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In 2002 as part of my MSLS degree work I undertook a
research project entitled "Medievalists' Use of Electronic
Resources," which surveyed a selected group of medievalists on faculty at
universities across the US on their use of and attitudes towards electronic
resources (http://ils.unc.edu/MSpapers/2807.pdf). The survey asked faculty how
they preferred to access various different types of resources (journals,
translations, facsimiles, etc.) and attempted to gauge preferences for using
digital resources across the community (junior faculty vs. chaired faculty,
preferences in different fields, etc.).
Much has changed in the nine years since 2002. Google Books was first introduced in 2004. ACLS released its final report on Cyberinfrastructure, "Our Cultural Commonwealth" in 2006. The NEH, which had long supported digital projects, awarded the first Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants in 2007, and founded the Office of Digital Humanities in 2008. In medieval studies, more and more digital resources are released every year, there is an established community of "Digital Medievalists", and the International Congress on Medieval Studies has had a steady growth in the number and profile of presentations and events on issues relating to digitization. Digital resources in the medieval studies are ubiquitous. Are they being used?
Now is the perfect time to return to this project, to undertake the survey again, and to see just how (or if) attitudes and use have changed over the past nine years. Looking forward, this research can help resource developers design projects to best serve their audiences.
This message serves as an open invitation to participate in this research project. Any medievalist at any level is welcome to participate. Participation involves filling in an online survey, located at the link below. It should take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MUDR_open
This study is completely confidential and I will report only aggregated results in any published articles. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at [log in to unmask].
Thank you for taking the time to help me with this research project.
Sincerely,
Dot Porter, MA, MSLS