American Historical Association

131st Annual Meeting (January 5-8, 2017)

January 05 - 08, 2017

Participate in conversations about the use of digital methods in the discipline of history, and before long you will be part of a discussion about a digital divide. Much like the use of that phrase in the wider society, the topic refers to the unequal distribution of resources. In digital humanities, differences between resources and levels of expertise at institutions lead to disparate opportunities for scholars and students. While more institutions than ever support digital scholarship in some fashion, many others have limited resources. Some historians work in institutions that have significant infrastructures to sustain work of this kind�including digital scholarship centers, expert software developers, project managers and others who can staff large scale projects, and of course funding and support for obtaining funding. On the other extreme, historians working at places that lack such resources must pursue other avenues for training, project personnel, and financial support.

This panel explores the challenges of doing digital history without well-developed institutional infrastructure. Based upon experiences of several historians who have worked on projects that have involved trying to develop digital history without large budgets and project teams, the speakers will explore their own experiences and look at different routes to accomplish their goals. By doing so, we aim to offer paths for other historians who wish to pursue the use of digital technologies for research, teaching, and presentation of scholarship