Scholarly Exploitation of Digital Resources: a Workshop for Historians Draft 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.
The group identified the need for:
- recognition for the 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.
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.
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,
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 7.1.
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 7.3.
All the other materials that were supplied to the workshop participants
can be found in Appendix 7.2.
1.5 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 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 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.
ii. Recognition for the scholarship
involved in the creation and use of electronic resources for research
and teaching
Insufficient recognition for the 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. Quality electronic resources need to be accepted
by the history community in general, and the RAE in particular, as being
on a par with traditional academic publications; this would 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 justify 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. 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.
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. 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; for example, a gateway to local record
offices would be useful.
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 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 diagnosis 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
TThe 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 contribution 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.
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
effort and scholarship involved in the creation and use of electronic
resources for research and teaching. In particular the RAE must accept
quality electronic resources as being on a par with academic publications.
Professional bodies who are in a position to influence the RAE and TQA
- such as the Royal Historical Society (RHS) and the Historical Association
(HA) - need to lobby for these changes. The historical community should
encourage the RHS and HA 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 British Academy and the ESRC must properly fund data creation, in
particular key dataset creation. Support services, such as the HDS, must
promote and justify 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 British Academy 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 British Academy and the ESRC to establish such a programme. The HDS
could take a lead role in both the selection and 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 consensual
programme of standards development. The HDS would be ideally placed to
host a history-specific focus group. 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.
The HDS could also have a central role in disseminating and promoting
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
A centralised body 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 ESRC, British Academy 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 accredited
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 overall reaction to the workshop
and AHDS case study was very positive, and the HDS would like to thank
all the participants for their hard work and input into the workshop.
The HDS will follow up the workshop by pursuing further the suggestions
and recommendations that relate to the HDS.
6. Consultation Process
This document is a draft report of the findings of the
HDS user needs workshop, which is being circulated widely for consultation
and comment during June and July 1998. All comments received before 13th
July 1998 will be taken into consideration and incorporated into the final
version of the report. Please submit comments either by email to hds@essex.ac.uk,
or in writing to the address below. For your convenience a form
has been provided.
History Data Service
The Data Archive
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester
CO4 3SQ
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