P & T Criteria for Assessing Digital Research in the Humanities
Introduction and Goals: The rise of digital humanities has prompted many universities to appoint faculty who specialize in this area. These faculty need to be evaluated, like their colleagues, rigorously and fairly. This document strives to provide a resource which outlines criteria for evaluating dossiers in this scholarly area.
Rationale: Increased use of digital media has led in some quarters to rapid changes in the form and conduct of scholarly activity. Yet, digital scholarship remains unfamiliar to many colleagues pursuing more traditional forms of work. Digital scholarship possesses a technical component, is interdisciplinary in form and substance, and is often pursued through collaborative efforts. Consequently, there is a need to inform scholars and the public at large about the scope, method, and contributions of digitally-based inquiry.
Standards: The traditional criteria of excellence, impact, originality, and reputable publication apply to both print and digital work. Digital scholars applying for promotion and tenure may find it advisable (for pragmatic, political reasons) to have a roughly equal number of digital and print publications. With respect to digital publication, the key is for the candidate to define the uniqueness of his or her research with respect to content, process, and outcomes. Specifically, how does the digital component of the research contribute to its originality? What are the implications in terms of audience, pedagogy, and the creation of research tools?
Key Items for Evaluation of Digital Research
- Expert consultations in design and implementation
- Grant funding
- Links to additional digital projects, collaboration with other institutions
- Links from other sites to the scholar's digital research
- Encoding standards (e.g., XML, TEI guidelines)
- Pedagogical application and assessment
- Conference presentations
- Long-term accessibility, viability for archival use
- Peer Review
- Compatibility between design, content, and medium
Web Links
Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations: http://www.digitalhumanities.org
Text Encoding Initiative (TEI): http://www.tei-c.org
ACLS Cyberinfrastructure Report: http://www.acls.org/cyberingrastructure/
New Criteria for New Media: http://newmedia.umaine.edu/interarchive/new_criteria_for_new_media@m.html
MLA Guidelines: http://www.mla.org/guidelines_evaluation_digital
Rotunda (UVa Digital Imprint): http://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/index.php?page_id=Home
Credibility of Electronic Publishing: http://web.mala.bc.ca/hssfc/Final/Credibility.htm
TAPoR: http://portal.tapor.ca
Draft for fictional case studies (not an MLA site—for feedback purposes only): http://www.philosophi.ca/pmwiki.php/Main/MLADigitalWork
Special thanks to Geoffrey Rockwell of McMaster University for his advice.
