Scholarly Exploitation of Digital Resources: a Workshop for Historians Workshop Report
A report from the user needs workshop organised by the History
Data Service and held at the University of Essex, 2nd. and 3rd. April 1998
Executive Summary
This report summarises the findings of the user needs workshop
organised by the History Data Service (HDS) and held at the University of Essex
in April 1998. The workshop was attended by a cross-section of actual and potential
end-users of digital resources, including both data creators and secondary analysts
of historical data. It was also attended by two other groups of stakeholders:
local and national library and computing support staff; and representatives
from historical organisations and funding bodies. The participants met to explore,
assess and prioritise the information, support and training needs of end-users
in the historical community and to evaluate how and by whom these can be best
addressed. A draft version of this report was
widely circulated for review and comment during June and July 1998.
The group identified the need for:
- recognition for the research and scholarship involved in the creation
and use of electronic resources in research and teaching, particularly
in the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) and Teaching Quality Assessment
(TQA)
- sufficient resources and funding to provide historians with the means
to successfully integrate electronic resources in their research and teaching
- a programme of key dataset creation which would need to be directed and
funded by one or more central authorities
- agreed standards concerning project management, data design, data documentation,
data management, data preservation and data analysis, plus a framework
for standards development
- continued development of a consistent support hierarchy from national
through to local level to ensure the right support and guidance reaches
the user community
- appropriate and discipline-specific training aimed at historians and
their problems
- improved access to data
1. Introduction and Overview
1.1 Background
The History Data Service (HDS) is the national centre for the
accession, archiving and dissemination of computer-readable historical data.
The work of the HDS includes:
- establishing a collection of historical data from a wide range of sources;
- providing the research and teaching community with information about
and access to this collection;
- providing information about and access to resources held elsewhere;
- a programme of data enrichment and enhancement for selected collections
of data;
- developing network tools to enable enhanced access to these collections;
- preserving the increasing number of machine-readable historical data
files that are being created across disciplines, both within and outside
of higher education.
In 1992, following a feasibility study focusing on existing historical
digital resources (S.J. Anderson and K. Schürer, A guide to historical
datafiles held in machine-readable form, London, Association for History
and Computing, 1992), the HDS (then the History Data Unit) was established within
the Data Archive (the national social science data archive). Since 1996, the
HDS has also been the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) service provider
for the historical disciplines. Some of the reasons why the HDS wishes to undertake
research into the needs and requirements of its user community include both
these alterations to its institutional context and changes in the use of informtation
technology.
This report summarises the findings of the user needs workshop
organised by the HDS and held at the University of Essex in April 1998. The
workshop forms part of a series organised under the auspices of the AHDS and
the JISC Committee on Awareness, Liaison and Training (CALT). The series consists
of a National Expert Workshop
and five discipline-specific workshops covering archaeology, history, literary
and linguistic texts, the performing arts and the visual arts. The aim of the
series is to identify the information, support and training needs of end-users
of digital resources in the humanities and make recommendations to the JISC
for future strategy at a UK-wide level. The workshop series is feeding into
the AHDS case study, Scholarly
Exploitation of Digital Resources: Identifying and responding to end-users'
information, support, and training requirements, which incorporates
an integrated report to summarise the findings of all six workshops.
1.2 Aims and Objectives
The workshop focused on the needs and requirements of the three main types
of end-users: historians creating electronic resources; historians carrying
out secondary analysis of electronic resources both for research and teaching;
and support staff working with historians.
The main aims of the workshop were to:
- explore, assess and prioritise the information, support and training
needs of end-users in the historical community;
- explore and assess how these needs should be addressed, and by whom;
- explore and assess which needs the HDS should be addressing.
The main objectives of the workshop were to:
- produce a report on the needs of historians creating or using electronic
resources, for wide review by the historical community, which would feed
into the wider national AHDS/CALT study;
- test the outcomes of the national expert workshop against the requirements
of end-users in the historical community;
- make recommendations to be taken forward by JISC CALT, the AHDS, the
HDS and other organisations;
- assist the HDS in its continuing development of its user services.
1.3 Participants
The workshop was attended by a cross-section of actual and potential end-users
of digital resources, including both data creators and secondary analysts
of historical data, and including both users and non-users of the HDS. It
was also attended by two other groups of stakeholders: local and national
library and computing support staff; and representatives from historical organisations
and funding bodies. The wide range of participants included: senior and junior
academics; postgraduate students; independent scholars; genealogists; and
representatives from a number of organisations including the British Academy
(BA), the Association of History and Computing (AHC), CTI Centre for History,
Archaeology and Art History (CTICH) and Manchester Information Datasets and
Associated Services (MIDAS). For a full list of workshop participants please
see Appendix 6.1.
1.4 Workshop Format
One of the objects of the workshop was to encourage the participants
to actively engage in and contribute to a discussion about the creation and
use of electronic resources for research and teaching in history. The workshop
was therefore structured to provide as much opportunity as possible for wide
but focused discussion in small groups. The workshop incorporated an introductory
talk to set the workshop in context, and five different breakout-group sessions
each followed by a plenary feedback and discussion session. The workshop concluded
with a final plenary session in which the workshop participants recommended
key points for action.
In order to identify the information, support and training requirements
of the historical community, the participants were presented with some case
studies, which were carefully designed to reflect the typical activities
of the three main types of end-users: historians creating electronic resources;
historians using electronic resources both for research and teaching; and support
staff working with historians. The case studies consisted of descriptions of
fictional users and their problems, accompanied by supporting materials such
as catalogue records and data extracts. After the case studies were used as
the basis for discussions about the needs of the three types of end-users, the
workshop participants were then asked to explore whether there are other users
with different needs. By these means, a general assessment of the needs of end-users
in the historical community was produced.
To assist in matching the identified needs against the organisations
and institutions that could and should address them, the participants were offered
a user services landscape showing existing organisations and the services they
provide to the historical community. During this process, the landscape was
refined, and the original and revised user services landscapes can be found
in Appendix 6.3.
All the other materials that were supplied to the workshop participants
can be found in Appendix 6.2.
1.5 Consultation Process
A draft version of this report
was widely circulated for review and comment during June and July 1998. A copy
was published on the HDS website and the URL was announced on a range of relevant
email lists to ensure wide participation from the historical community. In addition
the workshop participants and a number of relevant individuals and institutions
- in particular, those mentioned in the report - were contacted and asked to
comment. A list of those approached during the consultation process can be found
in Appendix 6.4.
1.6 Report Structure
The structure of this report largely follows that of the workshop.
Section 2 covers the main opportunities and obstacles to the
use of electronic resources, which emerged during the discussions. Section
3 outlines the principal information, support and training needs of end-users,
which the workshop participants identified and prioritised; it discusses both
the general needs of the historical community and the specific needs of data
creators, data users and support staff. Section 4 deals with
the recommended key points for action.
2. Opportunities and Obstacles to the Use of Electronic Resources in History
2.1 Opportunities
i. Innovative historical research which can lead to new insights
Examples given at the workshop included the use of Geographical
Information Systems (GIS) within historical research, and large-scale
national studies and time-series studies, which were not previously possible.
Particular attention was paid to the fact that a larger body of data can
be analysed in electronic form which widens the basis of evidence and
provides new opportunities for historical discourse, and to the ways in
which the development of new software increases the potential for the
manipulation and analysis of data. It was emphasised that digital resources
can make it easier for researchers to build upon and incorporate previous
research.
ii. Increased use of primary sources in teaching and research
The digitisation of primary sources, in particular of archival
material, allows historians to use previously inaccessible sources. Such
materials are often not accessible to researchers and students, either
because preservation dictates that access is restricted, or because the
materials are located at too great a distance. The digitisation of primary
sources can allow lecturers to incorporate primary sources into their
teaching on a scale that would be otherwise impossible, and this can benefit
students by increasing their experience of analysing original sources.
iii. Increased access to information
The development of increasingly sophisticated resource discovery
mechanisms increases the potential to organise, retrieve and analyse data
and information. Bibliographic databases and library and archive catalogues
were seen as particularly important in this area.
iv. Sharing of expertise between historians across boundaries
The use of the Internet can enable historians to communicate
and collaborate with each other, and thus share research results and teaching
experiences across disciplinary and geographical boundaries. Electronic
discussion lists and online pre-publication were seen as particularly
important in this area.
2.2 Obstacles
i. Resistance within the historical community
to the integration of computing into history
The integration of computing into history has happened more
slowly than many people expected. Furthermore, within the historical community,
there continues to be genuine resistance to this integration. The growth
in IT education alone has not been sufficient to produce a new generation
of historians interested in exploiting the potential offered by electronic
resources.
ii. Lack of recognition for the research and scholarship involved
in the creation and use of electronic resources for research and teaching
The lack of recognition leads to few historians being willing
or able to invest the necessary time and effort in the creation and use
of electronic resources for research and teaching. The Research Assessment
Exercise (RAE) and the Teaching Quality Assessment (TQA) in history were
identified as particularly detrimental in this respect.
iii. Insufficient resources and funding to provide
historians with the means to successfully integrate electronic resources
in their research and teaching
At a local level, universities often overlook the needs
of history departments for software, hardware and discipline-specific
support staff. At a national level, there is, in particular, insufficient
funding for data creation projects, resulting in a patchy digitisation
of historical sources, which discourages historians from using electronic
resources in their research and teaching.
iv. Lack of a critical mass of quality resources
Many historians are reluctant to trust the quality of a
stranger's data creation process and they are likely to remain unconvinced
about the value of using electronic resources until there is a critical
mass of quality resources. Although there is a body of quality resources,
it is not growing quickly enough because of a combination of limited funding
and insufficient recognition. This body of material has grown on an ad
hoc basis (predominantly from small-scale data creation projects designed
around specific research questions), and without a more strategic and
collaborative approach to data creation many key historical sources will
remain undigitised.
v. Lack of standards and frameworks for standards
development
There is limited knowledge within the historical community
about standards and a genuine lack of standards relating to the creation
of electronic resources. This has the effect of endangering the preservation
of electronic resources, and discouraging and hindering historians from
reusing them. The piecemeal establishment of standards and the historical
community's lack of a framework for standards development have exacerbated
this situation.
vi. Lack of a fully developed and consistent
support hierarchy
Information, support and training does not always reach
the people in the user community who need it, mainly because many within
the support hierarchy do not know about all the services and resources
that are on offer.
vii. Insufficient skills amongst the historical
community to efficiently and effectively exploit the potential of electronic
resources
Many historians do not have the necessary skills to manipulate
and create electronic resources. Furthermore, many academics and support
staff do not have sufficient time for skills development, and much of
the training that is available is not seen as relevant because it is not
discipline-specific.
3. Information, Support and Training Needs of End-users in the Historical Community
3.1 General
The historical community needs:
i. A culture change which would integrate computing into history
Ideally, such a change should take place in the context
of the whole education sector rather than just the higher education sector.
Historians need to be encouraged to use computers early, and IT needs
to be included in history teaching at all education levels. If this is
to be achieved there is an urgent need for more information about how
to integrate data into teaching. The
Government's consultation paper on the National Grid for Learning
and responses, such as the
New Library - the People's Network report, could help to provide an
impetus towards this culture change.
ii. Recognition for the research and scholarship
involved in the creation and use of electronic resources for research
and teaching
The historical community in general, and the RAE in particular,
need to accept that quality electronic publications are on a par with
traditional non-electronic academic publications, and that likewise quality
electronic editions of sources are on a par with traditional non-electronic
scholarly editions of sources. Insufficient recognition for the research
and scholarship involved in the creation and use of electronic resources
has led to data creation usually being the by-product of research projects
where the central goal is to produce publications. This is inefficient
and unsatisfactory because it tends to produce digital resources tailored
to specific research questions, which may not be reusable. Proper recognition
is likely to result in the creation of electronic resources that are much
closer to scholarly editions; thus, proper recognition is crucial for
the efficient creation of reusable electronic research resources. Similarly,
the TQA needs to recognise and reward the considerable effort involved
in the creation and use of electronic teaching materials.
iii. Sufficient resources and funding to provide
historians with the means to successfully integrate electronic resources
into their research and teaching
Universities need to recognise that historians need access
to appropriate software, hardware and discipline-specific support staff
(in particular subject librarians) to enable them to integrate electronic
resources into their research and teaching. At a national level, there
is in particular a need for significantly increased funding for data creation.
The workshop participants also expressed concern about the short-term
basis of the funding of some of the organisations (including the HDS)
involved in the long-term preservation of data. In a different vein, it
was also stressed that support services, such as the HDS, have a responsibility
to their user communities to promote and left their services to their
funders.
iv. A programme of key dataset creation which
would need to be directed and funded by one or more central authorities
A strategic and collaborative approach to data creation
is needed to ensure that a critical mass of quality resources is built
up. An ideal solution is a programme of key dataset creation and preservation
directed and funded by one or more central bodies, over which the historical
community would need to have considerable influence concerning the selection
of sources to digitise. Existing high quality resources could be used
as data creation models. Such a programme could ensure better quality
control in data creation as well as providing a setting for the development
of standards. The process could also be used to produce a range of data
creation models and case studies. Discussions at the workshop centred
on one particular data creation model, whereby images of the original
source would be placed alongside the data to help secondary analysts assess
the quality of the data creation process.
v. Agreed standards and a recognised framework
for standards development
There is a need for standards regarding project management,
data design, data documentation, data management, data preservation and
data analysis. The creation of these standards would require a centrally
led consensual programme, which would be best initiated by a series of
discipline-specific focus groups. In order to succeed this process would
also have to include a review of existing standards and a commitment to
disseminating and promoting the new standards. It is essential that any
system of standards must continue to evolve and be flexible enough to
incorporate all scholars and not prevent innovative work and guidance
for using the standards would obviously be essential.
vi. Continued development of a consistent support
hierarchy from national through to local level to ensure the right support
and guidance reaches the user community
Information, support and training does not always reach
the people in the user community who need it, thus there is a requirement
for pathways providing guidance to appropriate and accessible information,
support and training. For this to be achieved it is essential that all
the elements within the support hierarchy know what services and resources
are on offer, and that there are effective communications channels throughout
the hierarchy; subject librarians have a key role to play here. University
computing support services should take a more pro-active role in encouraging
the creative use of computers and IT resources in the arts and humanities.
There is a need for co-ordination between all the elements within the
support hierarchy, and it was suggested that the best approach would be
a joint forum. There is also a need for institutional and departmental
frameworks that support access to national resources. It was also stressed
that all the elements within the support hierarchy have a responsibility
to publicise in detail the services they offer, and that there is a need
to educate the user community about what is and is not realistic and achievable
when using electronic resources. The workshop participants also identified
a need for more gateway services in particular to record offices. Two
recent developments in the archive community are therefore important;
the updated ARCHON
gateway and the
Archives On-line report from the National Council on Archives, which
argues for the establishment of a network providing access to all archive
catalogues.
vii. Appropriate and discipline-specific training
aimed at historians and their problems
The workshop participants identified a clear need for discipline-specific
training, which should ideally be provided by general trainers at a local
institutional level using discipline-specific training materials. In this
way, the centralised expertise of organisations like the HDS and CTICH
could be efficiently made available at a local institutional level. There
is also a need for some centralised co-ordination of training, and a need
for some centralised training course particularly in the area of data
creation. Accreditation and validation would help to make these training
courses more attractive to users.
3.2 Data Creators
Data creators also need:
i. Advisory and consultancy services
Throughout the life cycle of a data creation project there
is a need for discipline-specific information and guidance about project
management, general preservation and reuse issues, standards, data design,
data formats and data documentation. In some cases, this need can only
be meet by personalised advice or consultancy, and in comparison with
other end-users, data creators have a much greater need for these types
of services.
ii. Forums to exchange information about data
creation projects
Too many data creation projects are executed with insufficient
knowledge of related projects. These projects would benefit if there were
more opportunities to exchange information with other projects. A well-publicised
register of data creation projects would encourage communication.
3.3 Data Users
Data users also need:
i. Tools and information to assess the value
of resources
There is a need for a wide range of tools and information
to help users assess the value of resources. These tools and information
should include conventional catalogues, alternative methods of accessing
metadata, online documentation, and data preview facilities. Good documentation
is necessary because communication between data users and creators is
not usually feasible or efficient; intermediaries, like the HDS, who collect
metadata have a crucial role to play here.
ii. Improved access to data
Data users need quick and easy access to data, and there
is a particular need for online browsing, sub-setting, combining and downloading
facilities. There is also need for sample 'taster' datasets which could
introduce user to electronic resources and which would be especially useful
for teaching. Emphasis was also placed on the fact that organisations
like the HDS need to promote themselves as information providers as well
as data providers.
3.4 Support Staff
Support staff also need:
i. Precise job descriptions
The user community can only be effectively served if support
staff have precise job descriptions, which should include a clear definition
of their role vis-à-vis academic staff and students. This need
can only be addressed by good management structures. It was stressed that
support staff and academics should support each other and that the relationship
should not be one way only.
ii. A wide range of up-to-date skills and knowledge
Support staff need to be able to communicate with a wide
range of users, so that they can diagnose their needs and direct them
to appropriate information, support and training. To be able to do this
they need a wide range of skills and knowledge, and these can only be
kept up-to-date if they have the opportunities and time to attend training
courses, workshops and conferences.
3.5 Other Users with Different Needs
The workshop participants identified a number of other groups
of users, who were not covered by the case studies, including both non-historians
and users outside higher education, such as genealogists, family historians,
local historians, other independent scholars and local archivists. Although
most of these groups do not have different needs, they need to receive
relevant publicity. If organisations like the HDS wish to seek to influence
these groups they need to extend their publicity networks to include local
libraries, local record offices, and general historical publications such
as History Today. Genealogists and family historians need specific
types of access to large quantities nominal data, ideally they need to
be able to search these types of data online. They also make significant
contributions to data creation.
4. Key Findings and Recommendations
i. A culture change which would integrate computing
into history
The recommendations in this report are in general intended
to facilitate a culture change which would integrate computing into history,
because many of the identified obstacles and needs are interdependent
and interacting. Of crucial importance is the integration of IT in history
teaching at all education levels. In the higher education sector the Teaching
Quality Assessment (TQA) should encourage and reward this, and organisations
like CTICH need to produce more examples of how to integrate digital resources
into teaching; the HDS could have a role in supplying data for these exemplars.
Organisations like CTICH and TLTP History should consider creating tailored
teaching packs for use in secondary schools and this work would need to
be appropriately funded from outside the higher education sector. A welcome
initiative is the Public Record Office's (PRO)
new series of interactive features for students aged 9-13 which focus
on famous documents such as Domesday Book.
ii. Recognition for the research and scholarship
involved in the creation and use of electronic resources for research
and teaching
The RAE and the TQA should recognise and reward the considerable
research effort and scholarship involved in the creation and use of electronic
resources for research and teaching. In particular the RAE must accept
quality electronic publications as being on a par with traditional academic
publications, and more generally, it must give greater recognition and
reward for the creation of both electronic and non-electronic editions
of sources. Professional bodies who are in a position to influence either
the RAE or the TQA - such as the Royal Historical Society (RHS), the Historical
Association (HA), and the British Academy (BA) - need to lobby for these
changes. The historical community should encourage the RHS, HA and BA
to lobby for these changes on their behalf, and organisations such as
the Association of History and Computing (AHC) and the HDS might wish
to consider co-ordinating this activity. One approach might be to compile
a list of major electronic and non-electronic editions that would not
have been created in the climate of the current publications-focused RAE.
iii. Sufficient resources and funding to provide
historians with the means to successfully integrate electronic resources
in their research and teaching
Universities must take into account the needs of historians
for software, hardware and discipline-specific support staff (in particular
subject librarians) when allocating resources. Funding bodies such as
the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), the BA and the ESRC must
properly fund data creation, in particular key dataset creation. Support
services, such as the HDS, must promote and left their services to their
funders.
iv. A programme of key dataset creation which
would need to be directed and funded by one or more central authorities
Funding bodies such as the ARHB, the BA and the ESRC should
consider directing and funding a programme of key dataset creation. The
historical community, and in particular the RHS and HA, should encourage
the AHRB, the BA and the ESRC to establish such a programme. Consultation
on the selection of sources to digitise would have to be wide and inclusive.
The HDS could contribute to this process and take a lead role in the preservation
of the datasets.
v. Agreed standards and a recognised framework
for standards development
The UK Higher Education Funding Councils should fund a
series of discipline-specific focus groups to initiate a wide and inclusive
consensual programme of standards development. The HDS would be ideally
placed to host a history-specific focus group. It is essential that any
system of standards must continue to evolve and be flexible enough to
incorporate all scholars and not prevent innovative work and guidance
for using the standards would obviously be essential. Once the standards
have been set organisations that fund data creation could play a crucial
part in encouraging their adoption, by requiring grantholders to use appropriate
standards. Organisations such as the HDS, CTICH and the AHC could have
a central role in the dissemination and promotion of the new standards.
vi. Continued development of a consistent support
hierarchy from national through to local level to ensure the right support
and guidance reaches the user community
Centralised bodies such as the UK Higher Education Funding
Councils should initiate a joint forum to encourage communication and
co-ordination between the different elements within the support hierarchy.
All the elements within the support hierarchy must publicise in detail
the services they offer.
vii. Appropriate and discipline-specific training
aimed at historians and their problems
The HDS, CTICH and other organisations with relevant experience
should collaborate in the creation of discipline-specific training courses
and materials (incorporating a CD-ROM of data samples) for use and adaptation
by general trainers. The HDS should consider running annual training courses
for AHRB, BA, ESRC and other grantholders who are planning to create electronic
resources; these courses should be funded by the granting agencies. These
and other training courses should be central accreditation by the proposed
Institute for Teaching and Learning.
viii. Advisory and consultancy services
Organisations like the HDS should continue to offer personalised
advice services and should be funded accordingly. The HDS should also
investigate the possibility of offering a consultancy service, particularly
for data creators.
ix. Forums to exchange information about data
creation projects
The HDS should investigate the feasibility of providing
a registration service for data creation projects to facilitate communication
between these projects.
x. Tools and information to assess the value
of resources
The HDS and other organisations providing access to data
should continue to develop tools and information to aid users in assessing
the value of resources. These tools and information need to include conventional
catalogues, alternative methods of accessing metadata, good online documentation,
and data preview facilities.
xi. Improved access to data
The HDS and other organisations providing access to data
should continue to seek to improve access to data, for example, by providing
online browsing, sub-setting, combining and downloading facilities. They
should also investigate the possibility of creating sample 'taster' datasets.
Funding organisations should continue to recognise the importance of this
work by sufficient and appropriate funding.
5. Conclusion
The HDS user needs workshop proved successful in its stated
goals - it identified and prioritised the information, support and training
needs of end-users in the historical community, it assessed how these
needs should be best addressed and by whom, and it provided a range of
recommendations to be taken forward by JISC CALT, the AHDS, the HDS and
other organisations. The HDS will follow up the workshop by pursuing further
the suggestions and recommendations that relate to the HDS.
The overall reaction to the workshop, the workshop report and the AHDS
case study has been very positive. The HDS would like to thank firstly
the participants for their hard work and input into the workshop, and
secondly everybody who responded during the consultation process both
for their constructive comments and for their positive endorsement of
the draft version of the report.
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