Through out the many texts that I read, I found a reoccurring universal idea which referred to the Digital Humanities as benefiting us ALL. Lincoln Mullen argues that we have all been immersed into the digital world without even being conscious of it. He states that “we’re all digital humanists now” (Mullen 2), and instead of fighting against the transformation, we should embrace the ample means of research that can be available through the use of universal technology. I really appreciate the idea that all information is “publicly accessible” (Mullen 2), and not just sealed away in archives that are for the most part unattainable.
The Digital Humanities Manifesto also stresses the openness of all the sources and resources that should and could be available to people with the growth of the digital humanities. The manifesto also states that the digital humanities is for us all, since we are in “the overflowing bounty of the information age” ( Manifesto ). Why fight against the growth of knowledge and the means of obtaining it? Don’t get me wrong, I love the smell of books, the texture of books, and annotating in books, and by no means could I just constantly use the web to read and intake information, but the digital humanities are emerging to preserve and enhance what books have to offer. In 1843, Ada Lovelace and Babbage foreshadowed the use of technology in our world today, so why disappoint them by not moving forward? I will forever love and cherish books, but I am ready and excited to tackle this new culture!!!
Wholeheartedly agree here. I think there was something in the DH label that set off my inner literary caveman, but the idea of an easily accessible database for research is quite promising. And while a lot of it encompasses the strictly educational, the Internet is a bizarre forum that has an amazing amount of anthropological implications that should be researched.
First of all, I love the enthusiasm! I agree with both of you that the work of the Digital Humanities community is not only exciting, but also revolutionary in its potential to transform scholarship in many different disciplines.
Tara–I wonder if your love for the physical book and the developments in technology are mutually exclusive. One of the activities of the Digital Humanities community is to explore and preserve manuscripts and printed books with more detail and information than we ever could have extracted previously. While this may not replicate a real book “experience,” could this be seen as achieving a new level of appreciation?
Michael–I love your description of the Internet as a “bizarre forum that has an amazing amount of anthropological implications”! It would be great if we could elaborate on that thought…
I also love the spell and texture of a good book Tara. At the same time, being able to have access to literary material from my laptop anywhere that has a Wi-Fi connection greatly increases my mobility and decreases my dependence on the archaic 10lb college book.
I also don’t see the reason for hesitation, except for the loss of tradition, but to me, the influences of modernity are constantly restructuring culture and ideas.
Now the question is; is change always for the better?
While I agree that DH is moving us forward, I also feel to some degree, that it is another way to give people what they want, how they want it – And that is right here, right now! While I am certainly happy that DH will make my life of research a bit easier, a little less stressful and, hopefully, less mundane, I cannot imagine my studies being anything less. Digging in an archive excites me, it drives me to look further, take another route, and maybe look into something else further. To some extent I feel like DH is going to make the lives of scholars too easy, taking out the desire to keep asking questions and searching for new answers (while on the flip side, I can see how some would use DH to their advantage to become more passionate and ask more questions and seek more answers). Sure, everyone wants their cake and wants to eat it to, but this is work and life, while cliche, is not fair. While I am no elitist, I do, however, feel like not everyone should be entitled to certain information. Yes, DH stresses the openness to information – but that information in the hands of people who do not know how to analyse or interpret it seems a bit ridiculous to me. I will admit that I am a bit “old-school” in that output is equal to input, so if DH allows such little output, is it fair to get ten times more in return because you can? Here is a stretch, but that is like saying everyone taking this class should get an A just because we tried, like all kids get trophies in little league because they were on a team. I feel like DH humanities, while in its attempt to make scholarship easily accessible and accommodating is leaving behind the all-stars who put in the effort, passion, desire and who actually give a damn.
Hhhhhhhhmmm…. DH does seem like an exciting and promising culture. At the same time, I feel that we shouldn’t go forward by holding the hand of just one culture — that is DH. Like Lauryn said, there should be a way of giving everyone what they want and how they want it..
Yes, life is alot easier with not having to carry 10lb books around college. At the same time, as a literature major, for me, the idea of having an authentic original copy of a literary piece, or getting a chance to see how language developed over the period of time in a valuable text on hand is like a dream come true.Though all things can be accessed online, it is still not the same as holding a book and having the excitement of reading it, or as a college student, to be able to highlight and write on the book right next to the text being referred to.
Don’t get me wrong. I am loving DH as much as you guys. My only fear is to lose our true/original/old culture — which defines and shows who we are and how did we get to where we are today.
It does seem that the aim for the new digital technologies is to benefit us all. It seems that the idea is that such digital technologies can aid in the efficiency of the production of knowledge through things like computer based data research as opposed to older methods of only using books for research. Of course there may be some who like you love the smell of books and all but are extreme in that they reject all ideas of digitized reading and feel all reading should be done in print.
I feel that the ability to have unlimited amounts of information is valuable to our culture. The Manifesto does agrue the power that the digital humanities has over our society and future, and to that I say it is a very important and enriching time to have the Digitla Humanities. However, that does not mean that books are being nessecarily replaced but reformed. Instead of books being the main rsource of knowledge and information we simply are changing the way to view the page. I feel that books hold influence to our culture and they are not going to be replaced like video and audio cassette tapes were when discs came into popularity. The digital Himanities will be the new way to collect information, but a powerful influence over society is within the integraty of books.