Post on 01-Apr-2015
Alfalab
Construction and Deconstruction of a
Digital Humanities Experiment
Joris van ZundertHuygens Institute (KNAW)
The Hague, The Netherlandsjoris.van.zundert@huygensinstituut.knaw.nl
Anne BeaulieuVirtual Knowledge Studio (KNAW)
Amsterdam, The Netherlandsanne.beaulieu@vks.knaw.nl
Douwe ZeldenrustMeertens Institute (KNAW)
Amsterdam, The Netherlandsdouwe.zeldenrust@meertens.knaw.nl
Introducing Alfalab
Alfalab is being created by Anne Beaulieu • Joris van Zundert • Douwe Zeldenrust • Rob Zeeman • Maarten Hoogerwerf • Charles van den Heuvel • Smiljana Antonijevic • Ruud Bronmans • Dirk Roorda • Leen Breure • Karina van Dalen • Ronald Dekker • Arjen Versloot • Sander Strating • Derk Drukker • Kees Mandemakers • Henk Wals • Paul Wouters • Peter Doorn • Reinier Salverda • Melle de Vries • Hans Bennis • Suzanne van Kaam • Bas Doppen • and a growing number of others cooperating...
Motivation for Alfalab
• Our Cultural Commonwealth, The report of the American Council of Learned Societies Commission on Cyberinfrastructure for the Humanities and Social Sciences. ACLS, 2006
• Tools for Data-Driven Scholarship: Past, Present, Future. A Report on the Workshop 22-24 October, 2008, Turf Valley Resort, Ellicott City, Maryland. March 2009
Motivation for Alfalab
• Little uptake of digital tools and 'method' in humanities
• Lack of Collaboration
• Lack of VRE's and Virtual Laboratories
• Lack of critical mass of digitized
• Problem of heterogeneity of tools, data and method
• Alfalab tries to meet the suggested requirements in a small controlled community setting
What Alfalab wants to be
• A collaboration on all levels
• Exploration of and experimentation on the 'laboratory metaphor'
• Objectives Success and fail factors Community building 'how-to' Exploration of form and
function of tools
• Work in progress
The naive nativity of an 'alpha-lab'...
Learning in progress
• Less portal
• Less lab
• Focus on community building
• Rethinking interfaces and visualization
• Rethinking academic publishing and peer review
• Reconciling heterogeneity
• Organizational model
• tools & interfaces• distributed data• workshops• desimination
Collaboration key
networked project leadershipshared development effort
collaborative vision
community involvement
Project scope
• Phase 1
Exploration
Planning, motivating & financing phase 2
Networking (DARIAH, CLARIN, Nines, Bamboo etc.)
Phase 2
Implementation
• Less infrastructure
• Focus on networking, organization
• Mapping research heuristics on tools and data
• 1.4 MEuro
• Phase 1: 2009 - 2011
Current state
• From portal to distributed networked tools and data
• Tools: 2 demonstrators in progress
• 'TeksLlab' (TextLab)
• 'GisLab' (GeospatialLab)
• 3rd demonstrator lab planned
• Project on digital publication and peer review
• Finding and leveraging synergy effects
• Collaborative publications
• TekstLab * GisLab
Alfalab
microtoponym pilot
Rob ZeemanMeertens Instituut (KNAW)
Amsterdam, The Netherlandsrob.zeeman@meertens.knaw.nl
Charles van den HeuvelVirtual Knowledge Studio (KNAW)
Amsterdam, The Netherlandscharles.van.den.heuvel@vks.knaw.nl
Douwe ZeldenrustMeertens Institute (KNAW)
Amsterdam, The Netherlandsdouwe.zeldenrust@meertens.knaw.nl
Arjen VerslootFryske Akademy (KNAW)
Leeuwarden, The Netherlandsaversloot@fryske-akademy.n
Sander StratingFryske Akademy (KNAW)
Leeuwarden, The Netherlandssstrating@fryske-akademy.nl
Leen BreureUniversity of Utrecht,
Utrecht, The Netherlandsleen@cs.uu.nl
Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth
Prototype Microtoponym Meertens Instituut
Knowledge Infrastructure Cultural History (KICH)
Closing – Q&A
Joris van Zundertjoris.van.zundert@huygensinstituut.knaw.nl
Douwe Zeldenrustdouwe.zeldenrust@meertens.knaw.nl
Anne Beaulieuanne.beaulieu@vks.knaw.nl
AlfalabConstruction and Deconstruction of a Digital Humanities Experiment
http://alfalablog.knaw.nlhttp://earth.google.comhttp://www.hgnnederland.nlhttp://www.kich.nlhttp://www.meertens.knaw.nlhttp://www.huygensinstituut.knaw.nlhttp://www.vks.knaw.nl