The form that knowledge takes in digital environments and the arguments it expresses in its information structures can be deeply infused with humanistic values, but only if humanists are involved.
Burdick et al. “One: From Humanities to Digital Humanities,” in Digital_Humanities (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012), 19.
For me, this quote gets at the inherent conversation between the digital and humanities disciplines in Digital Humanities projects. Digital platforms, tools, and methods can be incredibly helpful in accessing information, but curation and careful thought from the humanities disciplines is what actually makes a DH project.
This hits two of the points of engagement I find most engaging about DH projects: curation and presentation. With curation, the methods of gathering, organizing, and presenting the information at various stages of the process involves careful consideration of what tools are best from both digital and humanities disciplines, and then diligent and careful work with those tools to make sure the process is documented and useful to others.
Presentation is ultimately the reason I engage in DH projects; they provide another method to access the humanities in an interesting and engaging manner. Two projects I have been involved with come to mind; creating digital exhibitions for the Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse Museum, and working to engage the events surrounding the Boston Massacre in Witness to the Revolution. Both are projects that I have been fortunate enough to work on during my time at Carleton. In both, I have enjoyed thinking about how our desired audience would be interacting with our project. In particular, focusing on the the user experience and whether or not they find it accessible, as well as making sure the way we chose to communicate the historical information was actually effective.
My goals in regards to this term ultimately revolve around improving my knowledge and skills around digital tools so I am better equipped engage with matters of curation and presentation. My limited knowledge of digital tools means I am limited in thinking about the best way of curating and presenting information, thus limiting the process and project itself. I am hoping that by expanding my digital horizons I would be able to better engage in the DH projects that I enjoy being a part of.
