National Digital Humanities Network Meeting on October 26: a brief recap

On October 26, CLARIAH and the Centre for Digital Humanities of University of Utrecht jointly organized the very first National Digital Humanities Network Meeting. The aim was to strengthen the national network of organizations ‘with a DH (Digital Humanities) agenda’. Representatives from nearly all Dutch DH centers and organizations were in attendance.

Developments in the field of digital humanities are happening rapidly, prompting universities, universities of applied sciences, and research institutions to develop their own software, materials, and teaching methods. The network meeting revealed a significant need for national collaboration to facilitate the exchange of expertise, methods, and tools.

The event was targeted at individuals who play a coordinating or overarching role in the implementation of DH in research and education, and offered an informal and interactive opportunity to get to know each other better. In smaller group discussions, participants shared their practices and challenges. Several common themes emerged, including strategies for motivating teachers to incorporate DH methods into their teaching and enhancing their computational skills. Within the Faculties of Humanities and Arts, there is often a dichotomy between digital and analog methods. The question posed was whether we can soften this opposition and present DH tools and methods as additional recipes in the cookbook; an enhancement to current methods.

Another prominent theme was the management of digital resources. Topics covered included sustainable software maintenance, the potential of centralized software directories and registries, and the idea of establishing a national pool of specialized software developers affiliated with universities. Additionally, there was a strong demand for sharing open-source software and best practices.

Overall, there was a shared call to strengthen (informal) networks that extend beyond institutional boundaries, paving the way for a more robust national DH community.

Many thanks to Erasmus University Rotterdam, e-Science Center, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, KNAW, National Library of the Netherlands, Radboud University Nijmegen, Reinwardt Academy, University of Groningen, Leiden University, Tilburg University, University of Amsterdam, Utrecht University, and CLARIAH for their contributions!