Dissemination

From digitalHPS

DISSEMINATION

We organize the issues of dissemination around six central question:

1. What would a general entry portal for Digital History and Philosophy of Science contain? 2. What is different about digital projects, as this informs dissemination? 3. What is to be disseminated? 4. To whom do we disseminate the output of the projects? 5. What is the purpose of such dissemination? 6. What special issues are there about digital publication?

1. What would a general entry portal for Digital History and Philosophy of Science contain?

• General introduction for the users of digital projects. • Where the tools, digital and otherwise, for users are not already widely available, the portal should provide the means for no-cost downloading or links to appropriate sites. • Links to other digital projects and websites of interest to the digital HPS community. An example here would be a link to a website that tracks the availability of digitized neo-Latin texts. These texts appear from many sources, and the web-crawler helps to make these sites available via this link. • Blog space on the portal but only to the extent that this can be monitored and managed effectively. • A general description of best practices in creating digital projects in HPS. The discussion should be general because every project is different, and the portal should not attempt to define mandatory standards. Where a more appropriate discussion can be found elsewhere, directions for finding this should be given.

2. What is different about digital projects as this relates to dissemination?

There are a number of features of digital projects that make them attractive but also make them impossible to present in the familiar forms of books or journal articles. These include:

• Searchability • Revisability • No space limitations on editorial essays • Possibility of presenting what no publisher would touch, such as arcane notes with a limited audience • Easily linked to other material. One can bring in “found objects” and even search them. • Easy to present (and organize for comprehension) non-linear material • Easy to include a variety of media and mixed-media

3. What is disseminated?

• Raw primary sources • Annotated scholarly editions • Transcriptions • Translations • User annotations • Interpretations • Research aids, e.g., those indicating relationships, time lines, and comparisons to modern work • Laboratory experiment reproductions and demonstrations • History based lab units (to reconnect HPS to the scientific community and to education more generally) • Teaching materials • FAQs and reflective answers • User feedback opportunities • Input opportunities

4. To whom do we disseminate the output of these projects?

• Researchers • Educators, both K-12 and university levels • Students • General public • Policy makers

5. What is the purpose of such dissemination?

• Aid research, including asking new questions and getting richer answers • Facilitate collaborative and interdisciplinary research • Improve education in schools and universities Get HPS into the curriculum Allow easier comprehension of scientific concepts Allow a deeper understanding of science • Increase public awareness of the methods, concepts, and findings of science • Improve public policy

6. What issues are there about digital “publication”?

• How do we balance a desire for full, open, and free access with a need (for copyright or other reason) to restrict use of some materials? Sometimes restricted use materials can be given wider accessibility by providing digital links to library holdings to which the user already has access. Sometimes restriction issues can be eased by having libraries buy subscriptions. This may provide both royalties to copyright holders and financial support for the project. • How do we make digital publication count as scholarly publication? This question is especially acute for junior scholars who must get the right academic credit for the purpose of obtaining tenure or promotion. Proper vetting or peer review is an important step toward making digital work receive appropriate academic credit. • Vetting or peer review for digital publication needs to be thought through. Where the digital object is closely analogous to a scholarly essay, current models of peer review can be used. Evaluation criteria and procedures for websites and for non-linear or mixed-media presentations are less well established. Using standards inappropriate to the case at hand can harm the project, the researchers involved, and the future of digital HPS.