Digital Technology and Practices of Humanities Research

Abstract

Our world began with an image. A leaf falls from a tree and lands on the surface of the water, carried by ripples and whirlpools to a new place far removed from ins origin. There is he able to form new streams in calm water. This image is a metaphor, representing the interweaving of technology with the practices and values of humanities research, being both a point of intersection and a torrent of unexpected and predictable contingencies. Logical methods in the digital humanities lend themselves well to theory and documentation. At a level of a distinct set of defined statistical topics that can be generated using a software tool such as MALLET (Machine Learning for Language toolkit, a cross – platform topic modeling tool) rather that a set equivalent retrieved a linear normal reading process, representing the difference in degree. The methodological stake and consequences of the choice for the knowledge it creates are questioned, but taken into account and understood in scientific discussions. The falling leaf, getting into the wave, continues to move down, and the open frame of its fall can be lost, changing the path of the leaf. However, the leaf may later grow together, thus forming a barrier that affects further flows. Technology is sublimated into the fabric of scientific methods and the organization of the work of scientists is marked by a certain inevitability because of the methodological forces at work and because of the technologies that enable communication and interaction in the wide society.