Introducing NYU to Digital Scholarship: A Faculty-Library Partnership

Abstract

As the practice of Digital Humanities becomes more widespread in the academy, libraries are finding new opportunities to collaborate with scholars in their DH work. At NYU, interest in DH is burgeoning and scholars are looking to the Libraries for information, training, guidance, and partnership to explore the possibilities of DH for research and teaching. With the NYU English Department and the NYU Humanities Initiative, we are currently developing a Fall 2012 'Introduction to DH' workshop series for graduate students and faculty. After reviewing a variety of 'Intro' courses at other institutions and assessing English department graduate student needs, we developed a semester-long curriculum that will frame each session within a topical DH debate, repackage some existing Libraries and Information Technology Services workshops on enterprise academic technologies, and also introduce other appropriate tools. With this new venture, we are taking an iterative, learn-as-we-go approach. Discussion and laptop hands-on sessions will be held in a new, flexible teaching and learning venue within the Library, allowing us to introduce and test the usability of the space. Designated session observers will relay what is and is not working so we can adjust mid-course. Session participants will receive questionnaires to provide feedback and help us judge the effectiveness of the presentations, demonstrations, additional resources, and readings. Our presentation will provide an overview of what other institutions, especially libraries, are doing in this 'Introduction to DH' space, explain how we chose the topics for our workshop curriculum, and describe our developing partnerships with NYU faculty and programs. Three of our 'Intro' sessions will have occurred before the DLF Forum, so we will also provide a midstream review of our series to date. Finally, we will lead a discussion to hear how others are addressing DH training and support, and to consider emerging library roles and partnerships in this domain.