An Introduction to Humanities Data - online only

(Monday to Wednesday lunchtime)

Workshop abstract

This strand introduces a variety of approaches to dealing with humanities data. Data types discussed include textual, tabular and visual. Attendees will hear from presenters experienced in working with these methods, and be given the opportunity to try some of them for themselves via practical exercises. The goal is to equip those undertaking or supporting research with the knowledge to select from a range of solutions that will work for their projects.

Learning objectives

• Learn about a range of methods for working with humanities data
• Gain insight into how various technologies and techniques could be used to enhance a research project
• Develop confidence in identifying and selecting the appropriate approach for a given project

Course level

Introductory: no knowledge of specific software or techniques is assumed.

Convenor

Dan Crane

Dan is Head of Research Data Management in the Bodleian Libraries

Meriel Patrick

Meriel Patrick is a Research Technology Specialist in the Research Support team at IT Services. Much of her work focuses on helping researchers to work more effectively with data. She is also Lecturer in Theology and Philosophy for SCIO, a research and educational institute in Oxford.

Neil Jefferies

Neil Jefferies is an Innovation Specialist at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford and Executive Director of the Open Preservation Foundation. He is a co-creator of the International Image Interoperability Framework and the Oxford Common File Layout for the preservation of digital objects, and most recently worked on Text Interoperability API's. 

Rowan Wilson

Rowan is Head of Research Computing and Support Services within IT Services at Oxford. He joined Oxford in 2001, working for the Oxford Text Archive / Humanities Computing Unit, and has spent the next twenty odd years supporting research at Oxford in various guises. Rowan's specialisms include open data, open source software, research data management, research computing and JM Barrie.

Monday - Wednesday

Monday 24th August

11:00-11:30 Introduction

Abstract: The convenors will give an introduction to the week's programme.

11:30-12:30 A critical review of humanities data approaches

Abstract: Choosing the correct approach for your data can have a significant impact on the success, or otherwise, of your research, and this talk will encourage you to critically evaluate all standards and practices much as you would evaluate your scholarly sources.

Speaker: Neil Jefferies

12:30-14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:30 The Quill Project

Abstract: The Quill Project is an interdisciplinary digital-humanities project that examines the negotiation of legal texts. This session will discuss problems of representing these kinds of processes, designing interfaces for data-entry, collaboration with undergraduate students, and visualisation design.

Speaker: Nicholas Cole (Nick Cole studies the political thought of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, and is working on a digital project that looks at the way constitutions and treaties have been negotiated over the last two hundred years.)

15:30-16:00  Refreshment Break

16:00-17:00 Digital preservation

Abstract: Digital humanities research produces outputs ranging from databases and new digital collections, to data visualisations, code and more. But how can we ensure the digital outputs of our research are not lost over time? This session will introduce some key digital preservation concepts and outline practical steps you can take to support the long-term accessibility, reusability, and potential impact of your research.

Speakers: Catherine Conisbee (Catherine Conisbee is a Digital Preservation Officer and Sassoon Research Fellow at the Bodleian Libraries (University of Oxford), with a particular interest in digital collections and collections-as-data)

Tuesday 25th August

09:00-10:30 OpenRefine for tabular data

Abstract: OpenRefine is a powerful tool for working with messy data. It can help you explore large datasets, clean them, and transform them from one format into another.

Speaker: Rowan Wilson and Andrew Cusworth

10:30-11:00 Refreshment break

11:00-12:30 Introduction to relational databases

Abstract: This session looks at what a relational database is, and when and why it might be helpful to use one. It introduces some basic database concepts, and works through the process of planning a relational database - with some hands-on exercises to help start putting the theory into practice. We also look at some challenges posed by the sort of data often used in humanities projects, and how these might be addressed.

Speakers: Meriel Patrick and Graham Addis (Graham is an IT Teacher in the University of Oxford's Digital Capabilities team).

12:30-14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:30 Using TEI to encode and extract data

Abstract: This session will serve as an introduction to the principles and practice of TEI-XML, the most widespread scholarly method of encoding texts. We will look both at how to encode texts within TEI, and the kinds of data we can extract from it, including getting hands-on with some encoding.

Speaker: Sebastian Dows-Miller (Sebastian is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at UCL, and his research centres around the statistical analysis of data extracted from manuscripts written in Old French.)

16:00-17:00  AI and Creativity

Abstract: We start our long view with Ada Lovelace in 1843, who wrote about a computer generating music but also questioned whether it can originate anything new. We go on to explore Margaret Boden’s three forms of creativity, and consider a series of examples involving AI as creative assistant in both text and music, drawing on collections in University of Oxford.

Speaker: David De Roure (David is Academic Director of the Digital Scholarship @ Oxford initiative and Professor of e-Research at the Oxford e-Research Centre).

Wednesday 26th August

09:00-10:30 IIIF - the International Image Interoperability Framework

Abstract: With the increasing volume of digitised materials being made available via the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF), it is becoming an integral part of digital humanities workflows. This session will introduce you to the basics of IIIF and provide some examples of how it can be combined with other digital tools in such workflows.

Speakers: Neil Jefferies (Open Preservation Foundation, Bodleian Libraries, Data Futures GmbH)

10:30-11:00 Refreshment break

11:00-12:30 Computer vision and machine learning

Abstract: This session will explore computer vision - or the extraction of data from images. Although digital humanists have a rich set of tools for searching and analysing text, images have until recently been less amenable to processing. The session will showcase tools developed by Oxford’s Visual Geometry Group in collaboration with researchers in the humanities working in fields including book and art history, film, music and photography. Participants will gain an understanding of the state-of-the-art in such computer vision operations as image comparison, classification and search; of how humanists are currently using these methods; and how they can apply them to their own materials. We will use web demos and (optionally) user-installable software. No coding is required.

Speaker: Giles Bergel (Giles is Senior Researcher in Digital Humanities in the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. A book historian by training with particular interests in cheap print, he broadly works on digitisation projects for museums and libraries, particularly those involving computer vision.)