Responses to some questions in the Australian Academy of the Humanities Future Humanities Workforce Project's Consultation Paper
What are future knowledge, skills and capabilities that humanities researchers will require?
I tried to unpack a bit what I think of as digital literacy and came up with these dot points:
- The ability to critically analyse digital tools, collections, services, and interfaces to unpack their assumptions and imagine alternatives.
- An understanding of the varieties, transformations, possibilities, and limitations of digital data, and the ability to reflect on the technical and ethical challenges of collecting, using, and sharing it.
What can the humanities contribute to the data and digital literacy agenda over the next decade?
I always think we've got to be a bit careful about saying that the Humanities brings greater ethical dimensions to these things -- hey we can be just as unethical as the sciences! But anyway I've jotted down a few things that I think are important.
- A richer understanding of the contexts in which digital data, tools and services are created and used.
- An ability to plumb the human dimensions of data, to explore uncertainty and messiness, not as problems to be eliminated, but as questions to be explored.
- An appreciation of creativity and play in the analysis and exploration of data.
- An ability to embed digital tools and data within complex narratives that enrich both our understanding of the data and the richness of our narratives.
- An ability to engage the public as collaborators in the construction, use, and enrichment of digital tools, services, and collections.
- A commitment to engage with and promote a variety of voices and perspectives to ensure that digital tools, collections, and data do not reinforce existing inequalities and prejudices.