Funding for the Methods Network ended March 31st 2008. The website will be preserved in its current state.

Working Papers

The Methods Network Working Papers form part of the range of information and support materials that have been assembled to assist arts and humanities researchers with the task of acquiring knowledge about ICT tools and methods. The papers focus on various different disciplines but also highlight where tools and methods can be of benefit to multiple subject areas.

It is anticipated that these documents may serve a number of non-exclusive functions:

  • To provide a foundation document to provoke discussion and value-added commentary;
  • As reference documents that foreground links and references to other material;
  • As an introductory resource for researchers who are new to digital developments in a particular subject area;
  • As a knowledge-gathering exercise to assist the Methods Network with event organisation and community-building activities.

To facilitate discussion and encourage communities to ‘take ownership’ of these documents, the Methods Network has developed a community website called Digital Arts & Humanities. The content of the working papers has been divided up into wiki-length articles and all of these are available at: http://www.arts-humanities.net/wiki. Once registered, any user can comment on or edit the text of these papers and the intention is to gather community generated material together to add value to the existing texts.

 

Digital Tools for Museums and Cultural Heritage

This paper makes reference to the European Research Network EPOCH's extensive work identifying relevant cultural heritage tools, as well as: Webs 1.0, 2.0 & 3.0; Documentation Standards; Preservation; Representation & Visualization; and User Environments.
 

Digital Tools for Library and Information Studies

In what is a very broadly cross-disciplinary subject, this paper includes sections on: Information Systems and Digital Libraries; Data Management; Information Retrieval and Analysis; and User Issues.
 

Digital Tools for Performance

In this paper the use of tools is discussed in relation to: Developing Ideas; The Performance Space; The Cast; Props, Costumes and Instruments; Stage and Scenery, Music, Audio, Graphics, Lights and Effects; Performance and Audience; and Archiving and Representation.
 

Digital Tools for Archaeology

This paper includes sections on: Databases; XML and Related Methods; Image Capture; Google Earth; Remote Sensing; GIS; CAD; and Visualization.
 

Digital Tools and Electronic Texts

This paper includes sections on: Electronic Publication; Data Capture; Data Preparation; Querying and Analysis of Data; and Data Presentation with a principal focus on the preparation of digital editions of historical textual material.
 

Digital Tools and Methods for Historical Research

This paper contains sections on: Tools and Web Resources; Database Structures; Data Mining; Quantitative Methods; Visualization; and Geographical Information Systems.
 

Digital Tools for Linguistics

In addition to sections introducing the discipline and computational approaches relating to it, this paper includes sections on corpus linguistics, knowledge-based systems and developer tools and environments.
 

Digital Tools For Musicology

This paper introduces, and reflects on, a selection of recent and current technical approaches to musicology with a view to promoting and encouraging the use of ICT techniques for research within the discipline.
 

What's in the Art Historian's Tool Kit?

This paper explores how art historians' research and analysis may benefit from the use of technology-led solutions pursued by colleagues in other fields.