Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 35, No. 683.
Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
Hosted by DH-Cologne
www.dhhumanist.org
Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org
Date: 2022-05-04 10:31:29+00:00
From: Jacke, Janina <janina.jacke@uni-goettingen.de>
Subject: Call for Proposals: Working on and with Categories for Text Analysis (DHQ Special Issue)
Call for Proposals
DHQ Special Issue
Working on and with Categories for Text Analysis: Challenges and Findings from
and for Digital Humanities Practices
Guest Editors: Dominik Gerstorfer, Evelyn Gius and Janina Jacke
Proposals due: 2022-06-15
Link to CfP: http://dhq.fortext.org/
Introduction
In the digital humanities, computational social sciences and related fields, the
development and use of category systems (e.g. ontologies, taxonomies or
typologies) plays an important role in the systematization and analysis of
texts. Categories allow for the linguistic labeling of texts or (textual)
phenomena, as well as for their combination or differentiation based on selected
relevant features. By selecting suitable parameters for grouping, categories
usually allow for a systematic reduction of complexity and the ordering of
complex textual artifacts and data sets, which in turn considerably facilitates
both their analysis and the communication of analysis results.
At the same time, category systems offer the possibility of a detailed text
systematization or description through the formation of subcategories. If
category systems are created as ontologies or taxonomies, they can additionally
provide information about the relationship of relevant (text) phenomena to each
other. Moreover, since the creation of categories usually requires the
specification of explicit definitions of terms or categories, the scholarly
exchange of information on subjects in the humanities, cultural studies, or
social sciences is greatly facilitated – among other things, through easier
understanding and better comparability of statements.
While work on and with categories in the traditional humanities remains the
exception rather than the rule and is limited to certain sub-disciplines, it is
omnipresent in the digital humanities due to the influence of standards from the
formal sciences. This omnipresence of category-system development in the digital
humanities is in stark contrast to the lack of systematic reflection in this
field of research. This concerns questions as: Which categories or which types
of category systems are appropriate for (certain) objects in the humanities?
What determines the validity and fruitfulness of categories in this field? Which
– existing or new – procedures can be used to develop and revise a category
system?
We invite contributions addressing these questions. While the work on and with
categories used for text annotation and analysis is the one focus, a second
focus is on systems and methods for the organization and classification of texts
in the context of databases – as well as the connection between these two fields
of work in which category systems play a role. This also includes work on
ontologies or the establishment and revision of systems for text analyses from
information science, as well as mathematical category theory, which has already
been successfully applied to knowledge representation and management in the
natural sciences.
Contributions should be based on concrete studies in the field of the digital
humanities and related fields or provide an information science perspective that
has been, or can be, adapted in the digital humanities. Contributions about
concrete studies should address one or more of the following questions:
* Through which steps did the development of the analysis concepts used in
the analysis take place? Who was involved and when? Were existing categories
used or developed further?
* Which development steps were defined in advance, which ones resulted from
the process?
* Was the type of category system to be developed – e.g. ontology, taxonomy,
typology or network of concepts – defined? Why was this form chosen?
* Were there problems with the categories? Which adjustments of the
categories or the development process were necessary?
* To what extent and, if applicable, how was the development of the analysis
categories documented?
* What recommendations can be derived from experience for similar approaches
to category development?
* How does the procedure relate to non-digital procedures that are common in
the original discipline?
Contributions from an information science perspective should address one or more
of the following questions:
* Which aspects of the work done in computer science concerning ontology
languages, methodologies, development environments and tools (for visualization,
documentation and validation) can fruitfully be applied to the field of digital
humanities/social sciences?
* What are the prerequisites for an application of such computer science or
mathematics approaches for working with categories in text analyses?
* In which way might the adaptation of computer science research on category
development to other fields pose difficulties? What are possible solutions?
* How can these approaches be implemented in concrete research (i.e., use
cases from the humanities/social sciences)?
Submission formats
Full papers can be one of the following:
1. Articles: Article-length pieces describing original research.
2. Case Studies: Detailed critical analyses of specific projects that
contextualize the project within the DH field, and demonstrate its significance
for other practitioners 3 . Issues in Digital Humanities: Substantive,
provocative opinion-driven essays of any length. (Except in special cases, we
don’t expect to have these in a special issue.)
3. Reviews: Reviews of other publications (digital or print), tools,
artworks, conferences, and other relevant material. (Except in special cases, we
don’t expect to have these in a special issue.)
Important Dates
2022-05-01 Call for Proposals for the Special Issue is open
2022-06-15 Proposals due (750 words + indication of intended DHQ submission
format).
Submit through dhq@fortext.org<mailto:dhq@fortext.org>
2022-07-01 Notification of acceptance of proposals sent to authors
2022-11-25 Full papers due (3,000-8,000 words); submit manuscripts to DHQ:
http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/submissions/index.html.
(N.B. Acceptance of invited papers will depend on the review process.)
2023-03-03 Notification of acceptance of manuscripts + revision requests
2023-04-28 Revised manuscripts due
2023-06-16 Publication of Special Issue
--
Dr. Janina Jacke
Seminar für Deutsche Philologie
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Nikolausberger Weg 23, Raum 3.115
37073 Göttingen
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