Scholarship, Art, or Fun?!Interdisciplinary Perspectives on

Digital Publications

Dr. Cheryl E. Ball

Contexts of Digital Scholarship

o Individual o Institutionalo Disciplinary

What do you think of when you hear “digital scholarship”?

What is Digital Scholarship?

Digital archivesMultimodalityAccessHypertextInteractivityRiskyExpensiveNot-real (virtual)Not seriousTechieInterestingBeyond me

Spectrum of Digital Scholarship

print-like webtext born-digital

o Individual? o Institutional?o Disciplinary?

Assumptions About Print-Based Scholarship

BibliographyBeen published; already been reviewed

We know the authorsAcademic press

Canonical-ishClear argument witin the discipline(s)

Been cited by other scholars we know who already have academic reputationsOn reading lists

Follows methodology of the fieldEngages in new disciplinary convos

Creates new disciplinary terminologySchool affiliation.cultural capital

My Assumptions About Digital Scholarship

A Digital Scholarship Manifesto

Evaluating Digital Scholarship

• What lenses/traditions/genres did you use?• What was unexpected?• How did you (or did you?) reconcile gaps in meaning-making?

Evaluation Strategies

Your similarities here!

Ways to Show Value in Digital Scholarshipo textual performances o seminars/colloquiao in-text reading/analysis guideso extra-textual T&P binder narrativeso co-articles in print journalso pre-production commentary/reviewo post-production commentary/reviewo tenured(?) scholars writing reviews

Ways to Show Value in Digital Scholarshipo Local issues and strategies?

Thank you

Dr. Cheryl E. BallIllinois State University

www.ceball.comcball@ilstu.edu