Digital Humanities Workspace: Case study LIBER
The Digital Humanities (DH) Workspace is an initiative by the Centre for Digital Humanities and Utrecht University Library. LIBER, the “voice of Europe’s research library community”, has published a report on ‘Living labs for co-creation and co-innovation’ that features a case study on the DH Workspace at Utrecht University. The report is part of the LibrarIN project.
DH Workspace case study
In the report, a summary of the case study can be found in section 10.4: ‘The Digital Humanities Workspace, Utrecht University, Utrecht (NL)’ (page 54). This case study was performed and written by Olivier Hersperger (LIBER). In the conclusion of this case study, he writes:
The Digital Humanities Workspace (DHW) at Utrecht University serves as a knowledge hub that cultivates interdisciplinary collaboration, co-creation and co-innovation for public value. The DHW aligns with broader societal and academic UU goals, aiming to enhance digital literacy and democratic engagement. By blending expertise from various disciplines, the DHW supports the integration of Digital Humanities into research and teaching.
The workspace is an interesting example of how libraries can evolve and position themselves as facilitators of educational and research innovation in the Digital Age. However, given the academic and administrative context of Utrecht University and its library, the DHW appears to be a natural fit for Digital Humanities, which benefits from such a structured framework.”
Olivier Hersperger (LIBER)
Several methods were used for the case study of the DH Workspace at UU Library, among which an interview with drs. Arja Firet which has been (partially) published on the LibrarIN website.
LibrarIN project
Funded by Horizon Europe under the call ‘Research and innovation on cultural heritage and CCIs’, the LibrarIN Project will examine ways that libraries can develop new functions, services and engagement with the individuals, organisations and communities they serve. This will be achieved through social innovation based on public value co-creation and a demand-driven design of library services.