Digital Humanities

Developing a digital humanities project can be a major endeavor. Consider defining your project's goals, scope, partners, funding, and timeline early in the development process to lay down the foundations of long-term success for your project. Below are project planning stages adapted from the Emory Center for Digital Scholarship that scholars can use to guide their project's development.  

1. Proposal

• Formulate the project's guiding questions (see Where to Start? On Research Questions in the Digital Humanities)
• Schedule ideation sessions or consultations with Atkins Librarians by emailing atkinsdh-group@charlotte.edu 
• Identify project description, deliverables, performance measures, audience, funding sources, and an initial timeline 

2. Initiation

• Identify on-campus collaborators that may serve as project partners or team members. Atkins Librarians can help you identify potential partners on campus or you can put out the call to our campus Digital Humanities Google Group.
• Develop a project charter to be signed by project team (see example in box below)

3. Planning

• Define your project's scope and potential constraints
• Develop a data management and sustainability plan (see this NEH blog post and the STSR's guide for a Digital Sustainability Plan)
• Build your budget and develop grant proposals if external funding is needed (check out our non-exhaustive list of DH grants)

4. Execution

• Develop a work plan to detail the progress of your project
• Consider developing a publicity campaign for your project to share results beyond the immediate audience

5. Closing

• Evaluate your project and reflect on lessons learned
• Consider a plan for usability testing the project
• Revisit your goals for the lifecycle of the project and opportunities for preservation (see digital archiving resources below)

For more details on each phase of project management, visit PM4DH: Project Management for the Digital Humanities.

When undertaking a digital humanities project, keep in mind how you will manage and preserve your data for the long term. Many DH projects involve the utilization of multiple and complex filetypes or databases. Whether you plan on preserving your research for future personal or professional use, or for eventual placement in an institutional repository or archive, here are some basic and pragmatic steps you can follow to help ensure the long-term preservation of your research.

• Be aware of what data you have, where it resides, and what formats it is in.

• Decide what whole or portion of your data you want or need to preserve for the long term.

• Keep your data organized. Implement a structure of names and folders that makes sense to you.

• Make multiple copies of your data. Follow the 3-2-1 rule: three copies, on two different types of storage media, with at least one copy off-site.

• Update the formats and versions of your data as up-to-date as often as is practical; use open-source programs or common file formats.

• When in doubt, follow recommendations on personal digital archiving from the North Carolina State Library or the Library of Congress.

If you have any questions, contact UNC Charlotte’s Special Collections and University Archives or Digital Archivist Tyler Cline. You can also review our Digital Project Preservation Plan, which can help you identify your preservation goals and establish preservation practices.