Digital methods in the humanities: understanding and describing their use across the disciplines

Hughes, L. , Constantopoulos, P. and Dallas, C. (2016) Digital methods in the humanities: understanding and describing their use across the disciplines. In: Schreibman, S., Siemens, R. and Unsworth, J. (eds.) A New Companion to Digital Humanities [2nd ed.]. Series: Blackwell companions to literature and culture (93). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., pp. 150-170. ISBN 9781118680599 (doi: 10.1002/9781118680605.ch11)

Abstract

This chapter considers the impact and reach of digital methods in the humanities. Digital methods are a core element of what has been called the “methodological commons”: the intellectual, disciplinary, and methodological framework that underlies the conceptualization and understanding of digital humanities. The term “method” is used to refer to the computer-based (also called information and communications technology, or ICT) techniques for the creation, analysis, communication, and dissemination of digital research. This chapter revisits the theory of computer-based methods as a core construct (or “scholarly primitive”) of the digital humanities. It reviews two significant collaborative research support initiatives to investigate the use of ICT methods in the humanities, and explores the interdependencies between digital methods and the content and computer-based tools they are used with across these disciplines. The chapter also discusses recent initiatives to formalize the expression of ICT methods in the humanities, exploring how an emerging ontology of digital methods might contribute to wider adoption and understanding of digital humanities.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hughes, Professor Lorna
• Authors: Hughes, L., Constantopoulos, P., and Dallas, C.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Information Studies
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
• ISBN: 9781118680599

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