This latest installment in our series of interviews with Scholarly Commons experts and affiliates features Eleanor Dickson, the Visiting HathiTrust Research Center Digital Humanities Specialist.
What is your background education and work experience? What led you to this field?
I have a B.A. in English and History with a minor in Italian studies. As an undergraduate I worked at a library which was a really fun experience. I also took an archival research trip to Florida for my undergraduate thesis research and realized I wanted to do what the archivist was doing. I have a Masters in Science in Information Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, and completed a postgraduate fellowship at the university archives / Emory Center for Digital Scholarship. And now I’m here!
What is your research agenda?
I research scholarly practice in humanities and digital scholarship, specifically digital humanities with a focus on the needs and practices in large scale text analysis.I also sometimes help with the development of train the trainer curriculum for librarians so librarians can be better equipped with the skills needed to teach patrons about their options when it comes to digital scholarship.
Do you have any favorite work-related duties?
My favorite work-related duties are talking to researchers and hearing about what they are up to. I am fascinated by the different processes, methods, and resources they’re using. With HathiTrust I get to talk to researchers across the country about text analysis projects.
What are some of your favorite underutilized resources that you would recommend to researchers?
I wish more people came to the Digital Humanities Savvy Researcher workshops. If people have suggestions for what they want to see PLEASE LET US KNOW.
(To see what Savvy Researcher workshops might tickle your fancy click here to check out our complete workshop calendar.)
If you could recommend only one book to beginning researchers in your field, what would you recommend?
Debates in Digital Humanities, which is an open access book available free online!
Need assistance with a Digital Humanities project? E-mail Eleanor Dickson or the Scholarly Commons.