Clio Wired (History 696)

This week we again return to the $64,000 question - does “digital” modify “scholarship,” and if so how. Are websites, by and large, merely rehashings of books, journals, exhibits, etc. on a computer screen rather than a page or a pedestal? Or are they something unique?

One of the greatest advantages digital scholarship offers is its ability to transcend time ,space, and resources, potentially reaching a wider audience than previously available. This seems to often be understated or ignored, but really might be the largest influence “digital” has on “scholarship.” It certainly seems to have been to date. David Staley contests this notion in the opening sentence of the introduction to Computers, Visualization, and History, proposing “When composing the history of the computer, historians should align it with the telescope and the microscope rather than with the printing press, because the real impact of the computer has been as a graphics tool more than as a processor of words.” While the computers graphic abilities are undeniably unique and allow for previously unseen presentations, the impact of the printing press and the Internet (and hence computers), was and is not merely as “processors of words,” but more importantly as disseminators of words. Digital scholarships democratization (and at times, anarchization) of knowledge should not be ignored or glossed over in determining its “promise.”

Jack Censer recognizes this, noting in the introduction to Imaging the French Revolution, “Readers can consult a wider range of images than are usually available in a print format, and they can instantly access those images. Even readers far away from the major collections of French revolutionary imagery can in this fashion see, compare, and interpret the visual sources.” Releasing knowledge through wider and less controlled channels is a powerful endeavor, and as such makes many of the established powers nervous. While Imaging the French Revolution utilizes other advantages of digital scholarship, such as image reproduction and interactivity, in making both primary material and associated expert analysis uniformly available to those with access to decidedly un-novel technology, the site fulfills the digital scholarship’s promise to empower through access to knowledge.

In relation to a scene from the Last Action Hero, Christopher P. Wilson describes how, “For its sheer giddiness and cross-referencing, the moment seems positively hypertextual.” Cross-referencing is an essential element of hypertext. Even if the reader had assembled a collection of all of the works a deeply hypertexted document, such as Dreaming Arnold Schwarzenegger, uses, sifting through them would not offer the same facility hypertext offers. It allows for reinforcement of presented ideas, as well as support for multiple assertions.

Like a footnote, which one can whether or not to read, hypertext presents the reader with a clear and simple choice. Extra, secondary, and related material can all be made available with a simple mouse click. However, hypertext can be utilized in a greater way. Beyond the ability to present larger amounts of information than a book could (an attribute not inherently advantageous), it does allow for greater self-direction by the reader, possibly improving the learning experience. Dreaming Arnold Schwarzenegger exemplifies this potential, as a few clicks can take one from the introduction to dream accounts from the authors to movie reviews and essays discussing dream theory. It becomes an open ended, immersive learning experience in which the reader is challenged to develop ideas from a variety of sources and mediums.

The jazz historian, cultural critic, and novelist Albert Murray uses cross-referencing as a literary technique to enter the consciousness of his protagonist. Scooter’s childhood memories or philosophical revelations are consistently contextualized and cross-referenced in a sort of stream of consciousness among related memories or an academic chain of events. Scooter will recount how one reading led him to another, which encouraged a third and so on, as ideas were developed, altered and reinforced.

But for Murray, as with many novelists, the emphasis is on the journey to the idea, not the end result. Interestingly, a journey infers both time and space, concepts which are discussed much in reference to hypertext. Roy Rosenzweig questioningly quotes the prophesied “death of distance” the Internet is proposed to portend. Digital scholarship reduces or eliminates distance in many real and tangible ways, as evidenced above. But how does this affect the academic journey. It would at least seem to afford more avenues of exploration along the way. In reducing the physical time and space requirements tracking down physical texts requires, the reader is afforded more opportunity to digest, reflect, and synthesize information and ultimately produce conclusions and ideas.

Digital scholarship becomes exciting for its makers in a more selfish way as well. It allows the scholar to present more of his or her research and ideas. Not in some tacked on, rarely looked at appendix (everyone knows you don’t even need your appendix!), but in an integrated, and, consequently, more relevant fashion. Both textually and graphically, the medium creates a facility for transmitting knowledge which other forms lack, and provides a freedom of presentation to the scholar previously unavailable. It also upsets the hierarchy of publishing, opening access to new and untapped audiences, while encouraging old ones to experiment with new forms. While its definition is far from solidified, it is clear digital scholarship has promise.