Appendix 2

	Document Contents Thinking with Machines: Computing tools and Resources in Humanities research and Teaching Sponsoring organisations

Thinking with Machines: Computing tools and Resources in Humanities research and Teaching

Presenters:

• . Marilyn Deegan, University of Oxford, UK;
• . Lisa Lena Opas-Hänninen, University of Joensuu, Finland;
• . Espen S. Ore, University of Bergen, Norway
• . Harold Short, King's College, London, UK.

The growing importance of computing tools and resources to scholarship in the humanities is widely recognized. Conceived as a mechanical aid, the computer has extended human abilities for manipulating the data that is of interest to humanities scholars, so that very few kinds of research are now unaffected. At a fundamental level, access to information has become much easier in many fields, for beginners and non-specialists as well as experts. This includes access to materials that previously could be studied only in one specific library or archive, and also to resources that contain a substantial body of materials, such as all the works of a particular author, or a collection of works for a particular genre and period. Increasingly the resources available to scholars are of mixed media, containing images (and sounds) as well as textual matter. Many of these developments encourage cross-disciplinary work.

At the same time, the development and use of digital tools and resources have begun to change how scholars think about the cultural artifacts they study. The analysis and modelling of data required to translate source materials into electronic form, and the modeling of research methods in software, are altering the scholarly perspective. The key significance of all these developments is the ways in which they are stimulating new questions and new approaches to old ones.

This workshop is aimed at academics and at information professionals, such as library and computing staff, who are involved in academic support, who wish to explore how digital tools and resources are being used and what their potential benefits might be. Little prior knowledge is needed, though basic familiarity with computer communication (email and web browsing) would be useful. The workshop will avoid jargon as much as possible. Participants will be introduced to a range of concepts, tools and techniques that are important in the application of computing in the humanities, and will be guided through a large number of examples.

The sessions at the workshop will consist of introductory lectures with plenty of opportunity for discussion. They will be followed by work with a range of practical examples to illustrate points made. Some workbooks will be provided. The four sessions will be:

Session 1: Computing in Humanities Teaching and Research - An Overview

An introduction to the use of computers throughout the humanities disciplines, discussing the theoretical perspectives and showing practical examples of resources and projects large and small which are widely used in humanities scholarship. Particular emphasis will be placed on how the example materials affect teaching and research.

Session 2: Text Markup and Analysis I

Introduction to texts and corpora; the development of corpus linguistics and what you can do with it in research and teaching. What is text markup and when and why do you need it? Examples of textual features and how best to represent them with different kinds of markup will be shown, and there will be some practical work on computers. The main features of the most common markup schemes will be discussed, including XML, SGML, and COCOA.

Session 3: Text Markup and Analysis II

This session will mainly look at the different kinds of corpora available, how they were constructed, and what you can do with them. It will be a largely practical session, and will include examples of both literary and linguistic corpora.

Session 4: Modelling Humanities Data: Structired Analysis and Design

For certain types of research where the source data can be usefully represented in a highly regular or structured way, there are sophisticated computing tools such as relational databases which can provide new insights. This approach is particularly effective in looking for and identifying patterns, particularly across large bodies of data. They can affect the way in which you think about your data. This session will introduce participants to the modelling of humanities data and the manipulation of structured data. The example material will include several types of data drawn from a range of humanities disciplines.

Sponsoring organisations

The workshop is sponsored by the Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing and the ACO*HUM project.

The Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing (ALLC) exists to promote the appropriate use of computing and information technology in research and teaching in the humanities disciplines, in particular the text-based disciplines. Its journal, Literary and Linguistic Computing, is published by Oxford University Press. The ALLC has initiated a programme of support for workshops at introductory and advanced levels. Each year an international conference is held, jointly with the Association for Computers and the Humanities. The 2000 conference will take place 21-25 July in Glasgow, Scotland. Information about the ALLC and its activities, including the Glasgow conference, can be obtained from the presenters, or from the ALLC web site, at: http://curlew.cch.kcl.ac.uk/allc/ (email: info@allc.org)

ACO*HUM (Advanced Computing in the Humanities) is a Thematic Network project in the SOCRATES programme of the European Union. Its purpose is to collect and disseminate information on the role of computing and information technology in humanities learning and teaching. Information about the project can be found on its web site, at: http://www.hd.uib.no/AcoHum

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