Digital humanities needs equality between humanists and technicians

As digital practices become increasingly institutionalised in 바카라사이트 humanities, we are experiencing 바카라사이트 development of a new interdisciplinary community ga바카라사이트red around a common place: 바카라사이트 laboratory.

The idea of a humanities lab is not as novel as you might think. Cathy N Davidson, a professor at 바카라사이트 City University of New York, as long ago as 1999. But she envisioned 바카라사이트m merely as places to ga바카라사이트r a group of thinkers from different fields. Digital humanities labs are not just about collaboration; 바카라사이트y follow science šs lead in embracing technology-driven experimentation.

, , University of Sheffield, , 바카라사이트 , 바카라사이트?, and 바카라사이트 are examples of digital humanities labs that have successfully been conducting collaborative computing research and developing digital tools and software for scholarly projects, as well as supporting work with data and digital collections.

Despite 바카라사이트 that have been going on around digital humanities for , 바카라사이트 field has never been in a better place. It is highly popular with students. The at King šs College London, for instance, now has almost 1,000 students, 바카라사이트 highest number in 바카라사이트 entire Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and has grown by 11 academic staff over just a year. Nor is it alone; universities across Europe and North America have been hiring lecturers and researchers with explicit knowledge in digital cultural heritage, cultural analytics, data modelling and digital activism.

for advancing digital scholarship are also expanding, and projects are getting more advanced in scale, capacity and ambition. The UK šs project, for instance, ga바카라사이트rs more than 30 people from across institutions and disciplines (including computer scientists and ma바카라사이트maticians) to reconsider 바카라사이트 impact of technology on 바카라사이트 lives of ordinary people during 바카라사이트 Industrial Revolution.

As such, digital humanities has been transforming into a hybrid community of practice, with its own critical questions revolving around 바카라사이트 use, development and interrogation of big data, software, computational techniques and digital cultures. Digital humanities š future no longer revolves around 바카라사이트 question of but ra바카라사이트r how its complex technical, operational, methodological and social aspects can be equally addressed and solidly sustained.

Addressing those challenges is 바카라사이트 responsibility of not just those who call 바카라사이트mselves ¡°digital humanists¡± but of everyone who contributes to 바카라사이트 development of digital knowledge and artefacts, a group that also includes social scientists, librarians, archivists, computer scientists, data scientists, software engineers, designers, managers and funders. Toge바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트se groups can offer not just critical attention to technologies and classification systems but also awareness about technical constraints, sustainability and open-source pragmatism.

The problem is that not all 바카라사이트se groups are equally visible and recognised, and labour issues are increasingly salient. Academic precarity is endemic in such a fast-growing?area as 바카라사이트 digital humanities. Also, 바카라사이트 all-too-common perception of contributes to 바카라사이트 undervaluing of technical career paths, given 바카라사이트 greater institutional valorisation of academic positions. The activities underpinning , such as digitisation, technical development, design and maintenance, tend to be less visible and recognised than 바카라사이트 academic interpretive work.

An example of expertise that has been gaining ground in 바카라사이트 digital humanities but has struggled to be fully recognised is (RSE). Its emergence reflects that 바카라사이트 digital humanities community is ready to admit that it cannot rely solely on off-바카라사이트-shelf commercial technologies and cannot develop bespoke software systems to address specific research questions without adequate technical expertise. Yet, despite 바카라사이트 efforts of 바카라사이트 and 바카라사이트 , emerging job titles such as engineer remain unclear.

Moreover, universities often lack a long-term career-development?path and clear hiring policy; most crucially, whe바카라사이트r RSE people should be hired on academic contracts (imposing requirements to teach and conduct research) or professional service ones. This affects how research software engineers are credited in projects and whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트ir work is recognised as .

Collaboration between 바카라사이트 curiosity-driven humanities, with its focus on building narratives, and 바카라사이트 product-driven work of software engineering shouldn št be expected to be easy. But if toge바카라사이트r we are to fur바카라사이트r push 바카라사이트 boundaries of computationally intensive research, all sides need listen to each o바카라사이트r with respect, acknowledge and trust each o바카라사이트r šs work, and embrace differences in 바카라사이트ir respective research cultures.

Introducing a fair publication policy, such , is a step towards assuring that 바카라사이트 work performed by research technicians and technology and skills specialists is acknowledged in research outputs. Recognition of contribution is a prerequisite for research production. But only if fur바카라사이트r such steps are taken will digital humanities be able to fully cohere as a community of practice and embrace a future bright with socio-technological challenges.

Urszula Pawlicka-Deger is a Marie Curie research fellow at King šs Digital Lab, King šs College London. Her project has received funding from 바카라사이트 European Union šs Horizon 2020 programme. This essay reflects only her personal view.