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Information Behaviour in Digital Humanities

Final Report Summary - UNZE-IB-DIGIHUM (Information Behaviour in Digital Humanities)

“Information Behaviour in Digital Humanities” (Project No. 630732) was a 4-year research project funded by a Career Integration Grant (CIG) from the Marie Curie People Programme of the European Commission. It drew on research in several fields such as information behaviour, digital humanities, and information system design to understand information behaviour of users of digital humanities applications, and to develop a model for managing digital humanities projects. The researcher was Dr. Edin Tabak, a postdoctoral fellow coming from Curtin University, Perth, Australia. This CIG helped dr Tabak to integrate her expertise in those research fields into the cultural department of the University of Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and EU.

The overall aim of this proposal was to align theoretical insights from the research fields of information behaviour, digital humanities, and information system design with an empirical investigation at the host university, in order to gain better understanding of information behaviour in digital humanities activities, which could inform management of digital humanities projects and applications. A combination of empirical, theoretical, and action research have been integrated into three main objectives of the study: 1) to investigate information behaviour in digital humanities activities of scholars and students at the host university; 2) to build a theoretical model for management of digital humanities projects, based on theoretical insights from several research fields, and the empirical knowledge gained by the objective 1; and 3) to transfer knowledge to the host through an action research (development of a new digital humanities course and a prototype of a digital textbook), enabling an evaluation of the outcomes of the objectives 1 and 2.

All these objectives have been achieved through three planned stages of the project: design stage (October 2014 - March 2016), evaluation (April 2016 – September 2017), and presentation (October 2017 – September 2018). The first stage has been successfully completed on time (March 2016), resulting with a provisional theoretical model for managing DH projects. The project has started with two main research activities. One activity followed a case study of development and implementation of a DH project at the host, and investigated participants' IB in their DH activities. At the same time, the literature review has been conducted to explore possibilities to apply information behaviour research in design of digital humanities applications and management of DH project. These two activities provided empirical knowledge and theoretical concepts for building the provisional model as the first milestone of the project. The second stage was an action research - creating a digital humanities course, and developing a prototype for a digital textbook for the course, based on the provisional model. This enabled an evaluation of the proposed model, and served as a second case study. A report on evaluation phase, supported by another literature review, marked the second milestone (September 2017), which led to the final milestone: a proposition of new theoretical model for design and management of digital applications, completed in September 2018.

The main significance of this model is that it combines insights from information studies and methods in software development, while still being based on values of the humanistic tradition and methods. In this way, the model addresses some important issues in management of digital humanities projects that are generated by complex tensions between digital and humanistic aspects of digital humanities projects. While the model marked the most important milestone of the project, the project resulted in many other achievements, such as two comprehensive literature reviews, conducting two case studies, a report on a user study, but also development of three undergraduate courses (Digital Humanities, New Media, and Information Behaviour) and a master course (Media and Cultural Management) at the host university, and an implementation of innovative teaching methodologies on these courses.

All the main results have been presented in various international academic conferences and research journals. The fellow has participated in 5 international conferences. He has produced 4 journal articles. One of the main results was publishing a monograph "Digital Humanities: Debates, Applications, and Challenges”, introducing the field of digital humanities to students and scholars in the region. The researcher has also conducted outreach activities such as a working paper outlining recommendations for using digital textbooks in the local schools, which was planned as an important delivery of the project. As the project integrated into its objectives implementation of a novel teaching method, there were a number of outreach activities related to teaching. A workshop day was curried out to advise local teachers with practical possibilities of using digital tools in their daily activities. The fellow also continued to update the project web sites. The financial support from EC was always highlighted in all dissemination and outreach activities.

The results of the project are expected to have an impact on research community in several research fields, as well as on the personal career of the researcher. The new model, which will combine insights from both the humanities and digital methods, is expected to have a significant impact on practitioners of digital humanities. The project will have an important socio-economic impact on local efforts to address brain drain in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Finally, the project helped the fellow to improve his independent research profile, and thus his re-integration into the European research area. The project provided the researcher with an opportunity to transfer his experience in developing digital media, his knowledge of DH discipline, and his expertise in IB research to the host university. The potential of transferring knowledge was embedded into each objective of the project. Objective 1 enabled transfer of the researcher's expertise in IB field. Objective 2 provided an opportunity to introduce to the host new and alternative methodologies in the humanities. Development of a prototype of a digital textbook, as a part of objective 3, enabled transfer of the researcher's professional experience in IS design and his experience in using novel teaching methods, based on digital technology. A work-package WP 12 (Knowledge transfer) was dedicated to these activities. However, several outcomes of other WPs were directly related to knowledge transfer activities, most notable development of a functional prototype of a digital textbook, and a monograph “Digital Humanities: Debates, Applications, and Challenges”, which has been published in March 2017 by the host - University of Zenica, being the first introduction of DH discipline in the region.

A close fit between the host's activities in developing a multidisciplinary department of Cultural Studies with an increasing focus on digital environments, and the researcher's long-term career plans, together with his aspirations to align his knowledge of IB to DH, provided a great potential for the researcher's long term professional integration in Europe. The researcher has been provided with an opportunity to blend his previous professional experience in digital media and his previous IB research with a new focus on DH, while the host has been provided with a new teaching position and two new courses, generated by the project. The Marie Curie CIG grant created a significant potential not only for the researcher's long lasting integration in Europe, but also for the department of Cultural Studies at the host university. In short, this project has been instrumental for the researcher's career integration and development. It has taken his research in new directions, and allowed him to initiate several new collaborations with colleagues in several countries. The results obtained within the project helped him in broadening and deepening his independent research profile, which will significantly increase his chances for a successful re-integration into the European research area. After completion of the project, the researcher will continue to work for the host as course convenor for four Cultural Studies courses (Digital Humanities, Information Behaviour, New Media, and Media and Cultural Management), and as a supervisor of postgraduate students at the host university.