Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 37, No. 528.
        Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
                      Hosted by DH-Cologne
                       www.dhhumanist.org
                Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org




        Date: 2024-04-04 09:44:37+00:00
        From: Melissa Terras <M.Terras@ed.ac.uk>
        Subject: Survey, and workshops: Infrastructure Futures for Digital Cultural Heritage

Dear Colleagues,

I’m sharing details of both a survey and online/IRL workshops we at Edinburgh
are hosting, about designing infrastructures for Digital Cultural Heritage. I
would appreciate if you could share with your networks and students, we’d love
to hear your thoughts via the survey, and you are very welcome to attend the
online or in person workshop. Please do pass onto anyone who you think may be
interested.

Thanks!
Melissa
----

Infrastructure Futures for Digital Cultural Heritage


What do we mean when we talk about infrastructure for Digital Cultural Heritage
research? How can we get a better understanding of current priorities, concerns
and hopes by imagining and collectively scrutinising possibilities for the
future? These two questions are informing a research project at the University
of Edinburgh, UK, funded by the Creative
Informatics<https://creativeinformatics.org/> AHRC Creative Cluster programme.

The speculative scenarios offered below are distilled and reimagined from a
literature review and nine expert interviews undertaken in late 2023 and early
2024. The aim of the interviews was to understand what invited experts see as
important, at this moment in time, in relation to infrastructure for research:
what they were tired of hearing about, what they were trying to make happen, and
what questions they think old and new technologies are raising. The research
team drew out some of the big themes they saw in this data, mapping it to key
literature on infrastructure and digital cultural heritage, and imagining the
scenarios that follow. You can see the list of expert interviewees, and review
our reference list, at: https://www.de.ed.ac.uk/more-about-infrastructure-
futures-project

In common with the way infrastructure is defined (or not), and the different
levels at which it is understood to operate (human, technological,
institutional, policy and so on), these speculative scenarios may not all seem
to be talking about the same thing. They are built on more-or-less explicit
assumptions about what the future might look like, and what Gallery, Library,
Archive and Museum (GLAM) infrastructures are for, and so the assumptions
underpinning each are different. They are not intended to be correct or ideal
solutions: their aim is to provoke discussion. They present possible futures for
Digital Cultural Heritage infrastructure given current conversations regarding
audience, resourcing, governance, and stages of technological development. So,
as you read, try to imagine yourself working within these different worlds. What
jumps out for you, or makes you laugh? What values are surfaced, and which ones
align with your own? What do you find hopeful, disappointing, unacceptable,
exciting, impossible? What alternative future for Digital Cultural Heritage
would you choose to build instead?

Please share your thoughts with us! There are two ways to do this:

  1.  Complete our
survey<https://edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0NCYrSVQajyeZiS> - please
take 15 minutes to give feedback on one or more of the scenarios. The survey
will be open until 30 April 2024. (Survey link:
https://edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0NCYrSVQajyeZiS )
  2.  Join us for one of two scenario discussion workshops in April 2024.
  3.  - The first will take place on Thursday 18 April at St Cecilia's Hall in
Edinburgh. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/workshop-infrastructure-futures-for-
digital-cultural-heritage-tickets-87338499703
  4.  - The second will be ONLINE on Wednesday 24 April at 3pm UK time - please
email Jen Ross if you would like to attend, on
jen.ross@ed.ac.uk<mailto:jen.ross@ed.ac.uk>. (We are not sharing a link to
register to cut down on bot sign ups!)

Thank you for sharing!
————
Professor Melissa Terras
Design Informatics, Edinburgh College of Art
University of Edinburgh
@melissaterras



_______________________________________________
Unsubscribe at: http://dhhumanist.org/Restricted
List posts to: humanist@dhhumanist.org
List info and archives at at: http://dhhumanist.org
Listmember interface at: http://dhhumanist.org/Restricted/
Subscribe at: http://dhhumanist.org/membership_form.php