Abstract
Unlocking JSTOR & Portico for Text Analysis & Pedagogy
Text analytics, or the process of deriving new information from pattern and trend analysis of the written word, is making a transformative impact in the social sciences and humanities. Sadly, there is a massive hurdle facing those eager to unleash its power: the coding skills and statistical knowledge that text mining requires can take years to develop; moreover, access rights to high quality datasets for text mining are often cost prohibitive and may include further license negotiations. Over the past several years, JSTOR’s Data for Research (DfR) has addressed some of these issues, providing metadata and full-text datasets for its archival content. In January, ITHAKA – the organizational home of JSTOR and Portico – announced a completely new platform that incorporates DfR’s features, as well as adding visualization tools and an integrated analytics lab for learning and teaching text analysis. At NISO Plus, key members of the ITHAKA team will describe the design of this new multifaceted platform and highlight how its components can intersect with the needs of librarians, publishers, educators, students, and faculty. The presenters will emphasize the platform’s hosted analytics lab, where librarians and faculty can create, adapt, and adopt text mining analysis code that works with publisher content for data science instructional sessions.
Collections as Data: From Digital Library to Open Datasets
Collections as Data “aims to encourage computational use of digitized and born digital collections” (https://collectionsasdata.github.io/statement/), but how do you get started developing a Collections as Data program, especially with existing staff and technology resources? The Digital Library Services department at the University of Utah will share their practical approach to Collections as Data, ranging from releasing oral history data for text mining to developing a metadata transcription project to create a new historical dataset of mining labor employment records. We will also discuss developing partnerships with digital humanists on campus and the potential uses of the collections we’ve released to the public. We will also show how analyzing digital collections with a digital humanities approach can provide new insights into potential new processes for descriptive metadata creation.
Public Humanities: Challenges and Opportunities
Directors of leading humanities associations and initiatives discuss the impact and the challenges of public humanities, as an idea and as a method of study. What is public humanities, and why is it important? What forms of scholarly and creative output does it encompass? How can it be recognized and supported at institutional, national, and international levels? How do humanities scholars engage with a broad, diverse audience? How might these encounters change the nature and course of humanities study?
Join Modern Language Association Executive Director Paula Krebs, University of Virginia President's Commission on Slavery and the University Chair Kirt von Daacke, and University of Illinois Chicago Engaged Humanities Initiative Director Ellen McClure for a roundtable discussion and lively Q&A.
