Talk about digital dissertation research given at the 2014 Consortium of Doctoral Program in Rhetoric & Composition.

1. Digital Dissertations: Defining, Architecting, & Sustaining
Kathie Gossett, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities
Iowa State University
kgossett@iastate.edu
Liza Potts, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities
Michigan State University
lpotts@msu.edu

2. Definition
Born-digital dissertations rely
on complex interactions
between media-rich elements
to construct their arguments.
Figures: Taken from Carrie A. Lamanna’s dissertation
“Disciplining Identities: Feminism, New Media, and 21st Century
Research Practices,” 2008.

3. We hypothesize that the reluctance of
humanities scholars to fully embrace digital
scholarship is not due to its novelty or rapid
evolution, but due to a deeply embedded
philosophy of knowledge that privileges
print-centric ways of knowing and solitary
authorship. This hostility towards the digital
affects not just those already working in
academic positions, but also stifles the
creativity of those entering academia—
doctoral students. In fact, it is our
contention that this moment of disciplinary
training, especially the dissertation phase, is
precisely where this underlying print-centric
philosophy rises to the surface, making it a
fruitful area for research.
Digital media and computational
technologies are radically transforming
how knowledge is produced,
communicated, and evaluated. The
digitalization of scholarly work in the
humanities brings new modes of research;
new formats of presentation; new
networks for communication; and new
platforms for organizing knowledge,
orchestrating argument, and visualizing
intellectual exchange. Doctoral students in
the modern languages will increasingly
create and use digital archives and invent
multimodal forms of scholarly presentation
and communication in the next decade.
Why should the dissertation remain inflexibly
wedded to traditional book-culture formats?
~ S. Smith, Beyond the Dissertation Monograph,
2010
~ K. Gossett & C. Lamanna, Dissertating Digitally,
forthcoming

4. Dissertating Digitally
• A survey of graduate students and faculty in
Rhetoric & Composition

5. How important is it for
graduate programs
that prepare digital
scholars to provide
their students with
opportunities to learn
and practice using
various hardware,
software, and
programming
languages?
Fairly Important

6. In what contexts does
your program offer
opportunities for
students to learn digital
authoring
technologies? [Check
all that apply.]

7. Are students in your
program permitted to
compose their theses
or dissertations entirely
in digital form?
Unsure
Comments
Seriously doubt
No one has tried
PDF with embedded
media (maybe)

8. Are students in your
program permitted to
compose part of their
theses or dissertations
in digital form?
Unsure
Yes
PDF (2)
Chapter (2)
Data Collection
Appendix CD
Not
Encouraged

9. Which entities beyond
the dissertation
committee determine
the shape of
dissertations/theses at
your institution? (Check
all that apply.)
Unsure

10. Digital Dissertation Depository (D3
)
•A system for born-digital dissertations to be
deposited, cross-referenced, & maintained
•Open-source & open access
•Design workshop conducted in August, 2012
•Supported by an NEH Digital Start Up Grant

11. Problem
• Digital dissertations need a place to be
deposited, cross-referenced, and
made accessible for years to come.
• Current depositories (e.g., Proquest,
ETD, etc.) do not meet these
requirements
Solution
• Digital Dissertation Depository (D3
)

12. The Workshop
• 3 days, 14 participants at the
MATRIX lab on the Michigan State
University campus.
http://digidiss.eserver.or
g
• Participants included:
• Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Director of
Scholarly Communication at MLA
• Shanna Kimball, Director of
Digital Collections at the New
York Public Library
• Quinn Warnick, Asst. Professor,
Virginia Tech
• Graduate students from
iSchools, English/TechComm,
Library Studies

13. D3
: User Experience
• Conducted landscape analysis of
current tools

14. D3
: User Experience
• Conducted landscape analysis of
current tools
• Identified key stakeholders
• Graduate Students
• Dissertation Chair
• Department Chair
• Dean
• Provost
• Librarian
• Funding Agencies

15. D3
: User Experience
• Conducted landscape analysis of
current tools
• Identified key stakeholders
• Created personas/use cases

16. D3
: User Experience
• Conducted landscape analysis of
current tools
• Identified key stakeholders
• Created personas/use cases
• Gathered requirements

17. Digital
Dissertations:
Next Steps
• Build partnerships
• Build Digital Dissertation Directory
• Build Digital Dissertation Depository
• NEH Implementation Grant
• Seek other funding opportunities
http://digidiss.eserver.org | http://digidiss.org | #digidiss