The project Humanist Computer Interaction – initiated by the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), the University of Mainz, and Technische Universität Darmstadt – is one of the first humanistic research projects within the framework of the BMBF funding line Validation of the technological and social innovation potential scientific research – VIP + (Validierung des technologischen und gesellschaftlichen Innovationspotenzials wissenschaftlicher Forschung – VIP+).
The innovation goal of the project is the analysis and validation of the potentials of different usage forms of virtual research environments in the humanities. Based on a process analysis of the joint processing of a field of humanistic research with digital research methods, novel forms of applications and collaboration models are to be identified – with the aim of further development. To this end, 19 international research groups will be introduced to various digital tools and contents, and their specific usage practices and research processes within the virtual research environment will be examined.
Within the project architecture, this research ambition is addressed by three closely connected components, each of which is handled by one of the participating universities.
- The sub-section Information Technology is based on the virtual research environment TextGrid. The software – which was also developed by Technische Universität Darmstadt as part of a BMBF joint project – combines various tools for digital text analysis with an interactive platform for collaborative research on research projects in the humanities. Its modular structure includes tools for digital editing and text analysis (TextGrid-Lab) and an open access research data repository (TextGrid repository) for storing and researching existing project inventories, so that the software also functions as a digital laboratory and a virtual archive. In addition to TextGrid, we also use other tools and services from the spectrum of the digital research infrastructure DARIAH-DE – Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities. The joint research platform is supervised by the Department of German Philology – Computer Philology and Medieval Studies (Prof. Dr. Andrea Rapp) of Technische Universität Darmstadt in cooperation with the Digital Academy of the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz, Prof. Torsten Schrade (Digitalen Akademie der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur | Mainz).
- The content-specific sub-section consists of research on the society of Ostrogothic Italy, in particular the Variae of the late antique politician Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator – a collection of texts that are essential to understand the political and social upheavals during the transition from late Antiquity to the early Middle Ages. After being lemmatized, the Variae (12 books altogether) are to be incorporated in TextGrid (coded in TEI/XML) and then digitally examined with regard to various research perspectives by 19 international research groups. The Department of Ancient History of the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (Prof. Dr. Marietta Horster) is responsible for the research coordination and the historical data input – supported by the research team Computational Historical Semantics of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University Frankfurt (Prof. Dr. Bernhard Jussen).
- The analytical sub-section for the validation of the work processes in the digital humanities consists of a repertoire of methods from the field of user research, which will be addressed in 16 workshops with 19 international research groups. For the task of investigating Humanist Computer Interaction, there are various tools focusing on usability and requirement engineering. Depending on the needs of the individual project, methods such as user monitoring, digital diaries, expert interviewing, screen recording, eye-tracking, (retrospective) Think-Aloud, cognitive walkthrough, and other tools will be used. The study is not only intended to provide basic insights into various forms of humanities-specific work in virtual research environments, but also to identify the innovative potential of digital collaborations in the humanities. The study on digital workflow in the humanities is conducted by the Chair of Business Informatics and Media Management (Prof. Dr. Sven Pagel) at the Department of Economics of the University of Mainz.
- The project is supported by three innovation mentors and a scientific advisory board – in order to ensure, as early as in the validation phase, that the project is result- and application-oriented, and to ensure that the validation will be successful. The innovation mentors are experts in the field of innovation management (Prof. Dr. Christian Zabel, Technische Hochschule Köln), Computer Science (Dr. Rainer Stotzka, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT) and Library Science (Prof. Dr. Heike Neuroth, University of Applied Sciences Potsdam). Their critical feedback will be incorporated into the project concept. The scientific advisory board, which will contribute to the quality management by evaluating the yield of the work packages and milestones, consists of Prof. Dr. Kai-Christian Bruhn (mainzed) and Prof. Dr. Bernhard Jussen (Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt).
The project sees itself as a contribution to the optimization of Humanist Computer Interaction, as a means to improve work in digital research environments in the scope of the humanities.
