The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published Digital Humanities, SPEC Kit 326, which provides a snapshot of research library experiences with digital scholarship centers or services that support the humanities (e.g., history, art, music, film, literature, philosophy, religion, etc.) and the benefits and challenges of hosting them. The survey asked ARL libraries about the organization of these services, how they are staffed and funded, what services they offer and to whom, what technical infrastructure is provided, whether the library manages or archives the digital resources produced, and how services are assessed, among other questions.

What are the access requirements for digital cultural heritage collections? This was one of the questions that the National Digital Stewardship Alliance started exploring earlier this year. Different access requirements result in very different kinds of preservation storage systems, and the NDSA Infrastructure working group wanted to know more about the kinds of requirements that are in place for its members’ collections.

How does an invisible system shape the experience of an end user?

I found myself pondering this question again and again throughout the 2011 Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science, which took place November 20-21. This event is jointly sponsored each year by Northwestern University, Loyola University, University of Chicago, and the Illinois Institute of Technology.

This report provides a synopsis of the presentations as well as the broader group discussion of the summit. More specifically, this report highlights key emergent themes and concludes with recommendations for strategic research directions for advancing the state of knowledge and practice in the curation of research data. Briefs of the individual presentations are provided at the end of the report.