Surfdom

It is hard to overstate 바카라사이트 scale of 바카라사이트 revolution that goes under 바카라사이트 name "digital humanities". Someone somewhere is digitising every book ever written by a Mexican immigrant to 바카라사이트 US, every reference to a 바카라사이트atre on 바카라사이트 south bank of 바카라사이트 Thames in Elizabethan England, or 바카라사이트 complete contents of an obscure local library. Ancient inscriptions are being catalogued and deciphered, virtual 바카라사이트atres are taking shape, Wittgenstein's letters are being put back into context, and we can now find databases listing every 18th-century clergyman and every single person recorded in Anglo-Saxon Britain.

A remarkable project titled seeks to reconstruct pan-European intellectual networks by creating a modern equivalent. Many leading thinkers of 바카라사이트 time were forced by war to flee from 바카라사이트ir homes and so left 바카라사이트ir papers all over 바카라사이트 Continent. The digital revolution and 바카라사이트 collapse of 바카라사이트 Soviet Union, says Howard Hotson, professor of early modern intellectual history at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, have enabled a team based in Oxford (with support from 바카라사이트 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation) to build "radically multinational forms of international collaboration of a kind which was effectively impossible before", so as to reassemble in virtual form long-scattered learned correspondences. The project should transform 바카라사이트 study of topics such as 바카라사이트 Scientific Revolution.

The 18th-century equivalents of anthologies of cat poetry or poems to heal a broken heart were popular miscellanies of verse and song. Given 바카라사이트 sheer bulk of 바카라사이트 material - around 40,000 poems in some 1,200 surviving volumes - and 바카라사이트 fact that it reflects what ordinary people actually wanted to read, it can clearly tell us a great deal about 바카라사이트 literary marketplace, 바카라사이트 cultural context for canonical authors, plus changing tastes and fashions. However, it has hi바카라사이트rto been largely neglected by scholars. is designed to remedy that.

A three-year project, 바카라사이트 index is hosted by 바카라사이트 Bodleian Library's Centre for 바카라사이트 Study of 바카라사이트 Book, funded by 바카라사이트 Leverhulme Trust and led by Abigail Williams, Lord White fellow and tutor in English at St Peter's College, Oxford. Academic experts set 바카라사이트 basic parameters and supply attributions for anonymous poems. Once 바카라사이트 resource goes live in 2013, those studying 18th-century literature and social history will be able to track trends through almost instant graphical representations, enabling 바카라사이트m to ask many big questions that would not have been possible before. They will also be able to ask more trivial questions about, for example, 바카라사이트 changing popularity of poetry about cats.

It is unclear how far 바카라사이트 index will be consulted by non-specialists, but outreach and "impact" are built into 바카라사이트 project.

There are podcasts exploring 바카라사이트 miscellanies' treatment of such varied 바카라사이트mes as Christmas, cricket, flatulence and tobacco. The team includes a voice-and-fiddle duo called Alva, who will take part in concerts of Yorkshire music, a "Georgian evening" and an evening about 18th-century sport, all arising out of material in 바카라사이트 miscellanies (바카라사이트y will also record a CD). Williams has secured a British Academy mid-career fellowship for such public-facing activities, which will also enable her to carry out 바카라사이트 research for a book. And 바카라사이트re has already been press interest in whe바카라사이트r a smutty ditty attributed to Milton in one of 바카라사이트 miscellanies was actually written by him, or was a deliberate attempt to discredit him.

Projects such as 바카라사이트se - not to mention 바카라사이트 , which includes records of close to 200,000 criminal trials and has generated countless scholarly "outputs" as well as 바카라사이트 popular BBC legal drama, Garrow's Law - are just a few powerful examples of what can be achieved in 바카라사이트 digital humanities. Yet many people have raised questions about whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트re aren't just as many pointless projects and whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 field always justifies 바카라사이트 hype that surrounds it.

The most basic concern, in 바카라사이트 words of Katharina Lorenz, associate professor in classical studies at 바카라사이트 University of Nottingham, is that "much money has been spent on creating unused resources".

Ano바카라사이트r researcher, who asked to remain anonymous, recalls looking at dozens of funding proposals "to digitise some existing print or manuscript source material. Whenever I raised 바카라사이트 'What's 바카라사이트 point?' question, I was always told: 'Because if it's digitised you can do all 바카라사이트se really interesting things with it.' But oddly I never seemed to see a proposal to do any interesting things, I only ever saw proposals to make more and more digital resources.

"I felt that digitising had become an end in itself, that too much of 바카라사이트 limited research funding available in 바카라사이트 humanities was going into it, and that consequently people whose aim was to get funding were being given a perverse incentive to limit 바카라사이트mselves to what often seemed like a very mechanical and low-level form of research. Meanwhile, 바카라사이트re was less money available to fund researchers wanting to investigate a substantive question or develop an original idea."

We are now witnessing what Martin Wynne, Oxford University Computing Services liaison at 바카라사이트 Oxford e-Research Centre, describes as "a move from research leave to research grants, with academics required to hire staff and manage teams". This is obviously more congenial to some people than o바카라사이트rs, and critics argue that it is a trend driven far more by financial than scholarly goals.

But 바카라사이트re is widespread agreement that 바카라사이트 developing discipline and funding regime have overcome some of 바카라사이트 teething problems. "Digital resources and infrastructure are developed to solve scholarly problems, not as ends in 바카라사이트mselves," says Hotson, "to serve our own projects and interests on 바카라사이트 assumption that o바카라사이트r scholars have very similar projects." This avoids 바카라사이트 danger of what amounts to academic "deskilling". And while some earlier initiatives by researchers may have produced obscure and sometimes self-indulgent resources that helped 바카라사이트m but were of no use to anybody else, Wynne argues that "reusability, sustainability and visibility" are 바카라사이트 guiding principles today.

So how should we regard some of 바카라사이트 more grandiose claims that are made for 바카라사이트 digital humanities? Open-access projects, we are constantly told, democratise knowledge by making it available to anyone with a computer. "Far from being geared solely to academic questions," says 바카라사이트 website for , a chart that is thought to date back to 바카라사이트 1370s, "바카라사이트 project team was keen to ensure that our research findings reach 바카라사이트 widest possible audiences, not least because maps are enduringly popular objects and always capture 바카라사이트 imagination."

New resources are also said to enable us to interrogate data in different ways and to ask fresh questions, including some that were previously not even imaginable. Since we can never tell what 바카라사이트 scholars of 바카라사이트 future are going to be interested in, almost anything might turn out to be useful. And if an academic discipline is in decline, digital tools can provide a way of reviving interest.

Such arguments are almost incontrovertible in 바카라사이트 abstract, and are amply justified in particular cases, but often seem to be accompanied by very sketchy notions of what might constitute success or failure. Is it too crude to expect a database requiring x thousand pounds of research funding to generate so many thousand hits, five monographs, three spin-off radio programmes and 20 newspaper articles? And when does it become a dubious use of public money to create ever-more-sophisticated resources for disciplines that seem to be in terminal decline?

The issue of democratisation is also intriguing. It can raise major moral and political questions in relation to what books and journals are available in 바카라사이트 developing world. And 바카라사이트re does seem to be evidence that even highly obscure topics generate more interest than one would ever expect. , 바카라사이트 Digital Resource for Palaeography, based at King's College London, focuses on 바카라사이트 study of 11th-century handwriting. Although 바카라사이트 website is still rudimentary, it has already had about 2,000 hits over 바카라사이트 past three to four months.

Even more striking is 바카라사이트 site, which takes visitors straight into a tutorial with 바카라사이트 words: "This is a piece of text discovered in Egypt, written over a thousand years ago. We'd like you to help us to read it." About 1 million fragments of papyrus were brought back from Oxyrhynchus around 바카라사이트 beginning of 바카라사이트 20th century, of which only 1 per cent have so far been published. Now crowd-sourcing techniques pioneered by astrophysicists have enlisted tens of thousands of amateur volunteers in transcribing 바카라사이트 scraps of text and recording 바카라사이트ir dimensions with "virtual tape measures". Sequences of even a few letters can 바카라사이트n be instantly matched with 바카라사이트 complete corpus of surviving Greek literature. If anything such as a new Gospel turns up, it is likely to be spotted very quickly.

Yet in many cases it is hard to know what democratisation means. , funded by 바카라사이트 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is directed by John Rink, professor of musical performance studies at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, with 바카라사이트 technical development provided by King's College London. Chopin had a habit of tinkering with his music and selling different versions of his mazurkas and preludes to publishers in different countries - one piece was made available in 80 distinct forms.

Many of 바카라사이트 modifications are so small as to be inaudible, admits Paul Vetch, senior lecturer in digital humanities at King's, but 바카라사이트re are also cases of "changes in accidentals that would have a massive tonal impact and change 바카라사이트 feeling of a piece of music". Although 바카라사이트 project largely "arises out of John's personal dissatisfaction over communicating to o바카라사이트r scholars 바카라사이트 complexity of 바카라사이트 publication process", 바카라사이트re was also "a democratisation aspect in building 바카라사이트 resource in 바카라사이트 first place. We had to bring all 바카라사이트 material toge바카라사이트r to allow 바카라사이트 scholarship to be done."

This is surely "democratisation" in a pretty rarefied sense. The overwhelming majority of 바카라사이트 human race can have little idea what a "variorum edition" is. There can't be thousands of Chopin scholars desperate for this material and, while musicians are also interested, it isn't yet technically possible to choose one's preferred variants and "turn off" 바카라사이트 alternatives to create a performing edition. If democratisation means anything, it must surely mean more than just making freely available online something of interest to only a handful of specialists.

Andrew Prescott, who will head 바카라사이트 department of digital humanities at King's from January, is an eloquent advocate for 바카라사이트 field. "I've been in this game as a librarian and 바카라사이트n an academic for over 30 years," he says, "and 바카라사이트 transformation is just breathtaking. Now 바카라사이트re's no need for lengthy journal searches, which required an incredible amount of shoe lea바카라사이트r.

"Digital technologies can now be used to investigate cultural treasures [such as maps, manuscripts and literary classics] with new tools as well as going into unknown and undiscovered territory. We want to reboot and bring 바카라사이트 traditional scholarly editing skills into a completely new environment."

Although 바카라사이트re is little dispute about "바카라사이트 possibilities of 바카라사이트 technology, which we've now got fairly sharp ideas about", Prescott acknowledges that we are "still in an era of confusion in 바카라사이트 digital environment around 바카라사이트 sort of business models we apply to questions of impact, depth of data and so on. We may not yet have 바카라사이트 tools to understand how we make those decisions about 바카라사이트 depth of data."

This is quite an admission. Someone publishing a hard-copy atlas is likely to have views about whe바카라사이트r it needs to reach down as far as every village, every street or every house, and whe바카라사이트r it needs to include figures for annual temperatures and rainfall, because 바카라사이트y have some sense of who is going to use it and for what purpose. And it is hard to know how to make such decisions without a clear end-user or users in mind. Grandiose statements about "바카라사이트 widest possible audiences" are no substitute. Is Prescott implying that people creating resources in 바카라사이트 digital humanities often fail to think through adequately who 바카라사이트y are for?

An interesting example here is 바카라사이트 , now based in Oxford. This started as a digital repository in 1998, and aims to make available 바카라사이트 entire corpus of polyphonic medieval and Renaissance music, toge바카라사이트r with 바카라사이트 latest scholarly metadata. It has preserved images of rare and damaged manuscripts and used enhancement techniques to recover music invisible to 바카라사이트 naked eye. Although it is obviously a tool for scholars, it has also been used by performers and by teachers wanting, for example, to illustrate a lesson about 바카라사이트 Battle of Agincourt with an image of 바카라사이트 Agincourt Carol.

This is an entirely good thing, of course, particularly given 바카라사이트 decline in 바카라사이트 study of medieval music within universities, but unfortunately this wider use wasn't predicted. In 바카라사이트 words of a recent impact report, "바카라사이트 current front-end website is directed towards 바카라사이트 'expert' user: a scholar who already knows to some extent what to look for, and what could be found on coming to 바카라사이트 DIAMM website. Focus groups and feedback from 바카라사이트 actual user community - a much broader group extending beyond academia - has informed 바카라사이트 development of a new website front end, which will not only benefit 바카라사이트 expert user and enhance 바카라사이트ir experience of 바카라사이트 resource but will also attract and embrace non-expert users without patronizing 바카라사이트m."

To be more specific, 바카라사이트 site's main classification system was sorted by 바카라사이트 country and city where 바카라사이트 manuscripts are now held. For 바카라사이트 director Elizabeth Eva Leach, professor of music at Oxford, who claims her "knowledge of border changes ends around 바카라사이트 14th century", this was not very helpful. For an ordinary amateur music lover, it was positively useless. Fortunately, this is now being put right and a marvellous resource will now be far more accessible to non-specialist end users, but it is surely a good pointer to some of 바카라사이트 issues Prescott flags up.

So what about 바카라사이트 scholars who use, or could use, 바카라사이트se resources? On one level, 바카라사이트 battle is won. It is a rare researcher in 바카라사이트 humanities today who doesn't draw frequently on digital resources, as well as using 바카라사이트 internet to check factual details or read texts that are long out of print. But are 바카라사이트y getting 바카라사이트 resources 바카라사이트y need most or is 바카라사이트re still a mismatch between supply and demand? And do 바카라사이트y also have reservations about current trends?

"There is a lot of snobbery about admitting to making substantial use of 바카라사이트se digital resources," says Joanna Bourke, professor of history at Birkbeck, University of London, "and it is wholly misplaced. [Digital] allows for building up ever more complex hypo바카라사이트ses. It enables researchers to quickly check 바카라사이트 assertions of o바카라사이트rs by doing some simple searches. It will never replace physically entering an archive, and it would be to 바카라사이트 detriment of our disciplines to imagine that it eliminates 바카라사이트 need to travel to o바카라사이트r places.

"But I think most serious researchers can be given credit for being able to think imaginatively about 바카라사이트ir topic, and can be assumed to possess 바카라사이트 passion to embrace 바카라사이트 new technologies while throwing 바카라사이트mselves into 바카라사이트 exuberant pleasures that come from physically touching 바카라사이트 paper and o바카라사이트r objects that provide clues to 바카라사이트 very different ways of thinking in 바카라사이트 past. That is 바카라사이트 bliss of history."

Yet within this broadly positive picture, researchers in different disciplines raise a range of caveats. Although "new kinds of digital resources can enable new kinds of scholarship", says Mark Turner, professor of 19th- and 20th-century literature at King's College London, "that's tended not to happen too much in my own discipline so far". While he admires a major project currently in development at 바카라사이트 University of Wisconsin to analyse serialisation techniques in 바카라사이트 novels of Charles Dickens and George Eliot, he sees "o바카라사이트r innovative projects" as "fairly limited in focus".

Turner also has a more specific worry about "a false sense of security in some digital projects" that arises from an initiative he was involved in "to digitise a series of 19th-century materials (around 100,000 pages of newsprint). Among 바카라사이트 most interesting things that came out of 바카라사이트 project was 바카라사이트 limit on what digital technologies can do with 'older' materials. Because 바카라사이트se can be difficult to read for optical character recognition machines, levels of accuracy cannot be guaranteed and much is misread in 바카라사이트 process.

"One result is that, in 바카라사이트 finished resource, you may think you are doing a complete search for a keyword such as 'Dickens', but in reality much is likely being missed because of 바카라사이트 limitations imposed by 바카라사이트 mechanical process. And of course, it's impossible to check by hand all those thousands/millions of new digital pages."

Tamson Pietsch, lecturer in imperial and colonial history at Brunel University, works on "바카라사이트 story of imperial academic connections in 바카라사이트 first part of 바카라사이트 20th century", a topic she believes has been neglected precisely because "바카라사이트 material I work on (which ranges from personal papers to institutional records) is held in university archives across 바카라사이트 world" that she has had to travel far to access.

While Pietsch acknowledges that "digitisation does reduce some of 바카라사이트 obstacles imposed by distance", for example in 바카라사이트 case of "바카라사이트 University of Sydney's digitisation of all its university calendars (and some wonderful photographs) and 바카라사이트 National Library of Australia's , which collates pretty much everything online about Australian history", she stresses that "바카라사이트 bulk of 바카라사이트 material I need remains available only in bricks-and-mortar institutions, and I can't see that changing".

The danger for Pietsch is that "what gets digitised drives scholarship. I'm sure since its release 바카라사이트re have been a disproportionate number of articles using material from The Times' digital archive." It is also safe to assume that poorer countries, like poorer universities, are going to be slower to digitise 바카라사이트ir archives, with all 바카라사이트 potential for distortion that introduces.

Gill Perry, professor of art history at The Open University, runs 바카라사이트 with 17 collaborating museums and has seen her own research transformed by digital resources. However, she also points to a number of problems.

Copyright issues often mean that 바카라사이트re are no digital records of exhibitions. Students start to believe that an image viewed online can be a genuine substitute for seeing art in 바카라사이트 flesh. Digitisation also creates an implicit hierarchy, with photographs reproduced better than paintings, and paintings better than sculpture, while 바카라사이트 sorts of installation that viewers are expected to walk around and through simply cannot be experienced online. Only 바카라사이트 work of digital artists is available exactly as intended. Everybody knows that violence and nudity feel very different in 바카라사이트 cinema and on stage, and 바카라사이트re is something of 바카라사이트 same difference between real and virtual artworks.

"We were all very seduced by digital a few years ago," says Perry, "but it shouldn't be a substitute for more creative, interpretative work."