This document discusses the planning of the Australasian Association for Digital Humanities (AADH). It identifies several benefits of forming an association, including providing resources and coordination for digital humanities work in the region. International models of similar associations are presented, including the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO). The document explores drafting a statement of purpose or aims for the AADH, providing examples from other organizations' statements. It engages in discussion around identifying the shared vision and goals of the AADH.

1. (Australasian) Association for the
Digital Humanities (AADH)
Planning Session 2
Identifying priorities and principles
Dr Craig Bellamy
22 March 2011
VeRSI, University of Melbourne

2. 1. Benefits of an association
2. International Models
3. Statement of Purpose (Aims)

3. Benefits (a)
• Provide an umbrella home for those working in the
Digital Humanities in the region
• Leverage international opportunities (through national
coordination and through joining ADHO)
• Leverage and coordinate national activities
• Receive sponsorship, apply for funds, manage a bank
account
• Provide guidance in the application and development
of computational standards, tools and methods for the
use in teaching and research.
• Build the methodological and research base of the field

4. Benefits (b)
• Provide interdisciplinary methodical-synergies on
a national scale thus enhancing research
efficiencies ( a ‘methodological commons’)
• Confronting scale and the research opportunities
that this provides for the humanities (ie. 500 year
digital collections or the complete ancient Greek
corpus; Perseus, TLG)
• Results! (that the traditional disciplines can’t
ignore) ie. centrally record and publish
methodologies (‘methods taxonomy’)
• Last longer than its participants

5. International models
• ACH (USA: founded 1973)
• ALLC (UK, Europe: founded 1978)
• SDH (Canada,1986)
• ADHO (Umbrella, 2005)
• CentreNet 2007 (US: 2006
CyberInfrastructure Report)
• ‘Australasia’: founded 2011!
• Japan 2011

6. Statement of Purpose
• Examples of Statement of Purpose from other
organisations
• Agree (today) on a common Statement of
Purpose
• (Constitution developed in year one by
Founding Committee in consultation with
Founding Members)

7. ADHO
“The Alliance of Digital Humanities
Organizations (ADHO) promotes and supports
digital research and teaching across all arts
and humanities disciplines, acting as a
community-based advisory force, and
supporting excellence in research, publication,
collaboration and training”

8. ACH
“The purpose of the Association shall be to
encourage by suitable means the appropriate
uses of computers and related technologies in
the study of humanistic subjects. The Association
shall further this goal by sponsoring regular
conferences on computers and the humanities,
and by otherwise facilitating contacts and
discussion among scholars interested in the goal
of the Association. The Association for Computers
and the Humanities is formed exclusively for
educational and research purposes”

9. ALLC
“The objects of the Association are to promote the
advancement of education in the digital humanities,
through the development and use of computational
methods in research and teaching in the Humanities and
related educational disciplines with particular reference but
not limited to literary and linguistic computing.
In furtherance of the aforementioned objects the Association
shall have power:
to undertake research and to arrange for the publication of
the results of such research. One venue for such
publication shall be the Association’s Journal LLC: The
Journal of Digital Scholarship in the Humanities (hereafter
‘the Journal’);”

10. SDH
"Our objective is to draw together humanists who are
engaged in digital and computer-assisted research,
teaching, and creation. The society fosters work in the
digital humanities in Canada's two official languages,
and champions interaction between Canada's
anglophone and francophone communities, in all areas
reflected by its diverse membership: providing
opportunities for publication, presentation, and
collaboration; supporting a number of educational
venues and international initiatives; acting as an
advisory and lobbying force to local, national, and
international research and research-funding bodies;
working with allied organisations; and beyond."

11. Our Purpose? (Aims of the
Association?)
• What is our shared awareness and common
vision? (convergent practices?)
• What is unique about our ‘Australasian’
vision? (traditional versus broad-based
notions of the Digital Humanities)
• What is unique about our interdisciplary
synergies? (strengths of our field?)
• Where are we at? (Text Encoding, algorithmic
analysis, future directions of the field?)

12. Aims?