Reinventing Research? Information Practices in the Humanities

Abstract

Researchers in the humanities adopt a wide variety of approaches to their research. Their work tends to focus on texts and images, but they use and also create a wide range of information resources, in print, manuscript and digital forms. Like other researchers, they face multiple demands on their time, and so they find the ease and speed of access to digital resources very attractive: some of them note that they are reluctant on occasion to consult Communication uses (e-mail lists & noti cations) Electronic journals Journals Grid and cloud resources Text mining Web 2.0 tools Virtual Research Environment (VRE) Image and data processing Arti cial Intelligence Case Studies

Understanding Patterns of Library Use Among Undergraduate Students from Different Disciplines

“…The specific definitions of disciplines have been shaped to fit the needs of research methods or of organisational structures. For example, the case-study approach adopted by both Meyer et al (2011) and Bulger et al (2011) demanded an intense focus on very small and tightly-defined groups of researchers, while Housewright et al's 2013 survey used high-level categories to define disciplines in order to permit statistical analysis. Chrzastowski and Joseph (2006) use high-level categories in order to fit with their university's organisational structure, but Whitmire (2002) is forced to exclude the life scientists at her institution from her analysis, because the theoretical structure of the study does not allow for them.…”

“…Chrzastowski and Joseph (2006) use high-level categories in order to fit with their university's organisational structure, but Whitmire (2002) is forced to exclude the life scientists at her institution from her analysis, because the theoretical structure of the study does not allow for them. Studies have also looked at different groups of library users: undergraduates (Wells, 1996;Bridges, 2008;Cox & Jantti, 2012), postgraduates (Chrzastowski & Joseph, 2006), and researchers at all stages of their careers Bulger et al, 2011;Housewright et al, 2013;Tenopir & Volentine, 2012). Finally, they have adopted various definitions of what constitutes library use -from gate entries to e-resource usage, book borrowing to searching behaviours -to explore how different groups engage with the library and its services.…”

Beyond the Scanned Image: A Needs Assessment of Scholarly Users of Digital Collections

“…14 Bulger et al present case studies of research practices with digital collections that are based upon interviews with humanities scholars from multiple disciplines: several of their case studies only focus on the use of specific digital humanities resources such as the Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music, however, and other cases consist of respondent pools limited to highly specialized fields or one institution's department. 15 Yet their findings are a useful guide: Bulger et al note that, while humanities researchers have begun to embrace digital tools and to work in increasingly collaborative ways, the scholars still need training to effectively use advanced tools for data analysis. 16 They also propose a "complexity continuum" graph that maps the myriad ways humanities scholars use digital resources; from this, they observe that, because scholars merge digital resources into a hybrid workflow still dominated by print resources, this highlights "the difficulty of assessing and documenting the impact digital resources are having on scholarship and learning."…”

Mode 2 in Action: Working Across Sectors to Create a Center for Humanities and Technology

“…Tools are developed for particular projects, but due to lack of longterm funding, are not maintained and thus quickly become out of date. Similarly, investments in cyberinfrastructures are initiated but not always sustainable in the long run (Bulger, Meyer, de la Flor, Terras, Wyatt, Jirotka, Eccles, & Madsen, 2011;Dombrowski, 2014;Wouters, Beaulieu, Scharnhorst, & Wyatt, 2013). ose involved in CHAT have identified a number of organizational mechanisms aimed to prevent such concerns from becoming major obstacles.…”