Upcoming Events: Penn Humanities Forum Fall Digital Humanities Forum Lecture and Tools and Techniques Luncheon November 5 and 6

The Penn Humanities Forum’s Fall Digital Humanities Forum will offer two presentations from Ryan Cordell, Assistant Professor of English and Founding Core Faculty Member, NULab for Texts, Maps, and Networks, Northeastern University.

The first presentation, the Fall Lecture in Digital Humanities, cosponsored by Penn Libraries will take place at the Kislak Center, 6th Floor, Penn Library, on Wednesday, November 5, 5:00pm-6:30. Subject of the talk will be:

Viral Texts and the Technologies of Authorship

Can computational methods such as text mining, mapping, and network analysis help us to understand the historical fate of authors and their works more systematically and on a larger scale than traditional approaches? Ryan Cordell and his colleagues in the Viral Texts project at Northeastern University have been showing that they can. A specialist in American literature and print culture, Cordell will present some of his team’s latest findings about 19th-century systems of textual circulation, reprinting, and remediation.

The second presentation, the Tools and Techniques Luncheon, will take place at the Meyerson Conference Center, 2nd Floor, Penn Library, on Thursday, November 6, 12:00-1:30pm. Lunch will be provided. Subject of the Luncheon will be:

Visualizing Literacy and Historical Networks with Gephi

In this workshop Cordell will discuss the affordances and limitations of Gephi—a network analysis tool developed primarily for modern social science research—for illuminating relationships in literary and historical datasets, situating his discussion of this specific tool within a wider conversation about network analysis and visualization methods. Cordell will ground these discussions in hands-on work using sample data from Mapping the Republic of Letters and his own Viral Texts project.

Ryan Cordell is Assistant Professor of English at Northeastern University, where he focuses on religion and nineteenth-century American fiction. He is also vice president of Digital Americanists, a scholarly society dedicated to the study of American literature and digital media. He is currently developing a comparative, digital edition of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Celestial Railroad” at celestialrailroad.org.

Both events are free and open to the public, but require preregistration. Register for the Fall Digital Humanities Forum Lecture HERE. To register for the luncheon email the Penn Humanities Forum directly.

Upcoming Event: ACRL/DVC Doing Digital Scholarship

The Delaware Valley Chapter of the ACRL will be holding a conference and workshop dedicated to Doing Digital Scholarship at the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts, 6th Floor, University of Pennsylvania Library, 3420 Chestnut St., Philadelphia on Thursday, November 6 from 9am to 3pm.

Recent changes in digital technology have radically transformed the landscape of communication and information. Scholars, researchers, professors and students examine and interrogate the world around them through research within or across disciplines, draw on a variety of texts – often multimodal ones – and use the methods of their discipline to create new knowledge.

Just as the Internet and social networking have transformed communication in our everyday lives, so are they are beginning to expand and transform disciplinary and cross-disciplinary methods of research and scholarship. Large data sets, mapping, data visualization, encoding, analysis, and recontextualizion online are all emerging scholarly trends. In addition to addressing new questions or new methods, products of digital scholarship often include new pathways for access, and engage new audiences.

Please join us at University of Pennsylvania’s state of the art Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts–a vibrant space designed to bring together people, technology, and unique content. Learn about current work in digital scholarship and participate in activities and discussions that will advance your understanding.

Program:

9:00 – 9:45 Registration and refreshments

9:45 Welcome

10:00 – 10:45 Keynote: Dot Porter, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS), University of Pennsylvania:

“Libraries Supporting Digital Scholarship: Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies as an Object Lesson?”

10:45-11:00 Break

11:00 – 12:30 Digital Scholarship Panel
Laurie Allen, Coordinator of Digital Scholarship and Research Services, Haverford College
Monica Mercado, Director of The Albert M. Greenfield Digital Center for the History of Women’s Education at Bryn Mawr College
Nabil Kashyup, Librarian for Digital Initiatives, Swarthmore College
Matt Shoemaker, Coordinator of Digital Scholarship Service Development, Temple University

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch

1:30 – 3:00 Doing Digital Scholarship: An afternoon of discussion and Hands-on activity with digital scholarship librarians in the know! TEI, GIS, Digital Projects, Project Management and more!

Registration for this conference is $35.00 for ACRL/DVC members, $20.00 for current MLS students, and $45.00 for non-members. An ACRL/DVC membership is included in the non-member registration fee. Please indicate on the registration page whether you would like this added benefit at no additional charge.

Registration is open until November 1. Register Here.

CFP: Keystone Digital Humanities

PhillyDH is pleased to announce Keystone Digital Humanities, a conference at the University of Pennsylvania with the KeystoneDH Initiative

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

The Keystone Digital Humanities conference will be held in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, July 22-24, 2015. Proposals are now invited for long presentations (20 minutes), short presentations (7 minutes), and project showcases (10 minutes) in all areas of digital humanities. Presentations may take the form of interactive presentations, short papers, project demos, or panel discussions. We welcome proposals from emerging and veteran students, teachers, and scholars. For more information, visit our conference website at http://sceti.library.upenn.edu/KeystoneDH/.

The community will be invited to vote on proposals that they would like to see included in the program. The 10 proposals with the highest scores are guaranteed a slot at the conference. The Program Committee will curate the remainder of the program in an effort to ensure diversity in program content and presenters. Community votes will, of course, still weigh heavily in these decisions.

Please send your name, email address, and a proposal of 200-300 words to keystonedh…@gmail.com. The proposal deadline is January 2, 2015, and community peer review will run from January 15-February 15. Proposers will be notified by March 1.

We anticipate that we will have a small number of travel bursaries for graduate and undergraduate students.

Thanks from the Conference Organizing Committee

Dawn Childress, Penn State University
Molly Des Jardin, University of Pennsylvania
Mitch Fraas, University of Pennsylvania
Patricia Hswe, Penn State University
Diane Jakacki, Bucknell University
David McKnight, University of Pennsylvania
Dennis Mullen, University of Pennsylvania
William Noel, University of Pennsylvania
James O’Sullivan, Penn State University
Dot Porter, University of Pennsylvania
Katie Rawson, University of Pennsylvania
Matt Shoemaker, Temple University
Stefan Sinclair, McGill University
Rebecca Stuhr, University of Pennsylvania

Upcoming Event: Libraries Digital Scholarship Workshop at Penn Library, Thursday, October 30

The Second in the Series Libraries Digital Scholarship Workshops at the University of Pennsylvania Library will take place on Thursday, October 30. The topic of the workshop is:

Make the Most of your Visit to the Archives

Professor J.C. Cloutier, English and History Ph.D. Candidate Emily Merrill provide insight, both practical and philosophical on making the most of the often limited, and therefore precious, time available for conducting research in archives. Join us to prepare a tool kit for your backpack and for your mind.

12:00pm – 1:00pm, Thursday, October 30, 2014, Kislak Center Seminar Room 625, 6th Floor. Van Pelt-Dietrich
Register: http://libcal.library.upenn.edu/event.php?id=794373

Upcoming Event: Today! Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at Bryn Mawr

On October 22nd, Bryn Mawr College Special Collections will host its second Wikipedia edit-a-thon to celebrate Ada Lovelace Day and American Archives Month. The event will be open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

Mary Mark Ockerbloom, Wikipedian in Residence at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, will open the event at 4:00pm with an introduction to creating an account, Wikipedia culture, and how to position your articles for success on the site. An editing session will follow from 5:00 – 7:30 in which attendees can work independently or consult with more experienced editors. While the event is thematically oriented around women in science, technology, engineering, and math, attendees may feel free to bring their own projects or choose another topic from the suggested articles list on the Wikipedia edit-a-thon event page. Remote participants are also invited to co-edit with us by tracking their projects on the etherpad document (linked on the edit-a-thon event page) and by using hashtags #BMCwiki, #ALD2014, and #ArchivesMonth on social media.

Event details:
Wednesday, October 22nd, 4:00pm – 7:30pm
Canaday Library Room 205, Bryn Mawr College
RSVP to Greenf…@brynmawr.edu, or on the Wikipedia event page linked below.
Bring a laptop and charger!
Links:

Bryn Mawr edit-a-thon event page on Wikipedia (for RSVPs, editing resources, and a list of suggested projects): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup:Philadelphia/Bryn_Mawr_College/American_Archives_Month
Blog post with more details about the event: http://greenfield.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2014/10/08/upcoming-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-october-edition-ada-lovelace-and-women-in-stem/

Upcoming Event: Open Access Week at Penn Libraries This Week

This week is Open Access Week at Penn Libraries. Events are free and open to the public. Here is the schedule of events:

October 20
Open Access Images
10:00am-11:00am, Goldstein Electronic Center, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
Learn to create and adapt open access images using a variety of techniques.

Tuesday, October 21

Lunch Discussion with Joshua Nicholson
12:00pm-1:00pm, Meyerson Conference Room, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
A skype discussion with Joshua Nicholson,founder of “The Winnower,” an open access online science publishing
platform .

Creative Commons: The License to Share Knowledge
4:00pm-5:00pm, Room 626, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
Creative Commons (CC): assign Creative Commons licenses to your own work and find out more about how to work with Creative Commons licensed works – images, texts, and other original material – that you can use in your teaching, scholarship, and creative productions.

Wednesday, October 22

The New Wave of Open Access Publishing
12:00pm-1:00pm, Meyerson Conference Room, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
A conversation about new open access publishing models including Humanities endeavors: Knowledge Unlatched
and The Open Humanities Library and Biology and medicine journal platform PeerJ. Register to receive readings
in advance.

RiP!: A Remix Manifesto Screening
6:00pm-7:30pm, Class of ‘55, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
Immerse yourself in the energetic, innovative and potentially illegal world of mash-up media with RiP: A Remix
Manifesto (2008 documentary).

Thursday, October 23

The Feedback Loop Between Open Access & Altmetrics
1:00pm-2:00pm, Class of ’54 (3rd Floor), Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
Mike Showalter of Plum Analytics will describe and demonstrate the capabilities of using altmetrics to create your
own open access feedback loop (1 hour Webinar).

MOOCs & Beyond: An Open House Hosted by the Open Learning Initiative
4:00pm-5:30pm, Room108, ARCH Building, 3601 Locust Walk
Join the Open Learning team to learn more about creating a MOOC and what resources are available on campus

Upcoming Event: Panel on Digital Humanities Research and the Classroom at Temple University, Wednesday, October 22

The Center for the Humanities at Temple University offers one of its external lectures in the Digital Humanities in Practice Series on Wednesday, October 22 at 4:00 pm in the CHAT Lounge, 10th Floor, Gladfelter Hall. The external lecture series for the year highlights the new work being produced by applying computational methods of analysis to humanistic materials. Fee and open to the public. Time and place varies.

Panel on Digital Humanities Research and the Classroom Featuring:

Rebecca Frost Davis
Director of Instructional and Emerging Technology
St. Edwards University

Engaging Undergraduates with Digital Scholarship Projects

In the 21st century we face complex problems that cross disciplines and require collaborative approaches. Digital tools and information networks make it feasible to design project-based learning experiences that engage students by integrating them into the research process. This presentation will provide examples of how such projects, when integrated into courses, help students develop skills to work collaboratively, apply appropriate tools, and learn flexible problem-solving skills.

Brian Croxall
Digital Humanities Strategist
Emory University

Test Tubes and Poetry: How to Not Read Hemingway

For the last twenty years, “real-world, undergraduate research” have been watchwords for universities. We know what this research looks like in the sciences, but how scalable is the idea within the humanities? In this presentation, I’ll argue that the best “lab” for undergraduate humanities research is the classroom. I’ll draw on two multi-semester projects my students have undertaken: solving a puzzle set for us by the UK’s Poet Laureate and learning to avoid reading Hemingway.

Wednesday, October 22
4:00 p.m., CHAT Lounge

Job Opportunity: Archivist/Digital Data Specialist, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

Archivist/Digital Data Specialist, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

Description

Work with ASC Librarian and ASC IT staff to manage the School’s digital archives. Archivist will report to the Librarian, consult with IT director and staff, and other archivists at the University to develop and implement a comprehensive archival program for the School’s archives, evaluating new and existing collections and integrating them into the resource environment.

Responsibilities:

The work addresses, but is not limited to: arrangement, description, presentation, access and security of paper, photographs, video and other record formats including born-digital items. Work requires application of appropriate archival best practices and national standards. The archivist will follow new and emerging preservation and exhibit technologies and analyze their potential application to the current digital data management scheme. This position is a two-year temporary appointment.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in information science or equivalent degree with formal training in archival theory and practice. Archival education and training may be substituted for a library/information science degree.
• Demonstrated knowledge of current national data content and structure standards related to the archival control of collection materials.
• Demonstrated knowledge of archival and library management systems, specifically Omeka.
• Strong working knowledge of EAD, HTML, XML (including experience writing and maintaining XSL style sheets), DACS; familiarity with MARC, AACR2, RDA, LCSH and LC cataloging standards.
• Demonstrated job or school experience with basic preservation and conservation standards for archival storage.
• Working knowledge of digital humanities practices and trends.
• Demonstrated excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Experience working collaboratively and independently within a complex organization.
• Ability to manage a variety of tasks and multiple priorities, with attention to detail and follow-through.
• Knowledge of the social sciences as demonstrated through academic course work preferred.

All applicants to University of Pennsylvania staff positions must apply online through the Jobs@Penn website.

The University of Pennsylvania prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class.

Upcoming Event: Next GLAM Cafe and PhillyDH Meeting Tuesday, October 14

The next PhillyDH working meeting and GLAM Cafe is tomorrow, Tuesday, October 14 from 5-8 at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. The PhillyDH portion will begin at 6:00. You can see a list of areas we would like to work on for 2014 here. The list is certainly not exhaustive if you have other ideas that should be a priority for PhillyDH in 2014.

We will be discussing this year’s THATCamp Philly at this meeting, the evaluation responses to our survey about the event, and if time the future of THATCamp Philly. There is personal information in some of the survey responses so I am not comfortable sharing them as is open with the group, but may make a version with that information stripped out available to this list. We will discuss this tomorrow as well.

Announcements about these working meetings will be posted to this google group but I suggest if you have a meetup.com account that you join the meetup as well:

http://www.meetup.com/GLAM-Cafe-Philadelphia/

Upcoming Course: Coursera MOOC, Programming for Everybody (Python) Starting October 10

Vitale II and WORDLAB will be hosing the Coursera MOOC Programming for Everybody (Python) beginning on Friday, October 10, 9:00-10:30am. There is no cost to register or to attend. Students, faculty, and library staff are invited to attend.

This is a 10-week course, and we’ll meet every Friday 9:00-10:30am, October 10th through December 19th. There is no need to RSVP, just show up! We’ll spend the first hour watching video lectures, then we’ll do the exercises together.

Registration for the course is optional (you only need to register if you want to receive a certificate). To register or to find out more about the course, visit https://www.coursera.org/course/pythonlearn.

About the Course

This course is specifically designed to be a first programming course using the popular Python programming language. The pace of the course is designed to lead to mastery of each of the topics in the class. We will use simple data analysis as the programming exercises through the course. Understanding how to process data is valuable for everyone regardless of your career. This course might kindle an interest in more advanced programming courses or courses in web design and development or just provide skills when you are faced with a bunch of data that you need to analyze. You can do the programming assignments for the class using a web browser or using your personal computer. All required software for the course is free.

Course Syllabus

Week One: Introduction – Why we program?
Week Two: Variables and Expressions
Week Three: Conditional code
Week Four: Functions
Week Five: Loops and Iteration
Week Six: Strings
Week Seven: Files
Week Eight: Lists
Week Nine: Dictionaries
Week Ten: Tuples
Optional Topic: Regular Expressions