eArts and Humanities Scoping an eScience Agenda Sheila

e-Arts and Humanities Scoping an e-Science Agenda Sheila Anderson Arts and Humanities Data Service King’s College London 1

e-Arts and Humanities • e-Science is about an enabling infrastructure – tools , technologies, computing power etc. – supporting research • We have defined it as: the development and deployment of a networked infrastructure and culture through which resources – be they processing power, data, expertise, or person power – can be shared in a secure environment, and in which new forms of collaboration can emerge, and new and advanced methodologies explored 2

Aims and Objectives • Raise awareness and understanding of escience, and how e-science might relate to and support the different disciplines within the arts and humanities • Enable scholars engaging with ICT in their research practice to find about and take advantage of the outputs and tools arising from the e-science and e-social science programmes • Assist the AHRC in the development of an arts and humanities e-Science research 3 agenda

The Scoping Survey • Scoping survey methodology – Identify, collate and analyse information on escience technologies, projects and outputs – Match these against methods and challenges for research practice in the arts and humanities – this done through a series of expert seminars – Dissemination to a wider community for comment and to raise awareness – Create an on-line information base for consultation by arts and humanities scholars 4

Expert Seminars key to this process • Exchange ideas and knowledge • Identify use of ICT in research practice and ‘grand challenges and opportunities’ • Identify e-Science potential • Identify priority areas for research and practice • Recommendations for future action – Priorities for research – Priorities for tools development 5

Based around subject domain • • Library and Information Studies – Melissa Terras Archaeology – William Kilbride Literary and Textual Studies – Peter Robinson History – Mark Greengrass Visual Arts – Sue Gollifer Performing Arts – Angela Picini Linguistics and Languages – Paul Rayson 6

Format of the Seminars • • Driven from research needs and research practice Identify ICT use Identify ‘Grand Challenges’ Identify where e-Science might help address the grand challenges • Identify needs, priorities, and recommendations • Wish list – tools and projects 7

Outputs • Report from each seminar – circulated more widely for comment and suggestions • Final report drawing out common themes and priorities and unique requirements • On-line information resource as part of AHe. SSC – maintained and updated • Draft report end July • Final report mid-August 8

Early thoughts • Must come from, and be embedded in, research practice and research needs • Be innovative and push barriers • BUT, be sensitive to those less engaged • Re-imagine the concept of ‘e-Science’ (and even the name); challenge existing e. Science technologies • International, scalable, sustainable 9

Early thoughts • Content: – Highly dispersed content joined up through the grid and appropriate tools – ontology connectors – Deep mining (inc. image and sound) using different methods – deep log analysis for connecting; folksonomies; data and text mining – Large scale images, moving images, sound, etc. managed and accessed through the grid – Capturing the creative process – Annotation, collation, visualisation, simulation – Content from across disciplines 10

Early thoughts • Collaboration: – – – Strong possibilities New forms of critical editions New forms of curation Democratisation Dynamic, interactive BUT secure and trusted provenance – Push the access grid further for collaborative research and teaching – Across disciplines 11