Slides from the Demystifying Digital Scholarship workshop on project ideation and development at the Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship, McMaster University, April 9, 2015.

1. April 9, 2015
Big Project, Small Project:
Steps in Ideation and Development

2. Multimodal Scholarship: scholarship
that takes place in more than one
medium (mode), and addresses subjects
which it argues cannot be accurately
conveyed in a single mode.

3. Digital Scholarship:
(strenuously resists being defined!)
(see slides from Workshop #1)
Alt. def.: using computers to do things
which would be difficult for scholars to
do, which allows scholars to do things
that computers can’t do.
"If we (Profs) can be replaced by a computer screen, we should be!”
--Cathy Davidson

4. Public Scholarship:
scholarship that involves interaction,
communication, and contributions
from the larger (non-academic)
public

5. One perspective:
Digital Scholarship: using digital tools to produce
scholarship
Multimodal scholarship: using tools to display and
disseminate traditional scholarship
Public scholarship: using tools to facilitate interaction
with non-academic audiences

6. What is the difference
between digital and
multimodal and public
scholarship?
(“produce” vs. “display and disseminate” vs. “publicly-focused” ?

7. Why does the
distinction between
digital, multimodal, and
public scholarship
matter?

8. • Individuals and bodies whom you
encounter or work with may have opposing
perspectives on the definitions.
• Whether you present your project as
DS/DH or as multimodal/public scholarship
may be significant in terms of funding.
• You may want to adapt a fluid self-
presentation that allows you to cast
yourself as either, depending on the
context.

9. What do you work with?

10. What are the components of
the objects you work with?
• Book: words, pages, author(s), editor(s), publisher(s),
reader(s), physical edition(s), digital editions, reader
responses
• Performance: sound/video file, performer, venue,
date/time, program
• People: identities, choices, information about specific
experiences

11. What could a digital project be?

12. Ultimately, you define
what form your project
takes.

13. Components of
digital/multimodal projects
• an objective (a goal or a question)
• data
• audience
• platform
• labor
• training
• schedule/timeline
• benefit (for you? for others?)
• concrete outcome

14. “Developing research
ideas is more about
communication than
creativity.”
--DevDH.org

15. How else might I find
a project?
Almost anything you care about
can become a project, if you
commit to it.

16. Ideation Questions (Round One):
Starting Out

17. Ideation Questions (Round Two):
Due Diligence
• Are there any existing projects that do anything
similar to what you want to do?
• What is the legal status of the material that you
work with?
• What kind of access do you have to these
materials?
• What would be the smallest version of this project
possible? (i.e., proof of concept)

18. Ideation Questions (Round Three):
What will it take to make this happen?
• What skills are involved?
• What are my real strengths, and where
might it be better to collaborate with
others?
• Who will you need to work with?
• How long do you anticipate this project
lasting?

19. Ideation Questions (Round Four):
Publishing your practice
• Could you produce your project in a more
traditional format for your discipline? (e.g., an
essay?) How would your project provide different
coverage than a traditional argument?
• How does your planned project intersect with
what other people are doing?
• How can I share my process? To what extent and
for what reasons do I want to do so?
• What makes this a DS -- or multimodal – or public
project?

20. It can be useful to think
of any one project as a
series of smaller
projects.

21. One Project = Many Projects
• Learning and writing about the data that you work
with
• Developing expertise about the type of tool(s)
you use, and what else they might be used for
(both in your discipline, and outside of it)
• Identifying different possible stakes
• Mini-project: focusing on a tiny related data-set
• Mini-project: testing and critiquing one possible
platform

22. The more you are able
to pivot between mini-
projects, the easier it
will be to participate in
DS/DH activities.

23. How does your understanding of
your work differ from the way
that others understand it?

24. The life of your project
is in the way that
(other) people use it.

26. In digital scholarship, you may
need to build your audience
before you build your project.

27. The scope of graduate student (as well as
contingent faculty) labor is ill-defined. You
will need to actively define what is required,
and articulate that to others.
GRADUATE
STUDENT LABOR

28. How does my project fit
into my graduate program?

29. Balancing a DS project with a graduate
degree program
•Consider how and whether you
want to position your project
within the boundaries dictated
by your program and its degree
requirements.

30. Balancing a DS project with a graduate
degree program
•Identify the people who are overseeing and
evaluating the work you do on your project.
•Meet with those people to discuss the
practical aspects of your project’s running
and marketing.
•Identify specific requirements for completion,
and get them in writing.
(adapted from AmandaVisconti’s “Five Tips For Getting Started On A Digital Humanities Dissertation”)

32. Project management
• creating and maintaining a schedule
• knowing your own skills
• being aware of and making use of resources
• having a realistic conception of all of the
above.

33. Scheduling tips
• Develop granular goals.
• Make your schedule for increments of time
that work for you.
• Assess how well the schedule is working,
and adapt it as needed.

34. Know yourself
• What types of work do you have the most
energy/patience for?
• What types of work do you find
frustrating?
• What aspects of collaboration do you
embrace? What aspects do you struggle
with?
BE HONEST ABOUT YOUR ABILITIES.

35. Investigate available resources
• The Sherman Centre (http://scds.ca)
• McMaster Humanities Media & Computing
http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~hmc/
• MIIETL (for projects involving pedagogy & learning)
(http://miietl.mcmaster.ca)
• Other Ontario university programs (Google
“DH@Guelph” for more info

36. Asking is the key to
developing a cohort.
Your project may be more
transferable than your
dissertation.

37. Where else can I ask?
•DH Commons
http://dhcommons.org
•DH Answers
http://digitalhumanities.org/answers/
•Twitter

38. Be mindful of the return on investment
(ROI) for each activity.

39. Why would you want a project,
given how much work it is?

40. When managed mindfully, a
DS project can provide a
sense of agency that
complements and enhances
traditional academic work.

41. But do you have to
have a project to do
digital scholarship?

42. No!
• Develop critical expertise/perspective on a
particular type of project, and write about it in
traditional formats.
• Copyright/open access
• Digital labour
• Focus on using digital tools in pedagogy
• Remember that projects can take many forms &
sizes

43. What do you want to
have happen as a result
of your digital
scholarship activities?

44. Stay tuned for our next workshop!
Thursday,April 16th
, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Available Tools: Free, Cheap, and Premium
•Finding tools, and deciding when they’re worth buying.
•Warning signs: how to avoid platform disasters
•Tools and copyright: how to navigate
•What the Sherman Centre can do for you
Thanks to our sponsors!