Ms Jenny Fewster1, Professor Michael Haugh2, Associate Professor Steven McEachern3, Mr Levi Murray4
1ARDC, Adelaide, Australia, 2University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia, 3Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, 4University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
Although the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) and Indigenous (HASS+I) sector represents a significant portion of research conducted in Australia, it has only received relatively minor investment in digital research infrastructure to date. This has restricted the availability of HASS+I data to researchers, constrained the widespread uptake of analytical and computational approaches in HASS and Indigenous research and limited the development of digital skills among HASS+I researchers.
The HASS Research Data Commons (HASS RDC) and Indigenous Research Capability (IRC) Program was announced in 2020 as a first step toward developing a more comprehensive digital HASS+I research capability. It aims to create the foundation of a national research infrastructure in HASS+I and reaches out both to communities where the data originates and research communities who work with data in: quantitative social sciences, language-based research, and research using the National Library’s Trove platform. It also aims to develop Indigenous researcher capability in working with such data.
One year into the HASS RDC program work is underway which will deliver the technical, data, training and engagement elements that contribute towards a distributed digital research ecosystem for HASS+I communities.
This BoF brings together leads of HASS RDC and IRC Program to share key insights from consulting with the research community and to recount the early work they have been engaged in building these digital research platforms. The session will also touch on the program’s emerging roles in data governance practices and engaging with Libraries and Archives and how these may benefit other disciplines.
Biography:
Jenny Fewster
Jenny is the Program Manager of the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Research Data Commons at the ARDC. She has a wealth of experience in the collection, management and dissemination of research and cultural heritage data and resources through digital humanities platforms, most recently as Executive Officer of AusStage. Under her stewardship since 2003, AusStage has become the most extensive national cultural dataset on live performance. Jenny is acutely aware of the diverse infrastructure needs of the digital humanities, with expertise in database design, metadata schemas, interoperability factors, resource discovery protocols, content management systems, data visualisation techniques and digital literacy.