Inspired by the event/video, Digital Humanities and the Future of Libraries, I’d like to have a big picture discussion about real possibilities for DH initiatives in public libraries. The New York Public Library has carved a path for digital projects and digital preservation of cultural heritage by public libraries, but what can smaller, non-research libraries do? In addition, with the IMLS Learning Labs grant competition under way, we are seeing more opportunities for libraries’ visions to align with grant funds that will support them.
Questions I’m interested in exploring:
- What populations can digital humanities initiatives in public libraries serve?
- What learning opportunities can be tapped to engage patrons (in person and from afar) with the library?
- What goals must a public library have wrt mission and purpose to be suited for digital humanities initiatives?
- How can public libraries create partnerships with institutions (governmental, academic, cultural, grant-funding) to support digital humanities initiatives?
- What would it take for libraries to become local digital publishers, documenting the past and present experiences of their publics?
I’m also interested in this topic. This is related, I think, to the idea of Libraries as maker’s labs and (as you said) libraries as publishers. There was a presentation on the latter at the last SXSW conference, see my notes here.
I read through your notes and recognized most of those names you mentioned. I must be doing something right in who I follow on Twitter! The idea of library-as-publisher is a near and dear one for me because I was the editor for a local alt-monthly for a time. My personal interests lie in the maker labs you mention as well as getting user-contributed stories for the preservation of local history (i.e., that crowdsourcing part). The 9/11 Digital Archive is a fascinating example of the latter. The other piece that fits in here is supporting technological literacy goals that may improve the life experiences of patrons. So many opportunities here!
I’m also interested in these questions; while not a librarian, I keep winding up working on public events at libraries, because they are such a communal meeting-place. That’s true for libraries as places in the virtual sense, too!