E-Texts in Research Projects in the Humanities

Abstract

This research paper explores the roles of electronic texts in research projects in the humanities and seeks to deepen the understanding of the nature of scholars' engagement with e-texts. The study used qualitative methodology to explore engagement of scholars in literary and historical studies with primary materials in electronic form (i.e., e-texts). The study revealed a range of scholars' interactions with e-texts during the whole research process. It uncovered a particular pattern of information-seeking practices in electronic environments called netchaining and the main types of uses and contributions of e-texts to research projects. It was found that e-texts play support and substantive roles in the research process. A number of influences from electronic environment are identified as challenges and aids in working with e-texts. The study does not have statistical significance. It indicates a need for further research into scholarly practices, training requirements, and new forms of service provision. Study results are relevant for the development of digital collections, information services, educational programs, and other forms of support for the use of technology in research. The results can be also used to inform approaches to text encoding and development of electronic information systems and have implications for organizational and industry policies. The study found a range of scholars' interactions and forms of intellectual engagement with e-texts that were not documented and analyzed by earlier studies. It provides insights into disciplinary variations in the humanities and contributes to the understanding of scholarly change catalyzed by information technology.

iTell: Transliteracy and Digital Storytelling

“…It is a structural feature of academicism. (Robinson 2011, 177-178) A move away from cognitive approaches and the recognition of body and emotions as sources of knowledge have been discussed in information literature (Limberg, Sundin, and Talja 2012;Lloyd 2010;Nahl and Bilal 2007;Sukovic 2011a). A framework in which emotions, personal views and reflection are invited has the capacity to cultivate long neglected aspects of human experience for information and educational purposes.…”

“…Where is the line between text and image? If interactions with digital media blur academic boundaries for experienced professors (Sukovic 2011a), what effect does it have on younger generations who grew up with it? The digital storytelling (DS) project, iTell, was formed against the backdrop of these questions during the Australian National Year of Reading 2012.…”

Transliterate Reading

“…Research findings were reported in several publications (Sukovic, 2008a(Sukovic, , 2008b(Sukovic, , 2009(Sukovic, , 2011.…”

“…Soware NVivo was used for coding. Additional details about methodology can be found in "Convergent Flows: Humanities Scholars and eir Interactions with Electronic Texts" (Sukovic, 2008a) and "Roles of Electronic Texts in Research Projects in the Humanities" (Sukovic, 2008c 3. e digital storytelling project iTell was delivered in a high school library in Sydney.…”

Using Collections and Worksets in Large-Scale Corpora: Preliminary Findings from the Workset Creation for Scholarly Analysis Project

“…In addition, the act of bringing together related information from various kinds of collections is essential to their research processes (Warwick, et al, 2008;Sukovic, 2008;Sukovic, 2011). In the course of their work, researchers create their own "digital aggregations of primary sources and related materials that support research on a theme" (Palmer, 2004).…”