Event Title
Towards Zero: Preservation in the Digital Humanities
Start Date
28-2-2015 12:00 PM
Description
Librarians and humanists have long had a shared history based on the essential nature of texts to their work. That relationship remains as both libraries and humanities have delved into the digital realm. However, as Agatha Christie’s Mr. Treeves noted, detective stories begin by putting the murder in the wrong place—at the end. Preservation most often is considered at the wrong place, too, at the end of digital library and digital humanities projects.
The transition from operating in the print realm to that of the digital has been uneven: some institutions are still in the exploratory phase, while others are maturing and thinking about project lifecycles. Traditional relationships between humanities scholars and librarians have been disrupted. Some digital humanities centers are housed in humanities departments while others are part of the university library. Digital humanities programs at universities may have digital humanities librarians, but not necessarily.
Librarians’ training in digital information management remains uneven as well. Library schools have taken a variety of approaches to incorporating digital information management into the curriculum. Before completing their Master’s in Library Science, librarians have the opportunity to study in humanities, technology, or another field entirely. As a result, librarians’ paths to positions with titles Digital Projects Librarian or Digital Humanities Librarian are circuitous, with education and training continuing on the job.
In the struggle to define the practices of digital humanities and digital librarianship, to legitimize these offshoot fields as areas of study and practice, the connection to texts remains, but preservation is usually misplaced. This presentation examines the necessity of moving preservation to its proper place—towards zero.
Recommended Citation
Ringness, Allison (2015). "Towards Zero: Preservation in the Digital Humanities," Digital Humanities Symposium.
Towards Zero: Preservation in the Digital Humanities
Librarians and humanists have long had a shared history based on the essential nature of texts to their work. That relationship remains as both libraries and humanities have delved into the digital realm. However, as Agatha Christie’s Mr. Treeves noted, detective stories begin by putting the murder in the wrong place—at the end. Preservation most often is considered at the wrong place, too, at the end of digital library and digital humanities projects.
The transition from operating in the print realm to that of the digital has been uneven: some institutions are still in the exploratory phase, while others are maturing and thinking about project lifecycles. Traditional relationships between humanities scholars and librarians have been disrupted. Some digital humanities centers are housed in humanities departments while others are part of the university library. Digital humanities programs at universities may have digital humanities librarians, but not necessarily.
Librarians’ training in digital information management remains uneven as well. Library schools have taken a variety of approaches to incorporating digital information management into the curriculum. Before completing their Master’s in Library Science, librarians have the opportunity to study in humanities, technology, or another field entirely. As a result, librarians’ paths to positions with titles Digital Projects Librarian or Digital Humanities Librarian are circuitous, with education and training continuing on the job.
In the struggle to define the practices of digital humanities and digital librarianship, to legitimize these offshoot fields as areas of study and practice, the connection to texts remains, but preservation is usually misplaced. This presentation examines the necessity of moving preservation to its proper place—towards zero.
