Me, museums and digital humanities hopefully not a needle in a HASTAC

This is a bit of an intro to who I am, what Im doing and my tendency to ramble.

I am very excited and honoured to be nominated as a 2010 HASTAC scholar.  It is a fantastic opportunity and a privilege to be part of this really vibrant and more importantly digital community.  A huge thank you goes to Claire Warwick and Melissa Terras from the UCL Centre for Digital Humanities and Fiona Barnett at HASTAC for this opportunity. 

Im interested in lots of things, predominately museums and digital humanities, you can get a sense of what Im about over on my blog; but I will cross post relevant things over to here.

 Defining Digital Humanities

There are so many people working and studying DH yet a definitive definition still remains illusive.  Perhaps its better that way, then individuals can have their own interpretations of DH means to them; for me DH explores how and whether we can apply technology to our experience of history, heritage and culture. DH questions how technology changes the environment around us, physical and digital, and discusses whether those changes are for the better. I believe the concept of digital humanities is much more then just humanities computing; as society becomes increasingly digital, it become a way of life and it is important to understand how and why that is happening.

Digital Identity and Academic Rep

One of the biggest concerns which is constantly being raised is that of Digital Identity.  The more I delve into academia the more the concept of academic reputation keeps coming up.  Interesting questions have been raised about the nature of scholarly activity and academic reputation, the factors that have traditionally lead to recognition and promotion and whether or not these are changing in an increasingly socially networked world.

In the past I asked if blogging was damaging my academic career as on the whole it seems that using web 2.0 tools to disseminate your work and to create a dialogue are frowned upon, and my research indicates that the majority of academics never ever use social media.  I posed the question "is this blog damaging my academic reputation?" Does that mean, because I have this blog, I contribute on the UCLDH blog, and my tweeting habits are actually detrimental to my academic career??</a>

I never believed that to be the case, but it was a question that had to be raised, as there are some strong traditionalists settled in their ivory towers quoting the mantra of publish or perish  and peer review.  The web is changing this view dramatically.  Academic culture is being transformed to a more open, inclusive and accessible environment, where sharing and dialogue are commonplace.  Right now Digital Humanities is a very exciting place to be.

Museums and Digital things

My particular research interest is in user experience in digital cultural, specifically museum, contexts. I am fascinated by the nature of participation and engagement possibilities provided by digital spaces and social media and whether online interactions with cultural heritage content provide engaging experiences for users, supporting inquiry and meaning making. HASTAC sounds just up my street. I cant wait to add my research into the pot and see what people make of it.