Laying the Foundation: Digital Humanities in Academic Libraries
examines the library's role in the development, implementation, and
instruction of successful digital humanities projects. It pays special
attention to the critical role of librarians in building sustainable
programs. It also examines how libraries can support the use of digital
scholarship tools and techniques in undergraduate education. Academic
libraries are nexuses of research and technology; as such, they provide
fertile ground for cultivating and curating digital scholarship.
However, adding digital humanities to library service models requires a
clear understanding of the resources and skills required. Integrating
digital scholarship into existing models calls for a reimagining of the
roles of libraries and librarians. In many cases, these reimagined roles
call for expanded responsibilities, often in the areas of collaborative
instruction and digital asset management, and in turn these expanded
responsibilities can strain already stretched resources.Laying the
Foundation provides practical solutions to the challenges of
successfully incorporating digital humanities programs into existing
library services. Collectively, its authors argue that librarians are
critical resources for teaching digital humanities to undergraduate
students and that libraries are essential for publishing, preserving,
and making accessible digital scholarship.
