we view reality. What Baudrillard is examining through this idea is the nature of repetitiveness, and its lack of depth.<br />
<br />
Nostalgia is strikingly apparent in this piece. Specifically a nostalgia for the real and for meaning. The identity of meaning within concepts of reality is striven for, yet Baudrillard considers it to be irretrievable in a postmodern world. An example of this theoretical application in modern society is the use of media, and its function as a distorter of reality. The image in media and advertising is often heavily embellished to evoke a sense of perfection and to make the consumer want to consume whatever product is being advertised.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">Media theorists, especially Jean Baudrillard, have been intensely </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">concerned with the concept of the simulation in lieu of its interaction with our notion of the</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">real and the original, revealing in this preoccupation media's identity not as a means of</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">communication, but as a means of </span><a href="http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/representation.htm" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-position: 0% 0%; color: #316ac5; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none;">representation</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> (the work of art as a reflection of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">something fundamentally "real") (<a href="http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/simulationsimulacrum.htm">Devin Sandoz</a>).</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> </span></span></blockquote>
In other words, the meaning has been distorted or lost through the misinformation of media. The medium of the messages of the past have been miscommunicated in an effort to save representation. Therefore the aesthetic of truth has been preserved in favour of the actual truth of reality.<br />
<br />
Graham Coulter-Smith has analysed Baudrillard's arguments in the following light:<br />
"Baudrillard stands out almost by default as one of the few theorists to address the new postmodern technologies. However, his interpretation of these technologies appears unremittingly bleak and of limited value to contemporary visual artists. . ." (<i>Jean Baudrillard, Art and Artefact</i>, 91). This bleakness effects the message within his work, even going so far as to mask its own simplistic meaning.<br />
<br />
Whether there is actually a crisis of identity happening in meaning is yet to be seen. Whilst Baudrillard's work is dramatic and provocative in effect, he fails to explore the nature of preservation which is happening in society, in reaction to the advancements of areas within technology and within new cultures. His opinions are very forceful, but they lack enough evidence. The example of Disneyland in particular does not explore the cultural connections which this theme park has to modern society or how the theme park works to preserve this cultural impact in a similar fashion to a museum. One could argue that the very elements which Baudrillard has discussed work in opposition to his ideas, in that they try to relate back to history and to act as reminders of our cultural journey.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Works Cited</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Baudrillard, Jean. Mark Poster ed. <i>Jean Baudrillard, Selected Writings.</i> Stanford: Stanford UP, 1988. Print.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Sandoz, Devin. <i>Simulation, Simlacrum (1)</i><a href="http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/simulationsimulacrum.htm">http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/simulationsimulacrum.htm</a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
Web.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Zurbrugg, Nicholas, ed. <i>Jean Baudrillard, Art and Artefact.</i> London: Sage, 1997. Print.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-58668392144396075592013-01-29T18:50:00.003+00:002013-01-29T18:50:36.090+00:00Revolutionary Media in 'The Hunger Games' Trilogy <blockquote class="tr_bq">
"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(Albert Einstein) </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
Although this posts' contents are a complete u-turn from my usual interests, I could not resist sharing my insights into the use of Digital Media in <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games_trilogy">The Hunger Games</a> </i>Trilogy by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1056741/">Suzanne Collins.</a> I was quite skeptical about reading these books, automatically categorizing them within the ranks of tween literature series' such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_(series)">The Twilight Saga</a>. There's nothing wrong with that franchise of books and films. I have read all of the books and watched all of the films; but I wasn't quite convinced of the hype, or the standard of writing (cough, cough!). However this particular series of books offer a departure from the traditional love story motif, by weaving a discourse on the over-saturation of digital media and the effects that technology can have on society.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u414/Silverdragonwolf/hunger-games.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u414/Silverdragonwolf/hunger-games.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The books are set in the dystopian world of Panem, in which an uprising has led to society being re-arranged into districts labelled one to twelve. Every year these districts must participate in a reality televised competition known as the Hunger Games. This reality tv show consists of a 'fight to the death' formula, in which two tributes from each district are chosen each year for the entertainment of 'The Capital'. The books developed an argument on the decay of morality which results from the over-saturation of media and technology upon society. The fact that the upper echelons of society in the books watch the suffering of others for entertainment, highlights this challenge to our interpretations of the power of media. The main character, Katniss, acts as a symbol throughout for the fight against this decay of media and technology.<br />
<br />
<br />
These books carry a heavy political message on our responsibilities to use technology properly. After all, media can be the most manipulative weapon that we have in society. These three books, <i>The Hunger Games</i>,<i> Catching Fire</i>, and <i>Mockingjay</i>, are categorised as Science Fiction, which I would have to agree with, considering the heavy emphasis on technology throughout. The <a href="http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/review-fiction-the-hunger-games-trilogy-box-set-by-suzanne-collins-3053323.html">Independent's review</a> of the books by Paddy O' Doherty describes them as follows:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;">The Hunger Games is a hybrid comprising many modern cultural references. It has the voyeuristic magnetism of the original Big Brother TV show, the deprivation and reward system of I'm a Celebrity ... get me out of here, the glamour of Next Top Model and the harshness and the tragedy of a war documentary.</span></blockquote>
The misuse of media throughout these three novels has contributed to the decay in society, which leads to a further uprising in the final novel and the abolishment of the dictatorship regime overseen by President Snow. The books are inspired by <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/thehungergames/videos/contemporary-inspiration.htm">contemporary </a>and <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/thehungergames/videos/classical-inspiration.htm">antiquarian</a> elements, which Collins talks about in interviews which she gave on the books. The classical inspirations are drawn from the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. On an annual basis, Athens has to send seven young women and men to Crete, who are put into the Labyrinth with the minotaur, to try and survive. The Contemporary inspiration for these novels is drawn from various reality tv shows. Collins talks about our "fascination with reality television", which she employs in the books to draw attention to the desensitization which is emerging due to our over-exposure in this mass digital media culture.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/CEN4XNth61o?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(Clay Shirky's talk on how the internet could one day transform the government, if handled properly of course!)</div>
<br />
My main argument for these books is that they create a powerful dialogue upon modern issues in the use and abuse of technology and media tools, which could be detrimental to how we approach our future. Collins advocates a mindful approach to the use of media as a platform, instilling a belief through these books that in order to retain our humanity, we need to reinforce the real, and see the value in moral technology, rather than demoralized technology for entertainment. The careful, monitored use of digital tools is something which I believe is essential to the prevention of their detrimental effects upon our perceptions of culture. However, this is not to day that media should be censored, rather it should be used for it's true purpose, to communicate and educate, rather than for mindlessness. These books have eluded to the fact that mass media consumption through technology is creating a sense of de-socialization and de-sensitization, which could in theory be a threat to how the social progresses. This is turn could effect how our cultural identity is formed.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Part of us is immersed in world culture, but, because there is no longer a public space where social norms could be formed and applied, another part of us retreats into hedonism or looks for a sense of belonging that is more immediate. . . both individuals and groups are therefore less and less defined by the social relations which until now defined the field of sociology, whose goal was to explain behaviour in terms of the social relations in which actors were involved (<i>Public Connection Through Media Consumption</i>, 251). </blockquote>
While I recognise the perils of the influx of digital media, it also has had many rewards. I believe that navigation is a key issue, and the education of younger generations upon the navigation of this media is essential. Now to the comments. What are your thoughts upon this view purported by Collins? Have you read the novels or seen the film adaptation of the first novel? If so, what are your own views on them? Is social media our new society?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Works Cited</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Couldry, Nick and Tim Markham. "Public Connection through Media Consumption: Between Oversocialization and De-Socialization?", <i>Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. </i>Vol. 608 (2006). 251-269. <i>Jstor</i>. Web.</div>
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-50808178392213975682013-01-07T19:46:00.001+00:002013-01-07T19:46:06.635+00:00More Ramblings of a DH Novice<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Does anybody know what Digital Humanities really is?</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"><b>(Words highlighted in red are keywords within this piece.)</b></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<u><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></u></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://socrates.acadiau.ca/courses/engl/saklofske/images/digital%20book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://socrates.acadiau.ca/courses/engl/saklofske/images/digital%20book.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<u><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Looking
at Digital Humanities from an outsider’s perspective is quite a daunting
experience. There is a fundamental lack of a comprehensive, all inclusive
definition for this movement, which cannot be ignored. The Digital Humanities
novice faces a clear challenge in trying to navigate such a scholarly movement,
without a proper road map for classification. Alan Liu supports this argument: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 72.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The
Digital Humanities, clearly, are in a state of rapid expansion. But giving an
account of that state of expansion without relying on anecdote is difficult.
Empirical evidence of the field’s growth is uneven due to uncertainty about
what exactly should be counted (programs, jobs, conferences, publications,
projects, funding competitions, usages of the phrase ‘digital humanities’?) (<i>The State of the Digital Humanities</i>, 1).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><b><span style="color: red;">The mapping of Digital Humanities</span></b> is essential to
its fruition as a contender for the ‘Humanities 2.0’. The first part of this
process is to reach a level of agreement in terms of Defining DH. Perhaps this
seems rather simplistic, but in actual fact it is quite a complicated wish for
this discipline, as it contains so many different fields of thought, with
conflicting approaches. The question remains as to how we can govern an
interdisciplinary system, when there are different standards for the various
different skill sets within this? This piece will examine the idea of whether
the Humanities and I.T. can truly combine their scholarly ethics to create an
answer to the waning influence of the Humanities in the Modern world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Fusion</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">
is an interesting word to use when describing the Digital Humanities. It evokes
both mechanical and artistic connotations, which in a sense is what DH is all
about. In Digital Humanities we merge the digital with the artistic, literary,
cultural, and scholarly world. This movement is about accessibility as opposed
to exclusivity. It combines the traditions and skills of so many different
areas within the arts, under the umbrella of I.T. Arguably, the Humanities have
been looking for a new home for quite some time now, which they have found in
the increasing manipulation of technology. The process by which this is
occurring is one of skill sharing and co-operation. Perhaps this co-operation
may seem slightly forced to begin with, but as time progresses it is hoped that
it will become more fluid. The rewards
of the knowledge sharing economy are undeniable. It is how we use this
‘economy’ that will make the immediate difference in expanding the horizons of
the arts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">There
is always <b><span style="color: red;">the
fear that I.T. will overtake the Humanities </span></b>as opposed to aiding its
renewal. This fear requires dispelling through the further efforts of Digital
Humanists to marry the two overarching fields. Unification is essential in
ensuring the future of the Humanities. James O’ Sullivan has argued that:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: 72.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Digital humanities is more than the use of technology to
display research findings in electronic form. Rather, it resides at the
juncture between complex or novel uses of new media and traditional humanities
research and artistic endeavour. It is concerned with the use of technology to
reproblematise humanist questions, or oftentimes, the exploration of technology
from humanist perspectives (<i>What makes
Digital Humanities, Digital?</i>). </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> It is important to mention some of the
essential elements of this merge. For the text specialists there is TEI, the
use of HTML and XML to digitise the body of text, and expand its parameters for
interpretation. For the historians, the use of the database is a valuable way
to interpret historical data for research. Graphic design is well catered for
in this movement, for those artistically inclined. These are just a few brief
examples of ‘new ways of doing things’ using technology. The <b><span style="color: red;">visual</span></b>
element of data is now of equal import to the physical data, in analysing,
interpreting and displaying research and development within this sector. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Virtual learning</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">
is fast becoming a central principle within DH. Digital Pedagogy absorbs
traditional teaching methods and then transforms them in an online environment.
Conceivably, this type of e-learning could revolutionise the way we teach and
learn for the next generation. Arguably, if the humanities are to survive in
this Modern, technology saturated era, the classroom or lecture hall, will have
to move online. This is not to say that the physical act of teaching should be
abolished. Rather, further digital learning facilities are needed to aid the
rapid expansions in technologies which are impacting our education systems.
Conceivably, this could be viewed as a lifeline for Humanities teaching and
learning. It could also lead to further innovation within these fields and
within pedagogy in general.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Page to stage</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">
is a concept which resonates within the Digital Humanities hymnbook. In this
sense the humanities is moving from a closed book mentality to the stage of the
world, through its usage of the internet as a central means for communication
and publication. Jerome McGann has argued that we need to “reform the text through
computer assistance to provide new insights” (<i>A Companion to Digital Humanities</i>, np). Limitation is something
which could hinder the humanities cause. The internet provides the freedom
which this sector has needed for quite some time in order to adapt to the ever
changing needs of society. However the online world has rules too. It is not a
completely free space by any means. The availability of information needs close
<b><span style="color: red;">regulation</span></b>
and strict observations of copyright laws. Credit has to be given where credit
is due in order for success to be achievable. Perhaps what the humanities needs
is a little help from its friends. Communities of practice provide new methods
and new tools for analysis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> There can only be <b><span style="color: red;">further benefits</span></b> to come from
working with others to strengthen this movement. This can be determined as the
quintessential core of the development of Digital Humanities. A solution was
needed to the problem of the future of the Humanities. Although Humanities Computing
has existed for decades before it was renamed in this vain, DH expands the
parameters of possibilities which using digital aids for Humanities research
can provide. It is encouraging innovative thinking and pure creativity in the
use of technology to transform the Humanities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Works Cited</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Liu, Alan. "The State of the Digital Humanities: A Report and a Critique"<i>. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, </i>11.1(2012): 1-34. Print. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">McGann, Jerome. <a href="http://www.digitalhumanities.org/companion/view?docId=blackwell/9781405103213/9781405103213.xml&chunk.id=ss1-3-4&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ss1-3-4&brand=default">A Companion to Digital Humanities</a>. Ed. Susan Schriebman, Ray Siemens, John Unsworth. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004. Web. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">O' Sullivan, James.<i> <a href="http://josullivan.org/what-makes-digital-humanities-digital/">What Makes Digital Humanities, Digital?</a> </i>josullivan.org. Web. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-30511080058844779612013-01-06T21:20:00.001+00:002013-01-06T21:21:28.621+00:00'Vlogging': Digitizing the Personal to Educate the PublicSome may look at the title of this post and wonder what vlogging is. This post will explore the meaning and use of vlogging, and how this could be applied in an educational setting.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://machoarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/vlogging.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="http://machoarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/vlogging.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Firstly <a href="http://oreilly.com/digitalmedia/2005/07/27/vlog.html">vlogging</a>, quite like blogging is the activity of keeping a log of information via the medium of video. It has been used, essentially, as a video diary. This medium has become very popular on social media sites, such as Y<a href="http://www.youtube.com/">ouTube</a>.<br />
<br />
Although its main occurrence appears to be in the United States, us Europeans are now getting in on the action. An example which stood out when I was investigating occurrences of vlogging, was of the Irish couple, Jonathan and Anna Saccone-Joly, who vlog every single day, and have done so for the past two and a half years. This has included their wedding, the pregnancy and birth of their daughter Emilia, along with daily occurrences in their lives such as walking their dogs.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/5UYOQg-aJZw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Although this seems like a very intrusive idea, and some may well think that it is, it has benefits in terms of its application in an educational setting. After all, it has been very beneficial to the Saccone-Joly's, who are now YouTube Network Partners, and make their living from these videos.<br />
<br />
I am not suggesting that we all bring our cameras along to school or college everyday to vlog the experience, but for group projects, presentations and much more, this could prove to be a useful tool for the dissemination of knowledge. Digital Humanities is all about the application of media tools within our education, so why not live by this motto in a more literal sense. It could also prove to be an essential element of publicising the work which is being done in the Digital Humanities sector.<br />
<br />
An interesting site to have a look at is <a href="http://tubeteaching.blogspot.ie/2012/02/vlogging-in-education.html">TubeTeaching</a>. This site is run by Dr. Chareen Snelson from the Department of Educational Technology at Boise State University. Snelson runs a course called YouTube for educators, which applies the principles of vlogging to education.<br />
<br />
Another site which advocates the use of vlogging for educational purposes is the <a href="http://desktopvideo.about.com/od/videoblogging/p/teachervlog.htm">desktop video section on about.com.</a> This section looks at the benefits of video blogging for teachers.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h3 id="pd4" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">
The Benefits:</h3>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">
<div style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">
</div>
<ul style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit; z-index: 0;">
<li style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><b>Educational activities:</b> By letting students record and edit video you are teaching them valuable technological and artistic skills. It’s a fun and low pressure way for kids to become comfortable with electronics and computers.<div style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">
</div>
</li>
<li style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><b>Better communication:</b> A vlog is a great way to let parents see what’s going on at the school and in your classroom.<div style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">
</div>
</li>
<li style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><b>A visual record:</b> A vlog can be considered a video portfolio of the work that goes on in your classroom. It’s a concrete demonstration of your skills and those of your students, which can be beneficial for promoting the school or during teaching reviews.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</blockquote>
These advantages are geared towards primary and secondary level students, but one could argue that they are also applicable in a third level environment.<br />
<br />
I don't know if I have the confidence to pilot such a scheme single-handedly, but the use of vlogging could be rewarding for analysing the experience within a group project.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://growingup2point0.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://growingup2point0.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-29942210992836341222012-12-28T14:01:00.004+00:002012-12-28T14:02:06.437+00:00Blogs I Follow......<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blog.hubspot.com/Portals/249/images/blogging%20image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://blog.hubspot.com/Portals/249/images/blogging%20image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><a href="http://thebluelantern.blogspot.ie/">The Blue Lantern</a>- </span>For all things Modern/ Postmodern in nature. This is a beautiful blog full of little gems to discover everyday. Jane Librizzi brings life to these pieces through her intricate posts, littered with art and literature.<br />
The introduction to this blog describes the reason behind the chosen title for this web-page:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.5px;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>A blue-shaded lamp served as the starboard light for writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette's imaginary journeys after she became too frail to leave her room. Her invitation, extended to all, was "Regarde!" Look, see, wonder, accept, live.</b></span></span></blockquote>
What I take from this introduction is that even though one might be confined to their room or to their bed, the use of the blog extends the realms of the imagination past the problem of location. This is the essence of the blog for me. It has been a great aid to me in my particular research interests, as it allows me to keep up to date with areas pertaining to the 19th and 20th centuries.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.samplereality.com/">Sample Reality-</a> </span>Mark Sample's blog blends his knowledge as a Professor in the Department of English at George Mason University with debates in the Digital Humanities. He is particularly interested in how DH is approaching contemporary literature within its research. He asks the question, is enough being done to include this field within DH and is innovation possible here?<br />
<br />
Mark's blog reflects his interest in open source pedagogy in particular. This blog has been very helpful for thinking about my own questions in relation to fitting Modern literature into the world of Digital Humanities. It has been reassuring to know that it is an ongoing struggle for many. It is also useful in terms of Sample's research in the pedagogy side of things.<br />
<br />
Below is an example of the debates on pedagogy which are being waged within Sample's blog:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 23.03333282470703px;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>Training wheels are a kind of scaffolding. But they are intrusive scaffolding, obstructive scaffolding. These bulky metal add-ons get in the way quite literally, but they also interfere pedagogically. Riding a bike with training wheels prepares a child for nothing more than riding a bike—with training wheels.</b></span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://mattwilkens.com/">Matt Wilkens.com</a>- </span>Like Sample Reality, Wilkens's blog focuses on marrying English literature with Digital Humanities. Although his blog has been slightly neglected of late, the posts which Wilkens has published focus upon the impact of areas ranging from theory to technology in English Literature research and study.<br />
He has a detailed post relating to the construction of a syllabus for a graduate seminar in DH. I found this to be quite helpful for comparative purposes to my own postgraduate course.<br />
<br />
I will link this post below:<br />
<a href="http://mattwilkens.com/2012/09/09/digital-humanities-grad-syllabus/">Digital Humanities Grad Syllabus</a><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">To be continued........</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-66489960238335277672012-12-19T10:30:00.002+00:002012-12-19T10:39:01.647+00:00'What The Water Gave Me': Woolf and Water.<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">I came across this post from my old e-portfolio, which I created for my MA in English last year. I felt that its sentiment was appropriate to my own adaptation to the world of Digital Humanities. Woolf adapts water in the same way to fit her writing style. This can be seen in nearly every single major work which she has written. However this piece focuses on a slightly dryer piece of writing by Woolf, set in the English countryside. The work that I am writing about is of course </span><i style="line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between_the_Acts">Between The Acts</a></i><span style="line-height: 16px;">. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">DH challenges the traditional written identity i</span><span style="line-height: 16px;">n the same way that Woolf uses water to mock the traditional novel format. Obviously, this movement challenges a whole lot more than that, but in terms of my own area of interest this fits the bill nicely.</span></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<div style="line-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 16px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 16px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 16px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gZIdd0XDmlk/TNZlp7jh55I/AAAAAAAAABk/Hs-7oMItkQs/s1600/Virginia+Woolf2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gZIdd0XDmlk/TNZlp7jh55I/AAAAAAAAABk/Hs-7oMItkQs/s320/Virginia+Woolf2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 16px;">Image courtesy of </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">http://saltysbrainflash.blogspot.ie</span></span></span></b></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Virginia Woolf's writing has had a lengthy relationship with water, or what could be labelled as ocean imagery. This post will examine the significance of water in relation to Woolf's work.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The title of this piece is taken from a 'Florence and The Machine' song of the same name, written by <a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_and_the_Machine" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_and_the_Machine" style="color: darkblue;" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_and_the_Machine">Florence Welch</a>. Welch has surveyed the significance of water to Woolf. She cites Woolf's work as one of the main influences for this song.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/am6rArVPip8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>What the Water Gave Me- Performed by Florence and The Machine.</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"The ocean seems to me to be natures great overwhelmer. ...... "It's about water in all forms and all bodies. It's about a lot of things; Virginia Woolf creeps into it, and of course Frida Kahlo, whose painfully beautiful painting gave me the title." ( Florence Welch, Digital Spy)</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The water can be analysed as a powerhouse for influence. Perhaps what the water gave to Woolf was an outlet for a new form of the novel. Many of Woolf's allusions to water or to the beach profess a change or a loss within the realm of the novel. She can be argued as adapting the novel to Modernism, in the way that water adapts to its surroundings.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Woolf clearly toys with this idea in her final novel <em>Between the Acts. </em>She mocks the 'traditional' novel form, which she suggests provides outdated and unimaginative representations of society. This is visible in William Dodge's observation of Isa and Giles' relationship, which was "as people say in novels 'strained' "(<em>Between the Acts, </em>973).</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">The water of Woolf's work is all encompassing. It seems to engulf the majority of her writing, whether the setting is London, as in </span><em style="line-height: 16px;">Mrs Dalloway, </em><span style="line-height: 16px;">or the beach in Cornwall from Jacob's childhood in </span><em style="line-height: 16px;">Jacob's Room.</em><span style="line-height: 16px;"> "The waves" in the water of </span><em style="line-height: 16px;">Jacob's </em><span style="line-height: 16px;">Room "showed that uneasiness, like something alive, restive, expecting the whip" </span><em style="line-height: 16px;">(Jacob's Room</em><span style="line-height: 16px;">, 13). One could argue that this uneasiness centers around both the character and the form employed in the novel.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img class="rg_hi" data-mce-src="data:image/jpeg;base64,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" data-mce-style="width: 272px; height: 185px;" height="435" id="rg_hi" src="data:image/jpeg;base64,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" style="border: 0px; height: 185px; width: 272px;" width="640" /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"It,(<em>Jacob's Room</em>), was Immediately hailed as a radically innovative text that broke with tradition and established the groundwork for a new kind of fiction: in its nonlinear modernity it was likened to a portfolio rather than a novel" (Francesca Kazan, 701).</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Obviously this post cannot examine all of the references to water in Woolf's substantial collection of writing. However, from what has been discussed thus far, the water can be viewed as the creative process, which changes with the mood of her work, much like water does in reality, when it is disturbed or there is a change in the weather. It acts as a signifier for Woolf's uneasiness with what she was creating, yet at other times it provides a joyous sense of achievement with the unification of her ideal for a new type of fiction.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Therefore, 'what the water gave' Virginia Woolf was a podium upon which to calculate a distinct form of writing.The water of Virginia Woolf's writing offers an analogy for the struggle to create something new. When the "wave has broken", Woolf worries that something new may not be allowed to form. This is seen in <em>Between the Acts, </em>her last work.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Dispersed are we, Isabella followed her humming. All is over. The wave has broken. Left us stranded, high and dry"(<em>Between the Acts, </em>968-9).</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Conceivably, the water was Woolf's attempt to open her work up to criticism, about the changing shape of its writing. There is a fearful voice inherent in the water imagery of whether Woolf has succeeded in changing the mould of fiction, or whether her work is drowning in its own failure.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img data-mce-src="http://www.friendsofart.net/static/images/art2/frida-kahlo-what-the-water-gave-me.jpg" height="400" src="http://www.friendsofart.net/static/images/art2/frida-kahlo-what-the-water-gave-me.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="306" /> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Frida Kahlo: 'What the Water Gave Me'</b></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<br /></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I progress in my MA in Digital Humanities, I am beginning to realise that if I am to achieve something from this degree it has to come from the marriage of my own interests with this movement. As I struggle to create an idea for my thesis, I have increasingly turned to my old favourites, such as Woolf and Djuna Barnes, to garner some inspiration. They created new landscapes of literature in the Modernist period which I am attempting to undertake in Digital Humanities. Ultimately, I want my thesis to be a representation of the creation of a new embodiment of writing, in quite the same way that these authors did in their own time.</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Works Cited</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Corner, Lewis. "Florence and the Machine debut new track: What the Water Gave me." Digital Spy. Hachette fillipaci Media. 31 Jan. 2012. <a data-mce-href="http://www.digitalspy.ie/music/news/a336706/florence--the-machine-debut-new-track-what-the-water-gave-me-video.html" href="http://www.digitalspy.ie/music/news/a336706/florence--the-machine-debut-new-track-what-the-water-gave-me-video.html" style="color: darkblue;">http://www.digitalspy.ie/music/news/a336706/florence--the-machine-debut-new-track-what-the-water-gave-me-video.html</a>. Web.</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Kazan,Francesca. "Description and the Pictorial in Jacob's Room." <em>ELH</em>, 55:3 (1988). 701-719. <a data-mce-href="http://0-www.jstor.org.library.ucc.ie/stable/2873190" href="http://0-www.jstor.org.library.ucc.ie/stable/2873190" style="color: darkblue;">http://0-www.jstor.org.library.ucc.ie/stable/2873190</a>. Web.</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Woolf, Virginia. <em>The Selected Works of Virginia Woolf. </em>London: Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 2007. Print.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-4516973265425185012012-12-05T19:07:00.001+00:002012-12-05T19:07:01.823+00:00Mind-Flow: The Drafting Process using Stream Of Consciousness Writing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.radiancesandiego.org/web-design/portfolio/450x600/StreamOfConsciousness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://www.radiancesandiego.org/web-design/portfolio/450x600/StreamOfConsciousness.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(An example of the fruits of stream of consciousness mind-flow, in art-form)</div>
<br />
The following is my own contribution which was spliced together with my fellow collaborators to become the collective piece,<i> Evaluating Digital Scholarship, </i>which I also posted below.<br />
<br />
I thought that it would be interested and perhaps even valuable to see the original thought process, which I developed using the <a href="http://classiclit.about.com/od/literaryterms/g/aa_stream.htm">stream of consciousness </a>writing method, in comparison to the final product. This provides a worthwhile example of the editing process in collaborative writing.<br />
<br />
<br />
Apologies for being so cliché, but as I have found, honesty is always the best policy. I think that this theory should apply to education also. Thus far, Digital Humanities has baffled me to say the least. Words like collaboration, TEI, temporality, remediation, and xml have been passed back and forth in our classes like we were all aware of their meanings. Until recently I was not enlightened by these terms. Coming from a traditional humanist school of literary studies, my initial reaction to this movement was to run and hide with all of the physical books in my possession. There was no way that they would take my beloved copy of The Collected Works of Virginia Woolf and turn it into an ebook. <br />
<br />
Preposterous!<br />
<br />
The ruination of the book as we know it!<br />
<br />
WHAT ABOUT THE LIBRARIES???<br />
<br />
However, recently this fear has abated somewhat. I don't want to alarm anyone, but I am considering getting a Kindle this Christmas. Many may be of the opinion that I am a bit late to the game, but the way that I view it, Digital Humanities is still an emerging field. Gadgets are central to this movement. For example, the eReader has now gained widespread availability. Even those who do not shop online are now inundated by its display in their local Tesco. The process of reading and learning is, to paraphrase Yeats, “changed, changed utterly”, but is this change a “terrible beauty”? (The Collected Poems, 193).<br />
<br />
When evaluating Digital Humanities, the benefits cannot be ignored. Elements such as Skype and Google Hangouts enable the perimeters of the classroom to be endlessly extended. In terms of linking this back to Digital Humanities, I have discovered a line in D. Randy Garrisons E-Learning in the 21st Century which summarises the change in educational focuses which I believe Digital Humanities represents: “To be constrained by the restricted frame of traditional classroom presentational approaches is to ignore the capabilities and potential of e-learning” (54). Having commuted to college from a sizeable distance for the past few months since I have started this course, I can understand the immediate profits which this method offers to participation and inclusion in class discussion. DH encompasses the acknowledgement that the physical days of education can no longer stand alone as a means for learning.<br />
<br />
Arguably, trying to find a sense of identity in the digital world represents one of the main struggles which has led to the emergence of Digital Arts and Humanities. After all, the Humanities need to carve out a digital persona just as much as any large corporation, in order to make their presence felt in an ever changing digital atmosphere. There is a sense of not wanting to be left behind evident in this move into the realm of I.T. Jaron Lanier explores this concern in his work, You Are Not a Gadget. His concluding thoughts in this book express this Humanist need to stay true to ones self while entering into the digital:<br />
The most important thing about postsymbolic communication is that I hope it demonstrates that a humanist softie like me can be as radical and ambitious as any cybernetic totalist in both science and technology, while still believing that people should be considered differently, embodying a special category (You Are Not A Gadget, np).<br />
<br />
Certain questions are at the core of the assessment process for Digital Humanities For example, what categorises digital scholarship? Is the computer truly a scholarly tool? Is there limits to what can be defined as digital scholarship? Is it legitimate scholarship? An area which stirs up an array of controversy is the use of blogging within Digital Humanities and education in general. There are issues relating to this tool which need to be addressed. Such as whether the blog will be considered a legitimate tool for research, which can be cited in an academic paper. The amount of time and effort which is being put into scholarly publications, is now being directed into the blogosphere. Alan Liu offers an entry point for such examples of social media to become more respected:<br />
<br />
In the digital humanities, cultural criticism–in both its interpretive and advocacy modes–has been noticeably absent by comparison with the mainstream humanities. . . . How the digital humanities advance, channel, or resist the great postindustrial, neoliberal, corporatist, and globalist flows of information-cum-capital, for instance, is a question rarely heard in the digital humanities associations, conferences, journals, and projects with which I am familiar (Where is Cultural Criticism in The Digital Humanities, np).<br />
Engagement with more thoughtful scholarship which directs itself towards cultural criticism could strengthen the consideration of blogs and other social media tools for DH scholarship, through the fusion of discussions of the data use with cultural commentary. I am of the opinion that social media is fast becoming the leading Publishing house for new material. Could one go so far as to argue that web 2.0 is the Humanities life-support system?<br />
<br />
Tara McPherson advocates this lifeline theory in her essay Media Studies and The Digital Humanities:<br />
More recently, we have seen an explosion of what I might call the "blogging humanists"—folks very interested in the hopes for participation promised by emerging Web 2.0 technologies. Faced with severe cutbacks at academic presses and dated systems for peer review, this second breed of digital humanists port the words and monographs of humanities scholarship to networked spaces of conversation and dialogue. (Introduction: Media Studies and the Digital Humanities, 119).<br />
<br />
The humanities is in the process of a reformation, which I hope will see it become more accessible to the masses. Contribution is a quality which should not be overlooked in this process. In terms of my own background, a Masters holder of Modern English, where is the revolution situated in this school? Does it fit with the study and criticism of the physical text? I fear that many will not able to disassemble their preconceptions about literary studies in order to embrace the study of literature through digital humanities. I always find it slightly ironic when I see a book written on Digital Humanities or Humanities Computing sitting on a bookshelf.<br />
<br />
Matthew Kirschenbaum attempts to answer the question of how Digital Humanities fits into English literature studies, in his chapter 'What is Digital humanities and what's it doing in English Departments?':<br />
The answer to the latter portion of the question is easier. I can think of some half a dozen reasons why English Departments have historically been hospitable settings for this kind of work. First, after numeric input, text has been by far the most tractable data type for computers to manipulate (Debates in the Digital Humanities, 8).<br />
<br />
This is a very logical statement. But is the computer necessary or is it simply a case of laziness within the humanities? My own reasoning behind the seeping of DH into the walls of English Departments throughout the world is that it is simply inescapable. Evolution has called for it, so to speak. For some time, English literature has called out for its voice to be heard amongst the changing landscape of research. The standards within DH need distinction for such a traditionally technophobic discipline. There needs to be some synergy between disciplinary standards of governance and the increasing use of more liberal forms of research using technology. Julia Fraser conceives that “digital humanities as a whole has revealed precisely how interwoven and mutually consequential 'technical' and 'disciplinary' standards often are (Collaborative Research in the Digital Humanities, 68). DH demands these sectors to strike the right balance when merging in research.<br />
<br />
As I come towards the end of this piece of writing I feel my fear creeping back up on me. Reassurance is needed that the book will not be destroyed by the computer. But is this just evolution happening before our eyes? Could someone please inform me of the method of citation which this movement will use? Or, shall it be a mixture of the true level of patchwork happening in this movement at the moment? How will material be governed in a field which hosts a variety of expertise? Unified standards need to be implemented to guide us through the world of Digital Humanities. <br />
<br />
On a note of conclusion, Digital Humanities is in transit. It is moving from a world of constraint to a world of scholarly freedom. FAST. It is up to us all to navigate this transition in a thoughtful, cautious manner.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Works Cited</div>
Deegan, Marilyn, Willard McCarty. Collaboration in the Digital Humanities: A Volume in Honour of Harold Short. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2012. Print.<br />
<br />
Garrison, D. Randy. E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Framework for Research and Practice. New York: Routledge, 2011. Print.<br />
<br />
Gold, Matthew K. Debates in the Digital Humanities. Minnesota: University of Minnesota P, 2012. Print.<br />
<br />
Lanier, Jaron. You Are Not A Gadget: A Manifesto. New York: Alfred A.Knopf, 2010. Print.<br />
<br />
Liu, Alan. 'Where is Cultural Criticism in the Digital Humanities'. The History and Future of the Digital Humanities. Modern Language Association Convention. Los Angeles, 7 January, 2011. Web.<br />
<br />
McPherson, Tara. "Introduction: Media Studies and the Digital Humanities." Cinema Journal 48.2 (2009): 119-123. Project MUSE. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. <http://0-muse.jhu.edu.library.ucc.ie/>.<br />
<br />
Yeats, W.B. Richard J.Finneran, ed. The Collected Poems of W.B.Yeats. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989. Print.<br />
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-11155139466619052612012-12-04T13:52:00.000+00:002012-12-04T13:52:09.524+00:00Evaluating Digital Scholarship: Experiences in New Programmes at an Irish University<b id="internal-source-marker_0.4054154655896127" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.4054154655896127" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mike Cosgrave, Anna Dowling, Lynn Harding, Róisín O’Brien & Olivia Rohan</span></b></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.4054154655896127" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While we have used digital research in teaching at </span><a href="http://www.ucc.ie/en/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">University College Cork</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for many years, the central role played by digital artefacts in the new Digital Humanities programmes is a relatively recent addition. This pivotal shift is new for both staff and students who, by the nature of new media technologies, cannot benefit from generations of received wisdom on assessment and evaluation. In this piece, we undertake a frank and personal investigation from both a pedagogical and scholarly perspective.</span><img height="324px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/uKF1uNzgh7ma5AUU5XTinFljLgA03nYa5D5G94z0tl6g1nPQGKIisxEGk94tHnFZpXUfHjYVIAYilB2QiT7d70NBpjcibiFc5xq8vR6mwr3jNo0HKkXH" width="443px;" /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Experiences of DH: A Shikari’s Perspective </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Assessing digital artefacts in academe is driven by the problem of grading the digital work being produced in our Phd and MA programmes in Digital Arts and Humanities.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the DAH Phd consortium developed the proposal for a structured Phd, there was agreement that the outputs could include digital artefacts but no detailed discussion on what those might be and what criteria might be applied.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that Phd in its second year and our own one year MA course in UCC in its first, this issue needs to be addressed in a very immediate way. Our students are currently working on digital products which we need to guide, and that guidance needs to be shaped by a clear awareness of what our expectations are, and how we will assess their digital work.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Disciplines not only have signature pedagogies, they also have signature assessments, and the skill of grading those is often handed down from generation to generation as an artisan craft. This is understood across the community of the discipline so external examiners have no problem validating the marks assigned in their discipline. Colleagues who have never needed to explicitly consider grade descriptors or grading rubrics find it difficult to conceive of how one might grade an as yet undefined assessed digital object.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grading is part art, and never wholly science, but in an interdisciplinary field like DH, where we must assess new types of student work, some frameworks are necessary. In the National University of Ireland, we have clear and well established guidelines in the NUI </span><a href="http://www.nuigalway.ie/geography/documents/nui_grade_descriptors.pdf"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">grade descriptors. </span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The descriptors clearly lay out, in a general, non-discipline specific way, the sort of ‘evidence of a mind at work’ we should expect at various grade brackets.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The NUI descriptors require no real modification for application to essays and other traditional work. Following on from traditional rubrics for “regular” student essays, people have produced countless rubrics for assessing blog posts and posting in discussion forums. These are, after all, written work and different from traditional academic writing mostly in extent, and sometimes in the formality of tone or voice.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we move into less conventional forms, matters become more complicated. How do you assess a database, a critical edition, a performance, a piece of multimedia or an ‘app’? </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The optimal manner to build a relational database is, at one level, defined by a set of normalisation rules which are pretty clear and preclude, it seems, developing an argument. At another level, the choice of data to capture, the varieties of datatypes, indices and relations, are all driven by the questions which are informed by the particular inquiry being pursued.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Digital Artefacts - databases, corpora, and other things- designed by different students for different inquiries can and should differ. One would expect to see individual choices about analysis and synthesis of the material to suit particular analytical questions being asked of the original raw, pre-digital material.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A common criticism of digital work is that “if it were a proper academic essay, it would of course have footnotes and so on” as if it was not a proper academic essay. But a work like ‘</span><a href="http://www.sixpackfilm.com/en/catalogue/show/1641"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Phoenix Tapes</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’ are a very fine collection of six essays on Hitchcock: they choose themes, extract examples, arrange those examples in a structure which includes a clear progression from introduction through development, to show the often horrific end result of the obsessions, highlighting along the way the manner in which Hitchcock visually expresses these themes.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If we skate over the detail that the original footage was not digital, the Phoenix tapes are an artefact, an essay of sorts, albeit in a medium which doesn’t easily permit footnotes. Nevertheless, submitted with a copy of the script, including references, they should, under the NUI grade descriptors, merit a clear first class mark.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part of our problem with assessment of digital artefacts is that many academics have never explicitly considered their instinctive grading rubrics. When challenged in discussion on a particular essay, most academics can explain why they gave it the assigned mark, but do not have a set of grading rubrics to hand, nor do they provide students with copies of grading rubrics at the start of courses. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As leaders in Digital Humanities, we are asking our students to leave accepted pathways and march into the desert; we have a responsibility to know enough to help them draw a new map. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Experiences of DH: An apprentice’s perspective</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.4054154655896127" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.4054154655896127" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Introduction</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This piece will focus on personal experiences of recent entrants into Digital Humanities (DH) scholarship thus far, setting them in a framework of evaluating digital scholarship as learners. It will highlight the challenges faced by DH novices in assessing scholarly literature. It will also refer to the digital tools utilised in scholarly endeavours and publications, while synopsising how these have affected learning to date. Instead of focusing on the technical shell of standardising evaluation and assessment of digital scholarship, this piece will concentrate on the innards of the issue; that is to say the main principle of a free-form approach which will guide evaluation as opposed to regulating it.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is particularly indicative in the language used to discuss and communicate within the current digital humanities, as well as the audience’s reading when engaging with, not only the written material, but meaning-making in general.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Current debates in the field of the digital humanities about the divergent</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">practices of ‘close’ and ‘distant’ reading are really a screen for deeper changes</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">called for by the advent of new media. Digital technologies do more than propose</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">new ways of thinking, as did theory; they require new modes of being (Schreibman 126).</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DH Identity: Different Voices</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 2010 DH Conference saw </span><a href="http://blogs.nitle.org/2010/08/31/nitle-launches-digital-humanities-initiative/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kathleen Fitzpatrick define Digital Humanities</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as a “nexus of fields within which scholars use computing technologies to investigate the kinds of questions that are traditional to the humanities, or . . . who ask traditional kinds of humanities-oriented questions about computing technologies”. It is this unrestricted classification that makes DH such an attractive field, but also, unsurprisingly, presents problems for students who wonder whether their contribution is a valid one. For instance, words like collaboration, TEI, temporality, remediation, and xml have been passed back and forth in our classes, while taking for granted the fact that we were all aware of their meanings.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Depending on who you read, DH is a minefield: it can be riddled with “charlatanism . . . that . . . undersells the market by providing a quick-and-dirty simulacrum of something that, done right, is expensive, time-consuming, and difficult” (</span><a href="http://computerphilologie.uni-muenchen.de/jg02/unsworth.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unsworth</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">); consequently, the most earnest of students, worried they may be tarred with such a brush, can experience what </span><a href="http://hastac.org/blogs/agmullen/2012/10/05/digital-humanities-impostor-syndrome"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mullen terms</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “digital-humanities impostor syndrome”. The desire to be certified and qualified in something jars with the field’s characteristic lack of structure, and many students require an awareness of the workings of assessment and evaluation to feel secure in their chosen area.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arguably, trying to find a sense of identity in the digital world presents one of the main struggles which has led to the emergence of Digital Arts and Humanities. After all, the Humanities need to carve out a digital persona just as much as any large corporation, in order to make their presence felt in an ever-changing digital atmosphere. There is a sense of not wanting to be left behind evident in this move into the realm of I.T. Jaron Lanier explores this concern in his book, </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You Are Not a Gadget.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> His concluding thoughts express this Humanist need to stay true to oneself while entering into the digital:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The most important thing about postsymbolic communication is that I hope it demonstrates that a humanist softie like me can be as radical and ambitious as any cybernetic totalist in both science and technology, while still believing that people should be considered differently, embodying a special category.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Encountering evaluation</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the beginning of the Masters Degree in Digital Arts and Humanities, an open-minded approach to scholarship was promoted. A first encounter was with digital publications of literature, and the second was in the setting up of academic blogs for the purpose of open, online discourse.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was at these two points in this year’s scholarly endeavour that the issue of criteria for standards of evaluation was raised, namely:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1) What are the standard practices in digital scholarship?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2) What is the “right” form of best practice with regard to these standard practices?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3) What are the standard practices for research in particular?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4) How should a student evaluate standards of literature?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5) What are the standards expected in our own online text communication in the higher level environment?</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The opportunity exists to also set a precedent for intervarsity communication. If seized upon, and the result acknowledged by each institution, this chance could provide students with a wider pool from which to form connections, build projects, and review each other’s work on a structured basis (though still less formal than official journals), as the community grows cumulatively larger. In this collaborative sense, DH encompasses the acknowledgement that the physical days of education can no longer stand alone as a means for learning.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last October’s DRI</span><a href="http://www.dri.ie/sites/default/files/files/Digital_Archiving_In_Ireland_2012.pdf"><span style="color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">National Survey of the Humanities and Social Sciences</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> saw one respondent state</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #1a1718; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[w]hen I see the word[s] Digital Repository Ireland, I would expect to find born-digital records are stored there and preserved there so that they can be migrated forward into new formats and then preserved and made accessible at the right time. And I really think that is where the gap is more than any other gap.</span></div>
<span style="color: #1a1718; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="color: #1a1718; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The demand is there for Ireland to stockpile and standardise – not homogenise – digital scholarly work.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> In relation to library archiving systems, the report notes one institution’s emphasis on being aware of any “broad national perspective on things...so if there are a lot of institutions moving...[in the same direction], we would move in a very coherent way’”. As </span><a href="http://hastac.org/blogs/ernesto-priego/2012/10/22/various-shades-digital-literacy-new-digital-divides"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Priego writes</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, “core critical and practical skills applicable to a wide variety of web tool scenarios would be a great thing to have a structured, recognised framework for”.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Digital tools</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It soon became clear that standard practices in carrying out digital scholarship include technical skills and digital tools such as XML, TEI and databases. There is also an array of less daunting tools that are available to postgraduate students for research in any discipline. The problem lies in the fact that the sheer volume of digital tools can, at times, make the DH realm awkward to navigate. To this end, a general, online, instructive directory, with general guidelines to popular software or particularly useful blogs would - though perhaps tedious to maintain and regularly update - be a great help. Self-directed learning, while expected at a postgraduate level, can become problematic if the student feels he or she is left without a map. With the imposter complex facing many at the beginning of their DH explorations, how can we implement a structure that will reassure the budding Digital Humanist that, by the end of her studies, she will be qualified to actually </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">do</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> anything?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The solution, as with any set of tools, is to be discerning in one’s choices; rather than</span><span style="background-color: magenta; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">indulging in experimentation for its own sake and at the risk of confusion, one should build up to a knowledge of more esoteric tools. The following are some examples which have featured in our academic involvement this year, and which have a strong possibility of becoming standard practice for pedagogy and reflective learning outside of DH, that is if their value can be demonstrated to institutions. When evaluating Digital Humanities, the benefits cannot be ignored. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moodle, for example, acts as an online classroom and discussion forum, allowing a significant depth of reflection on course material. Similarly, Blackboard acts as a virtual library for course readings, as well as being another forum for discussion. Tools such as Skype and Google Hangouts enable the perimeters of the classroom to be endlessly extended; similarly, the eReader has now gained widespread availability. Even those who do not shop online are now inundated by its display in their local Tesco. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clearly, the process of reading and learning has, to paraphrase Yeats, “changed, changed utterly”, but is this change a “terrible beauty” (</span><a href="http://books.google.ie/books?id=76Ot5FPTVIgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+collected+poems+of+w.b.+yeats&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NHa7ULzAJoaEhQe984DAAw&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Collected Poems</span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, 193</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), or welcome evolution? D. Randy Garrison’s </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">E-Learning in the 21st Century </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">summarises the change in educational focuses which one can argue that DH represents: “To be constrained by the restricted frame of traditional classroom presentational approaches is to ignore the capabilities and potential of e-learning” (54). </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Process</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the first academic term nears its end, MA DAH students have already started to shed insecurities about personal judgement in assessing academic literature. Learning that the reader’s response to literature is not a trivial feature in terms of assessment of the quality of its contribution to a digital library was a formative experience. One may not feel practised in the art of evaluation, however it is true to say that there is worth in every reader’s response. No matter what form the scholar’s interpretation takes, the exercise of assessing literature for its scholarly worth is a vital part of the process of handing responsibility back to the learner and relates directly to the vital strive for experiential learning. The student not only learns how to identify insightful literature, but also takes the early steps in laying a foundation for their own autonomous learning.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What does all this mean for the evaluators? How can any individual possess the abilities to work and evaluate across such a broad spectrum of practise? The issue of interpretation and intended meaning requires further interrogation and greater development through discourse. According to Schreibman, Mandell, and Olsen (2011), humanities scholars are, for the most part, “ill equipped … to recognize the scholarship” or the “intellectual content” of projects in which theoretical and technical choices inform project design. This issue is highlighted in Clement’s “Half-Baked; The State of Evaluation in the Digital Humanities”, in which she asserts that academic works relating to evaluation in the digital humanities have given rise to </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“a conversation that has very few listeners or readers in the humanities capable of appreciating th</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">e </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">scholarship</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> represented in this interdisciplinary work” (2012). This is supported by Browner (2011), who states that“[o]wning a computer and being able to click on a link is only the first and perhaps most easily addressed issue in assuring a real democracy of knowledge. Having intellectual access is much harder”.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On that note, there are three main features of scholarship which encapsulate the main characteristics of the process of learning in the backdrop of web 2.0. Each one is spurred by the use of digital tools, such as the aforementioned blogs. These are:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1) Independent learning</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2) Collaboration</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3) Insightfulness</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In order to assess the understanding of a scholar, one must also assess their cognitive presence, both in terms of critical thinking and discourse. An important point of reference in evaluating this is the Practical Inquiry Descriptors and Indicators model, as illustrated below and in D. Randy Garrison’s “E-Learning in the 21st Century – A Framework for Research and Practice” (52).</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><img height="180px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/s4uulKl92vSIucSjy-MdO5HvBGTahso0l2CFMe7JSF5MRQMraVZGJa4dgKpA2wvbcgziWuy12Ixx5Z3DfVvFcv_VAv6Ja529sRy2QBWqo2NWtld6a4jf" width="240px;" /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Garrison suggests that “practical inquiry is the model within which we operationalize and assess cognitive presence” (51). The aim is to offer “a practical means to judge the nature and quality of critical reflection and discourse in a community of inquiry”. The question of standard is, understandably, a hot topic for the budding digital humanist in particular, given that there can be such disparity between articles, studies or blog entries that all file themselves under the same DH umbrella. By using a related, but less fixed, model in evaluating digital scholarship, we can tread the middle ground between a </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">laissez-faire</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> stance and a forced setting in stone of standards. One should not establish a system of rating but as an alternative examine the qualities already expected from scholarship and simply allow these to standards to homogenise in a digital setting.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Accessibility is a characteristic that must be stamped on digital scholarship. This applies to scholarship both in terms of publication of literature, and also the accessibility of data for the purposes of XML analysis. Without accessibility of data, information is as useful as a piece of chalk on an interactive whiteboard. The notion of access must be a guiding light for one’s own academic goals, to make a conscious move to live and breathe accessibility, thus exposing one’s work for the theoretical benefit of the academic community and allowing standards to grow from it.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not only must the situation of ‘intellectual access’, or as Stefiks terms it “sensemaking”(Liu, 2011), be remedied through education and an increased academic and industrial awareness, but a more urgent predicament must be answered, in fact demands a response; “a reader could easily ask of these books what humanities scholars everywhere consistently ask of DH writ large: So what? Is that it? And what does this have to do with our research?” (</span><a href="http://alh.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/4/876.extract"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clement, 2012</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">).The origin of this issue of relevancy may stem from a predicament identified by Bartscherer and Coover (2011): “scholars and artists understand little about the technologies that are so radically transforming their fields, while IT specialists have scant or no training in the humanities or traditional arts”. Is it any wonder that a difficulty has arisen with regards to evaluation and perceived value within the digital humanities? </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Previous university graduates will have had an understanding of the requirements of a postgraduate degree. However, web 2.0 has modified the reality of higher level academia, and offered an opportunity to reshape the traditional structures in education. In the MA DAH at UCC, the digital evolution has been fully embraced as an appropriate setting for the rounded learning of a 21st century student in line with communities of practice. The campus is now both physical and virtual. Web 2.0, and social media in particular, has changed the reality of the academy into a virtual experience, with room for immediate distribution of relevant, up-to-date knowledge. Such practice is essential to the promotion of accessibility. It is up to scholars to harness the energy of web 2.0. However, the linking of scholarship with the digital realm is an individual choice that each researcher will have to make.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Collaborative-learning environments, and the learner as a sounding board for standards, may be the main catalysts in the development towards an empowered learner and an adequate set of learner-centred standards, as opposed to the decree of an elite crew. In other words, e-learning should be part of an organic process in terms of developing standards for evaluation of scholarship in all its digital manifestations. In order for this to be fully realised, one must begin at the first marker of making accessibility an integral part of the academic world, or, in other words, a widely accepted standard.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An area which stirs up an array of controversy is the use of blogging within Digital Humanities, and indeed education in general. Issues exist surrounding the question of whether the blog can be considered a legitimate tool for research, or citation in an academic paper. The reality is that an amount of time and effort, equivalent to that which is being put into scholarly publications, is now being directed into the blogosphere. Alan Liu offers an entry point for such examples of social media to become more respected:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the digital humanities, cultural criticism–in both its interpretive and advocacy modes–has been noticeably absent by comparison with the mainstream humanities. . . . How the digital humanities advance, channel, or resist the great postindustrial, neoliberal, corporatist, and globalist flows of information-cum-capital, for instance, is a question rarely heard in the digital humanities associations, conferences, journals, and projects with which I am familiar (</span><a href="http://liu.english.ucsb.edu/where-is-cultural-criticism-in-the-digital-humanities/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where is Cultural Criticism in The Digital Humanities</span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, np). </span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Engagement with more thoughtful scholarship which directs itself towards cultural criticism could strengthen the consideration of blogs and other social media tools for DH scholarship, through the fusion of discussions of data use with cultural commentary. Social media is fast becoming the leading publishing house for new material. Could one go so far as to argue that web 2.0 is the Humanities life-support system?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Evaluation</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In terms of our experience of evaluation, there are several sides to evaluating literature, many of which were encountered through e-learning by the questions that were raised:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 1) How does one identify insightful literature, and how do we develop insight in our own online contributions?</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2) What is the etiquette of text communication as a scholar?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3) Will knowledge be diluted when presented in digital form?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4) Will design distract from data?</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In assessing digital scholarship, the following points are also taken into consideration:</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1) What is the relationship between literature and communities of practice?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2) Is literature always best served in an Open Access type of environment?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3) Is digital information impermanent or simply up-to-date?</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Price (2011) takes this issue a step further when it is revealed that this issue of evaluation and perceived relevancy carries right up the academic ladder to “tenure and promotion committees [that] have a notoriously difficult time in the humanities with multi-authored projects (characteristic of digital humanities projects)”. </span><a href="http://alh.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/4/876.extract"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clement (2012)</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> supports this, indicating “And so the game continues: players lay their claims on the table and the winner is the person who makes the claims deemed most insightful by respondents”. Another significant hurdle against progress in adopting a new system of evaluation is indicated by Browner (2011): that “the habits, biases, power centers, and economics that shaped print over the last 500 years are also shaping the digital world”. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There needs to be some synergy between disciplinary standards of governance and the increasing use of more liberal forms of research using technology. Julia Fraser conceives that “digital humanities as a whole has revealed precisely how interwoven and mutually consequential 'technical' and 'disciplinary' standards often are” (</span><a href="http://books.google.ie/books?id=uPqC6o2pqLgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=collaborative+research+in+the+digital+humanities&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dXe7UNrSC4mZhQfmw4DIAw&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Collaborative Research in the Digital Humanities</span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, 68</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">). DH demands these sectors strike the right balance when merging in research.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conclusion</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some of the questions raised in evaluating broad-spectrum scholarship can be applied to any form of learning. However, most disciplines now collide with the challenges and enhancements of digital scholarship. In the MA DAH, feedback from teachers and interactivity through virtual text and verbal discussion allows standards to form in an organic way. This is the radical crux of the argument: that defining digital standards in any form should come from those who both produce scholarly outputs and read them. To do this, one cannot simply hypothesise. Instead, one must tear down speculation and examine the plain evidence. One must then share this knowledge in order to establish a true form of best practice, as derived from pedagogical practices, and, perhaps more importantly, our own innate learning experiences. If one shares these models of learning, instead of theorising ad infinitum, one will be able to demonstrate their actual implementation on a personal level and therefore on realistic terms.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In reality, the basic criteria for assessment and evaluation will reflect the standards which have always existed in any form of scholarship, including a cohesive, well-formed argument, presented in an accessible manner. It is not for scholarship to be clinically assessed in any hypothetical way; rather, feedback can be drawn from an existing set of evaluation principles, and refined to establish a pattern of acceptable forms for the digital version. Creation, data, collaboration, innovation and publication appear in new media forms, but the core elements of best practice remain the same, regardless of the medium. While digital scholarship allows for an enrichment of existing principles, the most important category that we cannot neglect is again the accessibility of work to all interested parties, as this is where standards of evaluation and assessment are born.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part of the Digital Humanities utopian view is that of a democratic world of collaborative, open source, non-hierarchical understanding. As </span><a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Big-Tent-Digital-Humanities/128434/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Professor William Pannapacker</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> conveyed, “with leaders who have never known a time when scholarship in the humanities wasn’t in crisis, DH is moving us – finally – from endless hand-wringing toward doing something to create positive change throughout academe”. If we smother DH and digital scholarship’s free-form, shape-shifting attributes by attacking scholarship and delving into the task of structuring standards, we are treading the dangerous ground of inhibiting the organic growth thereof, and consequently stifling digital scholarship and goals of accessibility. Although organisation is a necessary feature of scholarship, we first need to start with a hands-off approach and make adjustments along the way where necessary. After all, the internet began as a communication device - what if we had tried to tighten our grip and to slam it down with definitions of its existence? To use an artistic analogy, instead of enforcing a theme of standards, we need to move towards freeform brushwork and bring out the features of optical art, which mutates before our scholarly eyes.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><a href="http://alh.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/4/876.extract"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Clement (2012)</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> takes a positive posture with regard to “Interdisciplinary conversations, on the other hand, are much harder: they are fruitful and productive when, in our attempt to understand each other, we produce knowledge”. while Spiro and Segal (2011) when investigating the field of digital scholarship in American literature, observed that within digital humanities scholarship ‘using’ digital infrastructure provides for more innovative scholarship than ‘making’, and Judith Donath (2011) who likened the current changes in scholarship within the digital humanities as a mutation, where “the richness of life comes from a myriad of accidental yet advantageous mutations—at the cost of the many that failed. As we enter the digital era, we are able to program the level of risk we are willing to take with unexpected changes”. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Digital Humanities is a field in transit. It is moving from a world of constraint to a world of scholarly freedom. So far, DH appears to the novice to be a culture of collaboration and experimentation. Perhaps it is too early to pinpoint what exactly it is; or, perhaps, what new material regularly unfolds persists in proving the field too rich to be confined by definition. The solution for the novice may be to content herself, for now, with the uncertain process of trial and error. It is up to us all to work out how to navigate this transition in a thoughtful, cautious manner.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Works cited</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bartscherer, T.R. Coover, Ed. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Switching Codes: Thinking Through Digital Technology in the</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Humanities and the Arts</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. Print.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Browner, S.P. “Digital Humanities and the Study of Race and Ethnicity”. Earheart and</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jewell. 209-28.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cohen M.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Design and Politics in Electronic American Literary Archives”. Earheart and</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jewell. 228-49.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deegan, Marilyn, Willard McCarty. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Collaborative Research in the Digital Humanities: A</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Volume in Honour of Harold Short. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2012. Print.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Earheart, A.E., A. Jewell, Eds. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The American Literature Scholar in the Digital Age</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. University</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of Michigan Press and University of Michigan Library, 2011. Print.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Garrison, D. Randy.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Framework for Research and Practice.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York: Routledge, 2011. Print.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gold, Matthew K. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Debates in the Digital Humanities</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Minnesota: University of Minnesota P,</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2012. Print.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lanier, Jaron. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You Are Not A Gadget: A Manifesto</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. New York: Alfred A.Knopf, 2010. Print.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Liu, Alan. “Where is Cultural Criticism in the Digital Humanities”. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The History and Future of</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the Digital Humanities. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Modern Language Association Convention. Los Angeles, 7</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">January, 2011. Web.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">---</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, “</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We Will Really Know”. Bartscherer and Coover. 89-94.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Price K. M. “</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Collaborative Work and the Conditions for American Literary Scholarship in a</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Digital Age”. Earheart and Jewell. 9-26.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rockwell, G. “On the Evaluation of Digital Media as Scholarship”. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Profession </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1(2011): 52-68.</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MLA Journals.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Web. 24 Nov. 2012. <http://www.mlajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1632/prof.2011.2011.1.152></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Schreibman, S., L. Mandell, S. Olsen. “Evaluating Digital Scholarship: Introduction”.</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Profession. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MLA Journals. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1(2011):123-201. Web.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><</span><a href="http://www.mlajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1632/prof.2011.2011.1.123"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.mlajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1632/prof.2011.2011.1.123</span></a><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spiro L., J. Segal. “</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Scholars' Usage of Digital Archives in American Literature”. Earheart and</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jewell. 101-24.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeats, W.B. Richard J.Finneran, ed. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Collected Poems of W.B.Yeats</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. New York: Simon and</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Schuster, 1989. Print.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">About the authors</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mike Cosgrave teaches Digital Humanities, International Relations and History at UCC. His Phd was on UN peace operations and he has published on teaching and learning. (m dot cosgrave at ucc dot ie )</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anna Dowling is currently studying for a Masters in Digital Arts and Humanities in University College Cork. She has previously completed a BA (Joint Honours) degree in English and History, and a Masters in Modern English in University College Cork.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lynn Harding is currently studying for a Masters in Digital Arts and Humanities. She also holds an MA in Medieval and Renaissance English, and BA (Joint Honours) in English and History, from UCC.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Róisín O’Brien is currently studying for a Masters in Digital Arts and Humanities at University College Cork. She previously graduated with a Masters Degree in Applied Linguistics and a BA (Joint Honours) Degree in German and French.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Olivia Rohan has a degree in Fine Art and History of Art (Joint Honours) from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland, a HDip. in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin, and is attending University College Cork on the MA in Digital Arts and Humanities.</span></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-27039691332745346672012-12-01T19:32:00.000+00:002012-12-01T19:32:41.874+00:00Reality Stretched: Identity versus the Digital WorldThis post is a response to reading the chapter 'Collaborative Selves, Collaborative Worlds: Identity in the Information Age' by Sherry Turkle, taken from the book <i>Electronic Collaboration in the Humanities</i>.<br />
<br />
This chapter blends discussions of psychoanalytics, with which I am familiar from Modernist and Postmodernist debates, and role-playing virtual games. It simultaneously handles the debates concerning surface and depth of identities in an online world. One could also refer to these in 'techy' terms as front end and back end identities.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blog.redfin.com/sfbay/files/2008/04/drjekyllmrhyde.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://blog.redfin.com/sfbay/files/2008/04/drjekyllmrhyde.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
An area which caused me some concern was the apparent lack of discussion in this chapter on <u>actual</u> collaboration. All of the examples given, concerning both 'Case' and 'Shakespeare' lacked an apparent group element. Therefore the chapter became slightly confused in linking its discussions of identity back to the many, other than the multiplicity of identities theory. I felt that Turkle got slightly lost in conveying the ideas of the MUD and telling the story of Case, letting the main focus of collaborative work fall flat. While I understood that this chapter is probably an introductory, 'setting the scene', piece of writing, I did not think that its message jelled fully with the overarching themes of this book.<br />
<br />
I found the metaphor for Windows to be of great use in visualising the multiple self that Turkle was arguing for. The notion that every window open on our desktop conveys a separate identity rang quite true to me and I'm sure for many. For example, on numerous occasions, I will have various academic windows open, speaking in my scholarly voice, while at the same time I will have my personal Facebook open to speak to my friends, in my 'casual' voice. The fusion of technology and identity is at the core of what Digital Humanities if trying to assemble. <span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Julia
Fraser conceives that:</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> Digital humanities as a whole has revealed precisely how interwoven and mutually consequential 'technical' and
'disciplinary' standards often are (</span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Collaborative
Research in the Digital Humanities</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">,
68).</span></span></blockquote>
This piece reminded me of the struggle within DH, to merge the identity of the humanities, with the imposing egos of both technology and the regulation of scholarship.<br />
<br />
The emotional connection of Case to his MUD character Mairead is something which I can identify with, although on a smaller scale than gender dynamics. As I have mentioned in a previous post, my last foray into gaming was playing the Sims 1,2 and 3. These were probably the only games that I played thoroughly enough to comment on. I agreed with Turkle's example because I did have slight emotional reactions to my own gaming experiences. The Sims has a similar concept in that you can play as a completely different persona to your true self. I felt proud when my Sim got a promotion in their job, or had a child, mainly because I had progressed in my gaming abilities.<br />
<br />
Arguably, these types of gaming can act as a method of escapism, in the sense that the player usually acts out something which they are unable or unwilling to attain in their own life at that moment.<br />
This conjures the question of whether digital identity is in danger of becoming miskewed?<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 1.27cm;">It also begs the question of whether digital identity can be taken as seriously as our own identity,which is proven on our passports?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-indent: 48px;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 32px;">The Digital Multiplicity of Personas serves to fuel the debate on facing up to reality.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.theadfmblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/reality_940x500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="339" src="http://www.theadfmblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/reality_940x500.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 1.27cm;">Works Cited</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm; margin-left: 0.1cm; text-indent: -0.6cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Deegan,
Marilyn, Willard McCarty. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Collaborative Research in the Digital Humanities: A Volume in Honour of Harold Short. </i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Surrey:
Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2012. Print.</span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><br /></span>
<div class="western" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-72511423282418178672012-11-27T13:22:00.002+00:002012-11-27T13:24:26.761+00:00DH and Gaming: Closer than we thought?So I'm not really much of a gamer, the furthest my foray into the world of gaming went was The Sims (1,2,3). I have to admit though, I was quite obsessed with those games. For me it has become a case of simply not having the time to appreciate the world of gaming. For the last five years I have bounced from one degree to the next, which really eats into your 'me' time.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://mydualities.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/stressed-out.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://mydualities.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/stressed-out.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
However, I have recently discovered a game which has been getting a lot of attention on the web. I'm probably, most definitely, late to the game on this one but I was interested in it from an open access perspective. The game in question is <a href="http://slendergame.com/">Slender</a>. This is a prime example of good quality, FREE gaming. Did I mention it's free to download! And no I am not being paid to promote it. I am a big horror genre fan, so the concept of the game piqued my interest immediately. The premise of the game is to travel through a forest in the pitch black of night, gathering 8 pages from various locations, while all the while trying to avoid being caught by the 'Slender man'. It also includes very eerie music which increases in volume as the Slender Man draws near to you, and the tendency for your flashlight to fail at this exact moment.<br />
<br />
The creation of the legend of the Slender Man is described on the games homepage. Although the creator is named as Victor Surge, it shows the manipulation of forums and blog threads to create something sharable:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Slender Man was created at the Something Awful Forums in a thread entitled "Create Paranormal Images." He is described as wearing a black suit strikingly similar to the visage of the notorious Men In Black, and as the name suggests, appears very thin and able to stretch his limbs and torso to inhuman lengths in order to induce fear and ensnare his prey. Once his arms are outstretched, his victims are put into something of a hypnotized state, where they are utterly helpless to stop themselves from walking into them.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span></span></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.slenderman.com/screenshot2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.slenderman.com/screenshot2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(The Slender Man)</div>
<br />
Not only is this game an example of the power of collaborative efforts via the 'Something Awful Forums', but it shows the incredible work which is being done in terms of open creative endeavours.<br />
<br />
<br />
It also encompasses some key elements of the movement in digital humanities: Interdisciplinarity, collaboration and creativity. Examples of these functions can be seen in the assembling of the Slender Man story. Aspects of the digital manipulation used in the paranormal pictures photoshop competition run on the Something Awful Forum, Cabadath from the Chzo Mythos games, and German folklore tales about Der Grobmann, often translated as the tall man, all influenced the creation of this game (<i><a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/slender-man">Slender Man-Know Your Meme</a></i>).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/337/857/eb0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/337/857/eb0.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(Der Grobmann, from German folklore tales)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Personally, this game conjured images of Jack Skellington from Henry Sellick and Tim Burton's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107688/"><i>A Nightmare Before Christmas (</i>1993).</a> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://joshuaproject.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/nightmare-before-christmas-nightmare-before-christmas-494173_800_494.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://joshuaproject.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/nightmare-before-christmas-nightmare-before-christmas-494173_800_494.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It also links rather nicely to the argument that I was making in my last post about the purpose within Digital Humanities of Deforming for Reforming, or what I like to refer to as digital flattery. In this sense, I would argue that this game was conceived of through the deformation of various representations of this tall figure and folk tales about such figures, in order to create a new digital, gaming version of this figure. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The site which hosts the game also provides connections between DH and the gaming community. It seems that DH has taken a lot of inspiration from the world of gaming, in terms of their methods of communication and discussion. The forum, is now a large part of the gaming culture, in which tactics can be discussed and help can be received to get past a certain level. This site houses a very well frequented <a href="http://gamingunity.com/discussions.php">forum</a> which would put many DH forums to shame. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So next time you DHers play your games, whether on your console or online, remember that you are contributing to the long relationship which exists between the world of gaming and its influence on concepts within Digital Humanities.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>With thanks to the Slender Man game for influencing this post.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-69834006924016532952012-11-20T12:29:00.003+00:002012-11-20T12:32:27.310+00:00Deforming For Reforming<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
To many, Las Meninas represents one of the most dynamic, multi-layered and complex examples of artwork. It has received so much attention, that it has garnered recreations by the likes of Picasso most famously. However, I am not interested in discussing fine art in this post. I am interested in how the transmission of this work in its different forms ties into what digital humanities represents.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/r8m5O76cAeo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
It struck me while examining Picasso's interpretation of <a href="http://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/online-gallery/on-line-gallery/obra/the-family-of-felipe-iv-or-las-meninas/">Las Meninas</a>, the 1656 painting by Diego Velazquez, that at the root of what digital humanities represents to me is the deconstruction or disassembling of the image, the text, the sound, etc., in order to reform the core of humanities frameworks.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://theoldmistressesandme.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/velazquez-las-meninas-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://theoldmistressesandme.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/velazquez-las-meninas-5.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
<br />
(The original Velazquez Las Meninas)<br />
<br />
In essence what this transmutes is a type of deforming in order for reforming these categories. This is not to say that the original form is destroyed, rather it is rediscovered in a new arena. The core values have not changed, just the transmission of the idea. Many may call this remediation, but I am not entirely convinced of this words application yet in terms of digital humanities aims. I do not think that the original item, such as the text, needs remedying by digital means. I believe that this process serves to translate the book or the artwork into a more interactive format. I also believe that this extends the reach of these previously physical constructs.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://archaesthetic.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/picasso-las-meninas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://archaesthetic.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/picasso-las-meninas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(The Picasso Version)</div>
<br />
You may ask what does this have to do with the aforementioned paintings? The answer to this, I propose, is that they are essentially just different versions of the same concept. They have both developed out of creativity, just different versions of this creative process. Picasso has deformed Velazquez's original painting in order to reform it in a modernist context. Conceivably, we have moved into a digitally saturated context, therefore these concepts have moved with that in the same way. This process not only shows the translation of a form through history, but it symbolises the constant re-invention of space using the digital.<br />
<br />
At the centre of this is the reformation of an idea, for its further development. So that Velazquez and Picasso's versions, in digital form are allowed to take on new dimensions:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~yingfeng/presentations/VRApplication/snapa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~yingfeng/presentations/VRApplication/snapa.jpg" width="317" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
These reconfigurations conjure notions of the dreaded plagiarism for many. However <a href="http://www.rlwclarke.net/courses/LITS3303/2010-2011/06CBloom,TheAnxietyofInfluence.pdf">'the anxiety of influence'</a>, as Bloom puts it best, does not take into account the disassembling of one idea in order to reform this idea in another mode. Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating plagiarism, I just believe that it's definition is not clearly dealt with in terms of some elements of DH thus far. If this was the case, would we not all be guilty of plagiarism in some form, by re-instating physical works on the web, with our name attached to the coding? While discussing Bloom's most famous work, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/may/25/harold-bloom-influence">Robert McCrum from The Guardian</a>, argues that "influence is unavoidable, and not all of it is bad".<br />
<br />
It is my opinion that DH thrives on influence, but it recreates this in a digital context. To conclude this post, I would like to pose the question, Is the Humanities undergoing a digital reformation? Answers in the comments.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Works Cited</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Bloom, Harold. <i>The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry</i>. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1973. Print. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
McCrum, Robert. "Harold Bloom's Influence Still Holds Sway", <i>The Guardian. </i>25 May 2011. Web Article. www.guardian.co.uk</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Picasso, Pablo. <i>Las Meninas</i>. Barcelona: Museu Picasso, 1957. Image.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Velazquez, Diego. <i>Las Meninas</i>. Madrid: Museo Del Prado, 1656. Image.</div>
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-4111575693021673802012-11-13T19:17:00.000+00:002012-11-13T19:27:43.251+00:00Reading in F and it's challenges to literature online Have you ever thought about the structure of the page? No? Neither had I until recently. Many people take the page for granted, not recognising the centuries of work which have gone into its creation. The digital page, if it can even be called that, is no different. The main contrast between the two can be argued as the rapid development of the digital space of the page. I am becoming increasingly interested in how the digitised world is changing many of the constructs which we do not give much thought to within the Humanities.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With these rapid developments come problems. Jakob Nielsen has changed my views upon the digital page. He argues that people do not read an online page, for example a website, in the complete fashion in which we read a page from a book. We now read in an"<a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html">F shape</a>". Examples of this F shape can be seen below.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/f_reading_pattern_eyetracking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/f_reading_pattern_eyetracking.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Christi O'Connell summarises this idea in her article <i><a href="http://www.usability.gov/articles/newsletter/pubs/032010news.html">Eye Tracking and Wesbite Design</a>:</i></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif, 'Trebuchet MS', Tahoma; font-size: 12px;">Nielsen’s (2006) eye tracking research has demonstrated that users read web content in an F-shaped pattern. The F-shape reading pattern refers to the viewing order: users start by reading across the top line and then look down the page a little and read across again and then continue down the left side.</span></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Rather than taking in every piece of information, we now scan the page for what we perceive to be relevant, giving little attention to particular data on the page, such as information on the right hand side, corners and the bottom of the page. My concerns for this type of reading, which I myself am guilty of, are its impact upon digitised literature in particular. Will we absorb a book that we read on the web in the same fashion as we scan a web page, simply picking out what is relevant? Although it is necessary to filter information when using the web, so as not to become overwhelmed by information, could this be detrimental to how we analyse the text of a literary work? </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
As the internet progresses, I perceive that eventually it will be more common and feasible for many people to do most of their reading online. However, coming from an English literature background in which the physical book is sacred, it upsets me slightly to imagine this. However, this generates many problems for the effectiveness of close textual analysis, if we continue to develop these habits of overlooking the full structure of 'the page'. This threatens the very core of literary analysis. Therefore, I challenge you all to break this habit, to some degree, myself included, and see how much more resourceful we can make our readings on the web.After all, you wouldn't read a physical book in this fashion, so why would you read a digital page like this? On a side note, I do take into account that some pages often require us to overlook information or we would be there for hours. But in an academic context, we could stand to gain from taking a closer look at the digital page.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://searchengineland.com/figz/wp-content/seloads/2012/05/8814868_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="http://searchengineland.com/figz/wp-content/seloads/2012/05/8814868_s.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
My second concern for the page is that we will lose our sense of the identity of the physical page through increasing digitisation. Although I believe that this is the only way forward in terms of making knowledge more accessible to the masses, I fear that the structure of out traditional page will soon be forgotten. Even as a I write this I am aware that I am using a digital tool, the blog, a relatively new form of displaying text, to voice these concerns. My only hope is that the reader does not scan this blog in the 'F shape' which Nielsen speaks of.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
These are just some of my own concerns for increasing digitisation of the aforementioned page. However, the 'pros' definitely outweigh the 'cons' in terms of research prospects and the increasing availability of valuable knowledge in this global space. It is up to the global online community to read in a more attentive manner, and to truly value the space of the page which is put in front of us all.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-71356554701832258542012-11-09T19:00:00.001+00:002012-11-09T19:00:14.912+00:00Linking In: Broadening my horizons using my online profileI have recently set up my online profile on the site Linked in. I hope that it will further my academic and work prospects.<br />
<br />
Check it out at the following link:<br />
<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/anna-dowling/59/321/747">http://www.linkedin.com/pub/anna-dowling/59/321/747</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.whatamimissinghere.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/84344_Give-Me-A-Job-by-Olle-Johansson-Sweden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://www.whatamimissinghere.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/84344_Give-Me-A-Job-by-Olle-Johansson-Sweden.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-80154922799771735972012-11-04T17:59:00.001+00:002012-11-04T17:59:07.753+00:00'Collaborate or Perish': Cultivating Information in the Modern World<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://integratingtech301.pbworks.com/f/hiho.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://integratingtech301.pbworks.com/f/hiho.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
(An example of a community of practice)</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
In the global space of communities of information, it is often a case of nature versus nurture. By this it can be understood that creating communities of practice or inquiry can be either helped by the rapid development of economies of knowledge; i.e. a case of natural development in society. Alternatively it can be restricted by a sense of nurturing of the old ways to harbor information within a particular community, rather than sharing this data for the greater good of society. This blogpost will discuss these conflicts in relation to the Communities of Practice class of the MA in Digital Humanities, here in UCC, which will take place on Monday the 5th of November 2012. This class will allow us to experience active discussions of Etienne Wenger's <i><a href="http://www.ewenger.com/theory/">Introduction to Communities of Practice</a></i> and the Introduction and first chapter of <i><a href="http://www.wikinomics.com/book/IntroAndOne.pdf">Wikinomics</a>,</i> using digital conferencing methods.<br />
<br />
It is now time to create the foundations for walking the walk within Digital Humanities:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/63rQ3S8EHoA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
(Wenger discusses his work with Brantlee Underhill, PMI Director of Pratitioner Markets)</div>
<br />
<br />
Looking at Wenger's work it is clear that the concept of communities of practice is well established, yet underrated. Like many structures of economy, learning and society, a lack of communication thus far outside of the walls of these sectors has allowed for this idea to escape our notice. With the rapid expansion of all things technology based, we can now experience the true value of communities of practice. Examining Wenger's definition, he states that "communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly" (<i>Communities of Practice: A Brief Introduction</i>). This statement invites the question of whether there are elements of failure within this scheme? Can a community of practice deteriorate through loss of this concern or passion, and should there be regulations in place in order to deal with these losses?<br />
<br />
There is also the issue of those who are forgotten when the community of practice evolves into its largest, most openly creative form. These are the hoarders. Those who hide in their offices, sitting on valuable information.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/auremar/auremar1110/auremar111001872/11176002-a-spy-peering-through-some-blinds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/auremar/auremar1110/auremar111001872/11176002-a-spy-peering-through-some-blinds.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
(Image obtained from www.123rf.com)</div>
<br />
They are also those who are afraid of change.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://fakeplus.com/pictures/jpg/-we-fear-change-_20120529183232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://fakeplus.com/pictures/jpg/-we-fear-change-_20120529183232.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>
These people also fall into the nurture category, when looking at the system of communities of practice. Is there a way of including these people so that they do not get left behind, or are they eternally stuck in this mindset? I think that the adaptability of the human race is underestimated in this sense. Arguably, Wegner and the Wikinomics writers have overlooked certain elements of human psychology, in that the crowd or tribe mentality is strongest, and that sooner or later the majority of non-believers will convert, once they perceive the great success of this method of global practice. Positivity is essential in the conversion of private practices of closed community to public practices of open community.<br />
<br />
The process of growth within communities of practice reminds me of a kind of information farming. Ideas are grown through nourishment, when seeds are planted by engagement with the foundations, which in this case is the wider community of the world. It has been argued that people are the "tangible assests" of modern day organisations, whether they are internal or external to that organisation (<i>Leveraging Communities of Practice for Strategic Advantage</i>, 3). This is becoming more and more evident in our own University structure. The engagement of students within the knowledge economy of their degree makes them a valuable external asset to the internal teaching practices of their lecturers. These contributions also come from external sources outside of the University community, such as interaction with greater society. Without the external influences of the students, the Universities assets are diminished. The University is no longer a closed network of learning. We are engaging in global connectivity with other colleges to improve our own systems.<br />
<br />
A statement which struck me as very controversial came in the form of the closing words from the first chapter of <i>Wikinomics. "</i>Collaborate or perish", which is also the title of this post, seemed slightly dramatic in essence and certainly retained its shock value. I think that again it overlooks societies ability to adapt as a whole, and does not acknowledge the fact that people progress at different rates. It is evident that this threat is meant to challenge the hierarchy of information. However, one needs to ask the question as to whether threats will get a progressing system anywhere?<br />
<br />
The book itself provides a template which my own class could use for creating a work of collaboration.The example of using the development of a subtitle as an open web discussion highlighted the multi-dimensional applications of 'wikinomics' in the field of digital humanities. "Within twenty-four hours we had dozens of great subtitle suggestions" (<i>Wikinomics,</i> 4). It defies the structure of a normal book, in that it was created by many, who were given the open opportunity to participate in constructing the framework for headings associated with the chapters through the online forum, rather than excluding useful knowledge through writing and publishing agreements. I think that they put it best in this chapter with the line that they will "harness some of the best minds in the Industry" using these methods of community (<i>Wikinomics,</i>8). There is also a significant element of acknowledgement and gratification in this practice. New, skillful members of society are uncovered, who would otherwise have gone overlooked. Open source puts all of these ideas highlighted by Tapscott and Williams into practice.<br />
<br />
When I imagine this in terms of what we are doing in this course, I envision class projects in which we collaborate in a virtual space to create a body of work outside of the classroom, such as a shared blog. The various examples of public 'peering' throughout this work provide some very applicable models for our own MA to think about when we begin to face the challenges that lie ahead in Digital Humanities. These examples, such as the Gold Mining story, face both the problems and benefits which any community of practice will encounter when engaging in collaboration. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2012/06/05/5-tips-for-virtual-collaboration/2/">Forbes</a> provides a comprehensive list of tips for virtual collaboration, which I think will prove useful in the context of this course. These are as follows:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Increase cross cultural awareness</li>
<li>Co-create team rules and norms</li>
<li>Build virtual trust</li>
<li>Mix communication mediums</li>
<li>Make the first meeting face to face</li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
I thought that this list would be helpful in building our own online community of practice using this course as a backbone. In particular I felt that the elements of trust and regulation would keep the group working fluidly.<br />
<br />
There was one discussion in this chapter in particular which drew my attention. The 'Promise and Peril' section underlined the dangers which the idea of communities of practice can attract. Alongside these communities who mean well with their intentions for collaborating are those involved in criminal collaboration. The inclusion of this section was worthwhile in exposing the negative types of collaboration which still exist in such a developing area. It synopsizes the negative and positive kinds of teamwork out there and that while communities of practice are revolutionary in theory, they are not without their problems.<br />
<br />
Another aspect of the perils which I would like to discuss is the "mass mediocrity" problem. Coming from a literary studies background, the suffocating of authentic voices due to over-saturation of digital voices is one of my greatest fears. I am glad that it has been recognised here. I link this back to literature by arguing that the literary market-place may become flooded by mediocre 'writers', meanwhile true, talented voices of literature may be lost in the influx. This idea follows into the debate made by James E. Gall about the conflict in this book between profit and sharing. "The apparent contradiction created between the openness/sharing philosophy and the personal/corporate profit angle is the greatest weakness of this book" (Gall, 362). Literature is a prime example of this in that free, open source literature follows this model, but professional writers also need to make a profit. Therefore how do we merge the two, without stifling the professional literary marketplace? I agree that there are many contradictions involving these two areas in this book, however it would be wrong to overlook the economic factors, in order to promote this cause.<br />
<br />
To conclude, I consider both of these works to warrant a dynamic debate amongst my peers in Mondays class. I found them both useful for contextualising the system of communities of practice in my own mind.<br />
They also categorised the dark side of these communities, which are a valuable element to be aware of when engaging in them. Although both were a bit over zealous in their promotions of COP's or Wikinomics, they provided many valid points on why this is the way forward. However, if we are to practice what these works preach, we must do so with caution so as not to lose sight of true creativity. I think that we should also encourage the nurturers of old traditions to follow the progressing digital path. The only way that we can persuade them to do this is by demonstrating the effectiveness of creating our own society of knowledge building through global, digital means, leaving them no choice but to walk the walk alongside us.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Works Cited</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Gall, James E. 'The Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen; Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Donald Tapscott, Anthony D. William, Review', <i>Educational Technology Research and Development. </i>53.3 (2008): 361-4, <i>Jstor</i>, 3 Oct. 2012. Web. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Saint-Onge, Hubert, Debra Wallace.<i> Leveraging Communities of Practice for Strategic Advantage</i>. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003. Print.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Wenger, Etienne. <i>Communities of Practice: A Brief Introduction</i>. Web. June (2006). <a href="http://www.ewenger.com/theory/">http://www.ewenger.com/theory/</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
William, Anthony D., Donald Tapscott. <i>Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything</i>. Web, (2008). <a href="http://www.wikinomics.com/book/IntroAndOne.pdf">http://www.wikinomics.com/book/IntroAndOne.pdf</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-64048508768510959862012-10-24T16:37:00.001+01:002012-10-24T16:41:06.424+01:00HTML?<b><span style="font-size: large;">Just a few sites which I have found useful in my quest to learn html:</span></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.w3schools.com/">http://www.w3schools.com/</a> -This is quite an obvious one for anyone starting off in anything to do with computer science. They provide easy to follow online tutorials which let you practice every step as you work your way through the site, building up your html confidence as you progress.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://thenewboston.org/">http://thenewboston.org/</a> - This rivals W3Schools as one of the best online tutorial based computer science sites. Any of my I.T. friends that I asked for recommendations directed me to this site over W3, so if that's anything to go by then it must be good.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.pagetutor.com/index.html">http://www.pagetutor.com/index.html</a> - This site promises 'plain English' guidance in explaining the ins and outs of HTML.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.html.net/">http://www.html.net/</a>- Another good one for easy to follow, succinct explanations for the novice in the world of computer science.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br />
<br />
I hope that this selection of html tutorial site offerings helps anyone who is having trouble with understanding html or further down the line, xml. I know that they have helped me a lot in the last few days, I'm not saying that I am now an expert, but I'm slowly but surely gaining confidence in my own ability to understand what is going on 'under the hood'!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If all else fails, I recommend befriending someone who is studying Computer Science!</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn-images.hollywood.com/site/it_crowd_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://cdn-images.hollywood.com/site/it_crowd_cover.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-42166800247844750422012-10-23T16:44:00.002+01:002012-10-23T16:50:56.537+01:00The Humanities Identity Crisis and it's 'Pharmakon'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.xmlgrrl.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/picture-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="http://www.xmlgrrl.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/picture-1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Image taken from digitalmilieu.net</div>
<br />
It has occurred to me that the Humanities discipline has undergone somewhat of an identity crisis in the past years. This post will discuss the mid-life crisis of the Humanities which has driven the movement in Digital Humanities forward.<br />
<br />
Some, if not all, of the reading which I have been doing has reflected upon this crisis of identity and image which has swept over the Humanities as I.T. has taken over the world. Many have turned to I.T. in this crisis of progression to create an image based on trend rather than functionality and understanding. I would like to propose that Digital Humanities forgoes style for substance in the application of I.T. to its mission.<br />
<br />
Alan Liu deals with this issue in his work <i><a href="http://sms.cam.ac.uk/media/1173142">The State of the Digital Humanities- A report and a critique</a>, </i>of which there is also a video available of him delivering this paper. In this report, he satirises the obsession with the image of I.T., which he refers to as an "institutional desiring engine" (2). There is a domineering strand of cultural I.T. in which image is everything. These people are building their I.T. identity based upon trends, rather than acknowledging the impact of technology upon Modern research and innovation. These type of users can be referred to as mindless participators in I.T., whereas those who have entered into their work using digital means can be identified as mindful participators. Arguably, digital humanists fall into this category. They recognise the character and adaptability of the uses of I.T. in their work, unlike those mindless users who are mainly concerned with the appearance that they will gain from these 'cool' gadgets. It is my opinion that the digital world cannot reach its full potential if it remains obsessed with its own cultural image.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cl.jroo.me/z3/E/d/C/d/a.aaa-Use-iPad-in-the-kitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://cl.jroo.me/z3/E/d/C/d/a.aaa-Use-iPad-in-the-kitchen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
An example of a mindless user of I.T.</div>
<br />
<br />
Now, you may ask, what does this theory have to do with the crisis of identity in the Humanities? The answer to this is everything. Humanities is also in danger of falling into the mindless participator role, if old conventions on the uses of I.T. cannot be forgotten. The Humanities in general have been at a cross-roads for some time in terms of its image. William Pannapacker has discussed this attempt to re-define the Humanities in his work: <i><a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Big-Tent-Digital-Humanities-a/129036/">Big Tent Digital Humanities: A view from the edge, part 2</a>, </i>starting with its problems:<i> </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Some are related to the traditions of academic culture—the apparent disinclination of some humanists to work with digital technologies, the academic tendency to value individual achievement over teamwork, and the continuing emphasis on the use of scholarly monographs to certify tenure and promotion. Other challenges seem more structural, such as declining financial support for the humanities in general" (Pannapacker).</blockquote>
<div>
<br /> Pannapacker hits the nail on the head with this article, traditions within the Humanities are proving hard to shake. Conceivably, many humanists understand the idea of integrating I.T. with research, but do not understand its importance and essentiality for the future of the identity of the Humanities. Susan Schriebman categorises this as a lack of knowledge within the humanities of the depth of the digital. Humanities has mainly perceived the surface of technology, yet there seems to be this fear of learning about the operating functions 'beneath the hood' of today's computer, in order to attain its full potential. Her work, <i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CC8QFjAC&url=http://www.cceh.uni-koeln.de/files/Schreibman_0.pdf&ei=zbCGULDsDImyhAeUtoGIDw&usg=AFQjCNGToLhYpmvHYiF8I9_h6Ge_ZQFklQ&sig2=dQfKYAWKbYMZOSWtvcSijg">Digital Humanities: Centres and Peripheries</a></i>, argues that "it was felt it was not enough for our peers to come to terms with surface technologies, they also needed to understand the inside of the beast" (6).<br />
<br />
While reading Suzanne Guerlac's article "Humanities 2.0: E-Learning in the Digital world", I was struck by her closing arguments regarding all things digital:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"As Bernard Stiegler suggests, technology is a kind of pharmakon, by which he means (via Plato and Derrida) that it is both a remedy and a poison.To know the difference, however, it is essential that we become computer literate and that universities support what Drucker calls “humanistic approaches” to manipulations of information, its visualization and its modeling" (120).</blockquote>
This, for me, symbolises the fears and rewards which cross the minds of many a humanist when they debate the entry into the world of Digital Humanities. There is a fine line between these two types of I.T. identities, which can be beneficial or detrimental to the cause of preserving the Humanities. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Works Cited</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Guerlac, Suzanne. "Humanities 2.0: E-Learning in the Digital World". <i>Representations,</i> 116.1 (2011): 102-127. <i>Jstor</i>, Web. 23 Oct. 2012. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Liu Alan, "The State of The Digital Humanities: A Report and a Critique". <i>Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, </i>11.1 (2012): 1-34. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Pannapacker, William. "Big-Tent Digital Humanities: A View from the Edge, Part 2". <i>Chronicle of Higher Education</i>, 58.5 (2011): A32-A32.<i> </i>Web. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Schriebman, Susanne. "Digital Humanities: Centres and Peripheries". TCD: May, 2012. Web.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-21661687884146096422012-10-12T13:43:00.003+01:002012-10-15T13:25:58.179+01:00Dabbling in Digital Humanities<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://thatcamplondon.org/wp-content/uploads/DH-MANIFESTO-Bandeau-300x238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://thatcamplondon.org/wp-content/uploads/DH-MANIFESTO-Bandeau-300x238.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This blog post will discuss the challenges which face us when we attempt to both define Digital Humanities, and dabble in this emerging field.<br />
The inspiration for this stems from the first class of my MA in Digital Arts and Humanities, in which we discussed <a href="http://www.humanitiesblast.com/manifesto/Manifesto_V2.pdf">The Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0</a>, among other works.<br />
<br />
Although this Manifesto of sorts was quite spliced together and lacking a central focus, it was interesting to observe the many different voices which can create such a work. There is an obvious element of resistance and controversy evident in the labeling and defining of the field of Digital Humanities. Even in this Manifesto, the meaning of 'DH' becomes quite skewed due to the reluctance of many aspects of its construction to properly define its mission. As a novice within this area, I find it quite strange that there is such a compelling resistance to explaining the nature of what Digital Humanities stands for and wishes to achieve.<br />
<br />
In terms of its layout, the Manifesto appears to be quite archaic in its use of images scattered incoherently throughout the text. However, it does provide a fusion between visionary and textual elements, which is an area that Digital Humanities is heavily associated with. In this sense the piece stays true to the merging of worlds using digital means, however they could have put more effort into sourcing better images. It struck me as a very reflective piece of literature. Every time I read it I was reminded of the various Modernist and Postmodernist Manifesto's which emerged in the twentieth century. For example Ezra Pound's Imagism Manifesto, <a href="http://books.google.ie/books?id=lKONAETXi-kC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false"> <i>A Few Dont's by an Imagiste</i></a>, which strikes me as just as vague and incoherent as this piece. Pound describes the image as "that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time" (<i>Manifesto</i>, 356). His work assembles the same sort of definition without defining at the start of the Manifesto, which aids no one.<br />
<br />
A piece within the Manifesto which I found 'perspective changing' was the arguments made about <a href="http://www.wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia</a>. The authors provides an interesting take on Wikipedia, which sees it advocated as "the most siginificant Web 2.0 creation to harness a mass audience in knowledge production and dissemination"(<i>The Digital Humanities Manifesto 2.0</i>, 6). This was quite a different take upon a database which throughout my time in University has been demonized. However, it highlighted the fact that Wikipedia is in fact an important community of reference, which is managed by everyone for everyone. Regardless of the fact that this site can oftentimes harbor factually inaccurate information, it is none the less a significant example of the power of contribution and co-ordination which Digital Humanities strives for.<br />
<br />
Looking at some of the other pieces we discussed in class, I found <a href="http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/3.1.4.pdf">Pedro Hernandez-Ramos's debates</a> upon private and public spaces for blogging to be quite a beneficial analogy for the difficult task of extracting useful information from a mass of useless overtly personal blog spaces on the internet. "A complementary goal was to encourage students to see both blogs and discussion forums as valid and effective tools for professional development and lifelong learning" (Ramos, 3). It is my opinion that the blog is lacking validation as an important arena for up to date research. Ramos's context makes clear that work that appears to be in a private spectrum, such as the blog, can be just as valuable for research purposes and other professional usage. This piece adds to the call for the validation of the blog as a legitimate tool for research, which can provide peer review and critique at a fast pace.<br />
<br />
The article by Paula M. Krebs entitled<a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Next-Time-Fail-Better/131790/"> <i>Next Time</i>, </a><i><a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Next-Time-Fail-Better/131790/">Fail Better</a> </i>was something that I could really relate to as a former Masters student in the English literature faculty<i>. </i>Krebs's article addresses the taboo within the Humanities of the negative connotations of failure. This is very much frowned upon amongst peers, whereas in faculties such as Computer Science and Science in general, failure is a normal part of the process of learning. I think I will try to adopt Krebs's approach this year to some degree throughout this MA in Digital Arts and Humanities. This piece also discussed the notion of "workshopping as a pedagogy" which I thought fit quite aptly into the concept of the digital sphere (Krebs). Take for instance the comments which are attached to this piece. This in itself is a workshop, in which the 'Fail better' piece is assessed and new items are contributed by both strangers, and I'm sure, peers of Krebs. The internet can be shown from this piece to be opening up into its very own tool for teaching and learning within every field.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.forkparty.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/bush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="http://www.forkparty.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/bush.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I'll end this piece with a quote from Jerome McGann, which argues that we need "to reform the text through computer assistance to provide new insights" (<i>A Companion to Digital Humanities</i>, np). This is what I strive to do as I begin to dabble in digital humanities. I hope that my knowledge of the space of the text, which I have gathered through my studies of English and History, can be transformed into new progressive models through the use of digital tools.I am particularly interested in the transformation of the solid archive of the library into a digital archive, which can be accessed all over the world, without the issue of trawling through limited archival catalogues contained within the physical library to gain limited resources for research. Rather, research needs to expand, by making information available in a direct and speedy manner.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZTOXIiJQVJA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
So this video is slightly cheesy and quite brief, however kitkatkale makes some useful arguments as a fellow dabbler in digital humanities.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Works Cited</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Caws, Mary Ann. <i>Manifesto: A Century of Isms. </i>Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001. Print. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Schriebman, Susan, et al. <i>A Companion to Digital Humanities</i>. Oxford: Blackwell, 2007. Print. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1425648755725721511.post-48365222277436017492012-10-11T13:05:00.002+01:002012-10-15T13:27:16.674+01:00Blogging Academia<br />
<div class="cp_userContent blogEntryBody contentEntryBody permacontent" id="j_id_jsp_146370782_33j_id_3" role="document" style="margin: 1em; min-height: 8em;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/99/267060150_e690307561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/99/267060150_e690307561.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
It has become apparent to me that the digital age we live in requires academia to find new outlets to voice its research. An area which I am quite interested in, in relation to this idea is the Blog.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
Since doing my <a href="http://www.pecha-kucha.org/">Pecha Kucha</a> presentation on the importance of the blog as a new form of academic research, I have begun to gather together an array of Blogs which I find quite useful for keeping up to date with areas that I am interested in.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
Below I will provide a list of links to some of these Blogs:</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<a href="http://thebluelantern.blogspot.com/" style="color: darkblue;">http://thebluelantern.blogspot.com/</a></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<a href="http://exploringfeminisms.wordpress.com/" style="color: darkblue;">http://exploringfeminisms.wordpress.com/</a></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<a href="http://www.kenyonreview.org/blog/" style="color: darkblue;">http://www.kenyonreview.org/blog/</a></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<a href="http://bloggingwoolf.wordpress.com/" style="color: darkblue;">http://bloggingwoolf.wordpress.com/</a></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/category/group-blog/" style="color: darkblue;">http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/category/group-blog/</a></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
These are just a few of the blogs that I have being keeping up to date with. Although I realise that some of them are not strictly academically based blogs, I think that the quality of the work being put onto these websites makes them a valuable, rich resource for research.The blog can be a useful tool for framing research and contextualising it in modern society. In terms of digital humanities, I can envision the blog becoming a very important part of the research and publishing process within an academic sphere within the next few years.</div>
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12219708305808827043noreply@blogger.com0