Milkbar.com.au (Humanities)

i. Authorship in a Global Hypertext

I have often engaged with the (electronic) Humanities during the course of this study through e-mail discussion lists. I use them so readily that I cannot imagine a time when I could write a page of text without intermittent email interruptions from various corners of the globe. In fact, many of the ideas developed in this exegetical-thesis were first tested on email discussion lists.

Apart from making work available to broader audiences, the online hypertextual environment can also reveal the evolution and influences of the writing. Personal papers are usually relegated to the task of historical research; they are the private words imbued with the special charm of creativity in action.[1] However, here I provide the external (yellow) links to the online creative building site so that the final text is given a new dimension of transformation and depth. Likewise, it reveals the processes involved in scholarship in the online ‘global’ network environment.

I have in fact moderated a large Australian history discussion list for some time (H-ANZAU, one the H-Net lists) and actively participated in online debates that concern electronic scholarship and globalisation. Milkbar.com.au was built entirely online with feedback from numerous individuals (something akin to building a ship whilst it is at sea). The email relationships in this work have been of particular importance, simply because it is an online work within a field where many of the resources, issues and people can be readily accessed online.

In terms of what sort of history can be undertaken online, there are some major limitations. The choices are limited by copyright, cost, technical schemas and by the particular skills of the researcher. A researcher who has a strong background in programming may wish to build universal tools for the Humanities or design software applications to address particular historical questions.

However, there is a danger in narrowly focussed process based research (that may be only self referential) in that it may be costly and superfluous to the Humanities if it does not engage with real-world Humanities problems and debates. There must always be room for informed historiographical and methodological-led uses of technology, not just scientific led approaches.

Accordingly, there is a worrying trend in the field of Humanities Computing where those from Information Technology backgrounds are being hired as ‘Humanities Computing’ professionals rather than those trained in the Humanities. This trend could mean Humanities Computing is pulled in a scientific direction rather than a humanistic one. more>>

[1] Luca Toschi “Hypertext and Authorship” in Nunberg (ed.) The Future of the Book, University of California Press, Berkeley,.p.200.

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