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Digital Scholarship
Library of Congress defines digital scholarship " as a general term for research that encompasses digital publishing, data visualization, the digital humanities, data science and data analysis -- all of which utilize digital collections, tools, and methods." (Digital Scholarship at the Library of Congress: A research Guide)
Broadly, digital scholarship refers to the use of digital tools in the creation and expression of scholarly research. Use this guide to discover techniques and practical tools for participating in digital scholarship and to learn more about the services that the library offers to help you in your digital scholarship projects.
How Can the Library Help?
The library offers free workshops on creating websites and free web hosting for for faculty, staff, and graduate students through USC Create Digital or Manifold. If you would like to suggest a workshop for your team, please fill out this form and we will be in touch shortly.
We can help you plan your project and to discover, select, and use digital tools and publishing platforms through consultations online or in person.
The library additionally partners with the Humanities Collaborative on Digital Humanities. Learn more and get involved from the Digital Humanities Initiative.
Examples of Digital Scholarship in Humanities and Social Sciences
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Bodies and StructuresSpatial history of Japan using Scalar platform.
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Digital Project Showcase from USCProjects by USC faculty and students using CreateDigital Platforms such as WordPress, Omeka, and Scalar.
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Gossamar NetworkExample of a Scalar site that is also a companion website to Cameron Blevins, Paper Trails: The US Post and the Making of the American West (Oxford University Press, 2021).
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Harriman Recollected, New Views of an 1899 Expedition to AlaskaUsing ArcGIS StoryMaps, this digital project tells the stories of these materials and their makers, a diary, artifiacts, and an expedition, their beginnings, their travels, and their archival afterlives.
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Interpreting Brownstone Canyon with GISUsing ArcGIS Storymaps to tell about a region. Winner of the 2024 ESRI Competition for Humanities storytelling.
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Keweenaw Time TravelerA deep mapping project using ArcGIS, this projects maps and connects people's stories and places through time and space.
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Lomax Kentucky RecordingsExample Omeka website. Documentary sound recordings of rural Kentucky music and lore collected under the auspices of the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress between 1933 and 1942.
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Mapping Inequality, redlining in New Deal AmericaUsing ArcGIS, this project maps inequality and the history of racial and ethnic discrimination in housing policy.
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Midwest Time MachineTravel to the past via first-hand accounts from letters, diaries, and rare books in the Newberry's collections. See multiple stories using TimelineJS.
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Overland Trails, 1840-1860View the map that traces the routes of about two dozen migrants over the three trails. Use the timeline to select a year. Read a diary.
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Shakespeare and Co. ProjectUsing GitHub to store and share their data, The Shakespeare and Company Project allows scholars and the general public to explore and analyze the activities of the Shakespeare and Company bookshop and lending library in interwar Paris.
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Vassar College Costume CollectionExample of an Omeka website. The Vassar College Costume Collection (VCCC) is a collection of original historic clothing, dating from the 1830s to the present.
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Viral Texts PtojectMapping Networks of Reprinting in 19th-Century Newspapers and Magazines from the NULab at Northeastern University
Examples Web Presence in Sciences and Social Sciences
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Advancing Accessible Healthcare in BostonDetermining where to place a new community health center using ArcGIS Storymaps.
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Emory University Haynes LabWallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering lab website using WordPress.
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University of Chicago Worden LabExample Biology and Environmental Research lab web site using WordPress.
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University of Michigan Child Language and Cognition ProjectUniversity of Michigan has a number of WordPress sites for their labs. This is one example.
Trends in Digital Humanities
| Trend | Why it is trending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Generative AI and ML | Offers unprecedented speed, creativity, scale in text, image, and heritage work | Ithaca at Oxford University |
| Cyber Humanities | Ethical concerns drive human-centered, reflexive DH infrastructures | Data and Artificial Intelligence Ethics |
| Cultural Analytics | Visual data and computational tools enable macro-scale cultural interpretation | Cultural Analytis Lab |
| Feminist and Intersectional DH | Push for equity, inclusion, and critique of dominant DH narratives | Colored Conventions Project |
| GeoHumanities |
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Mapping Inequality |
| Public Humanities Engagement | Promotes accessibility, relevance, and community co-creation | Valley of the Shadow |