Am I a Senior?

I must admit that reading through Anne Burdick, et al.'s Digital_Humanities was an intimidating (and at times dull) endeavor. I know that I must understand the basic principles and theories of DH in order to better embrace this as a scholastic enterprise, so I have been trudging through the book like a good little scholar. Chapter 2 is all about methods and genres, but reading through them didn't really make a complete picture of what exactly DH does. Thankfully, they put case studies at the end of it. I assumed that these case studies would help me visualize the products of the methodologies (one would assume that illustrating visualization techniques in a book about DH would prove useful). However, I found something a bit different.

Throughout the book, and as a fellow reader describes in detail, the authors seem to consistently put the "analog" side of things in the trash heap. I'm not fully surprised by this, but I was a bit shocked at how they, in text, dealt with those scholars who are unaccustomed to the digital side.  In the "Methods" section of case study 2, they acknowledge the "senior scholar" (implications for senior can be wildly speculated upon) and specifically state that he "has asked that his interpretations be given a separate layer for presentation online so that his work can stand alone and be scraped off for later publication in print format." After having just discussed that this project will need to include crowd-sourcing and the establishment of partnerships to get the work done, this statement seems to put the scholar who isn't completely enraptured by DH in the "other" category. They continue in the "Dissemination and participation" section to ostracize the "senior scholar" by stating, "The bridging of traditional and new modes of scholarly engagement through distributed knowledge production approaches will allow the senior scholar to work effectively with younger scholars and allow for crows-sourced input without collocation." All in all, this doesn't sound very positive for the senior. 

Perhaps I am equating senior with the negative connotations associated with growing old and, seemingly, out of touch with the digital world.  Being a senior citizen or having a senior dog, for instance, doesn't tend to be the most glamorous or sexy thing out there--is that what the authors are going for? Or maybe, in an effort to respect the scholar's experience and time in the field, the authors called him "senior". This is entirely possible. Regardless, there doesn't seem to be much positive press being thrown around for the guy who wants his work set aside and "scraped off" (again, not the sexiest of terms to be used) for print publication.

Then it hit me.

I think I might be akin to the "senior scholar"! Don't get me wrong, I am not comparing myself to him because of my overall expertise and earned merit in the field. I am far from that. However, I do tend to take the "let's get it in print before the digital" route (I'm not even a fan of only owning digital books, movies, or music). I don't feel that DH projects have less worth--quite the opposite, especially after reading about the amount of work put into these projects--but I would definitely rather have my own work in print versus digital-only. It would be awesome to have both, but I will always choose print over digital if given the choice. I'm also pretty confident that I will not join the "generation now cursed with the label 'digital natives'" who "will surely develop the capacity to become comprehensive digital humanists" because that statement alone scares the hell out of me. I like collaboration in the sense that everyone does their part. However, the authors point out another place that seems to send me back into the senior pile: traditional concepts of authorship in the humanities being challenged by DH projects and team effort. Will these projects be worth the same amount as a project done alone in a "traditional" medium? I guess I'm fixated on the "single-authored achievements".

 Does that make me the senior? In the estimation of the authors, does that mean I'm ready for the analog scrap heap? I'm going to stay positive and assert that both print and DH forms of projects can, should, and will be embraced so that no one and nothing has to go on the scrap heap. Also, because I'm a novice in the DH world, I will look forward to learning rather than feeling less-than because I've not fully engulfed myself in DH.  We've all got to start somewhere.

Going Medieval on the Digital

Throughout the course of my academic career, I've considered myself to be a bit "old school" in the ways I conduct and organize my research, write papers, grade papers, and do homework. I like having a piece of paper in front of me versus a computer, writing out my thoughts and notes rather than typing everything on a computer, relying on my mind to remember which notebook I need over which file to open.  Then, a friend said something to me I never thought would ever be spoken in my direction about me. He said that I was far more digitally literate than I gave myself credit for. In fact, he called me a Digital Humanist!

*cue look of confusion mixed with fright*

However, I've been thinking about it, and I've come to the conclusion that I do use the digital tools I'm given in a useful way that suits my needs as a scholar. I don't have to go scurrying through a card catalog driving myself to the brink of pulling a library ghost from Ghostbusters (if unsure of the image, watch the NY Library scene from Ghostbusters where all the cards come flying out of the card catalog). My Nook has also been very helpful for me when I need to read an article that I haven't had the time (or ink) to actually print.  The 30-page article on the history of chocolate in the New World I read today seemed a breeze as I simply flipped to the next screen. And, I'll admit, it is far easier to write/research/read at home in my pajamas while looking at a computer/tablet/phone screen than coming into school and finding all the necessary equipment to get the job done without digital assistance. Does this make me a Digital Humanist? I have no idea.

I was hesitant to sign up for Dr. Gibbs' Digital Humanities seminar this semester, I must admit. That same friend from earlier claimed I would benefit from it...we'll see. The course number History 666 definitely had a helping "hand" in getting me to hit the register button, but the idea has grown on me. I'm coming into this class fearful and uneasy about much of the syllabus, assignments, and overall digital interaction, but I'm also confidant and hopeful that the coming weeks will be fruitful, albeit frustrating (seeing the requirement of being able to deal with frustration with digital stuff going wonky on the syllabus was pretty frightening), and I might even be able to transfer the things I learn to my own scholarly endeavors working in Medieval Studies.  With that in mind, my battle cry for this semester will be that I'm going medieval on Digital's ass!

Ready for war!