I am a member of our Center for Digital Scholarship implementation team. I am honored to be working with such fine team members, both those assigned to the core initiative like I am and those who are more transitory in their work and with us for a short time.
Digital scholarship, work that is performed with computing equipment and applications and can expedite compilation, research management, analytical and scholarly output processes, among other things, is a buzzword in my industry, but one that has been here and is here to stay. It's not a threat to traditional scholarship and the academy, but rather it's an opportunity for enhancement. I am amazed by the things that can be done now as compared to my own research done more than twenty years ago.
This week, our library employees are engaged in a week-long, six hour a day training institute. It's an annual tradition with changing format. This year we reflect the internal workings of our library and staff following a broad-sweeping reorganization over the past year. We really needed to take a look at who we are and what we do, both individually and as a team now that the dust has settled.
Today we had two external speakers on our agenda. The first talked about change and the opportunities and challenges it presents. I'd heard the speaker before. Denny Faurote is a legend among those who have taken our University's leadership and supervisory development series. He speaks with humor and impact, and his audience is justly rewarded for substantive participation, both during and after the session. The second speaker was internal to the University. Elliott Visconsi has been appointed to Chief Academic Digital Officer at Notre Dame. Today is the second opportunity I've been given to hear Elliott talk about the future of digital scholarship at the University and in the broader scope of academe.
Elliott is part of a team that has developed an app for iPod to bring multi-dimensional study of Shakespeare to the world. The team selected the Tempest as their first offering, and the platform is interactive and social while being informative and engaging. This speaks to the changed(-ing) face of scholarship for Generation Y. In recent days I've been exposed to some discussion online of the needs for this generation to meet its learning outcomes. The social media experience is core to learning, despite the feedback we've received from select groups of students here who *do not want* the academy in its social networking space. Rather, as this article from online news source Take Part states, learning does not need to take place in the classroom. The article discusses the online charter school movement. I'm anxious to hear how this worked for a friend of mine--her family participated last year as they didn't think the kids were getting what they needed in their local school system. Tools for exploring literature and the arts, such as the Tempest will be a boon to this audience. I was discussing with a colleague before the presentation that the reason Hamlet resonates with me so much is that we pulled it apart and put it back together again. I love seeing adaptations of Shakespeare to this day to watch the content as reflected through new lenses. Knowing that more titles are yet to come excited me.
The further benefit of this development is that a model is born. At some point the platform can be applied to other texts and content selections. It's a great way to move scholarship forward at any level. Of course, as our first speaker today talked about change, he shared with us the first question that arises when change is noticed or announced. The answer to the question can make or break the success of any change process: What's in it for me? In this case, a world of opportunity is the response I find most fitting.
Digital scholarship: What's in it for you?
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