A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
In Between Research Cultures – The State of Digital Humanities in Finland
Authors: Matres Inés, Oiva Mila, Tolonen Mikko
Publication year: 2018
Journal: Informaatiotutkimus
Issue: 2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.23978/inf.71160
Web address : https://journal.fi/inf/article/view/71160
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/37072650
Abstract
Digital humanities (DH) as a research field has been developing rapidly in Finland during the past few years,mainly due to increased funding and profiling activities. Although these infrastructural developments havecreated (smaller and larger) centres, hubs and clusters related directly or indirectly to digital humanities, thefuture of Finnish research in this area depends on how the various scholarly and memory organisations, aswell as individual scholars, succeed in joining forces. The overall argument in this paper is that digital huma-nities needs to establish its identity and to create a new space among research cultures with varying charac-teristics tackling a multitude of problems, and that this can only be achieved through national collaborationand the joint exploitation of the strengths of existing DH hubs. The article sets out a roadmap to this end,providing a detailed discussion of various developments in digital humanities, and analysing different possi-bilities in the international context. It is based on a survey conducted in 2016 among Finnish scholars in thefields of humanities and the social sciences, an analysis of existing infrastructures, and interviews with DHscholars involved with international top-level DH centres. The focus in the latter part of the article is on the-se interviews, and on the lessons learned abroad from which the Finnish DH community could benefit. Weconclude with a strong call for collaboration to facilitate the further development of the DH field in Finlandin response to international competition.
Asiasanat: digital humanities; research infrastructures; digital research practices; Finland; data; collaboration;open science
Digital humanities (DH) as a research field has been developing rapidly in Finland during the past few years,mainly due to increased funding and profiling activities. Although these infrastructural developments havecreated (smaller and larger) centres, hubs and clusters related directly or indirectly to digital humanities, thefuture of Finnish research in this area depends on how the various scholarly and memory organisations, aswell as individual scholars, succeed in joining forces. The overall argument in this paper is that digital huma-nities needs to establish its identity and to create a new space among research cultures with varying charac-teristics tackling a multitude of problems, and that this can only be achieved through national collaborationand the joint exploitation of the strengths of existing DH hubs. The article sets out a roadmap to this end,providing a detailed discussion of various developments in digital humanities, and analysing different possi-bilities in the international context. It is based on a survey conducted in 2016 among Finnish scholars in thefields of humanities and the social sciences, an analysis of existing infrastructures, and interviews with DHscholars involved with international top-level DH centres. The focus in the latter part of the article is on the-se interviews, and on the lessons learned abroad from which the Finnish DH community could benefit. Weconclude with a strong call for collaboration to facilitate the further development of the DH field in Finlandin response to international competition.
Asiasanat: digital humanities; research infrastructures; digital research practices; Finland; data; collaboration;open science
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