M2LD and the Research
Project Lifecycle
From Metadata to Linked Data
Jennifer Edmond
exploring the human condition
Where we ended…
• What to model?
• What to link?
• Digital rot?
• …all questions gesturing toward
the link between technology and
the research process
exploring the human condition
The very big question
• How do we get the most out of the
(often sizable) investment of time,
money and intellectual input that
we make in a digital humanities
project?
exploring the human condition
exploring the human condition
Levels of knowledge
Known
Knowns
Known
Unknowns
Unknowns
Unknowns
Unknowable
Unknowns
Research
Questions
Technology
Choices
Standards
Migration
Metadata
Technology
Choices
Dissemination
exploring the human condition
A few more questions
• What do you need to know for scoping (best
practice, similar projects, reusable tools)?
• What skills or collaborators (=resources) do
you need for delivery?
• What time or equipment (= more resources)
do you need for delivery?
• Remember: more projects fail because of
planning than technical barriers (the old
trilemma of good/fast/cheap)
exploring the human condition
exploring the human condition
exploring the human condition
Distinct array of skills required
– Humanities domain knowledge
– Technical design
– HCI
– Data architecture/knowledge
engineering
– Process
– Control
– Environment
exploring the human condition
Research as sigmoid
exploring the human condition
Longer term perspective
project
proposal
handover
plan
idea
exploring the human condition
Where the support is
project
proposal
handover
plan
idea
exploring the human condition
A single project
Interpret
assemble
disseminate
gather
prep
exploring the human condition
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XML markup (Oxygen)
Parallel Markup
Geospatial markup (kml, Google Earth)
Versioning Machine
Collatex
Juxta
TaporWare
Voyeur
OpenCalais
Yahoo Pipes
OWL Ontologies (Protégé)
Sparql Queries (Snorql)/RDF/TTL
exploring the human condition
• Where are the possible
connection points between these
technologies/tools and the
research process?
• imagine, design, build,
investigate, document, maintain,
migrate
exploring the human condition
A single project
Interpret
assemble
disseminate
gather
prep
exploring the human condition
Case Study Framework
• What are the research questions and/or those of the
intended users? Can/should other possible future
users be taken into account?
• Does the research project have the resources it needs
(team/skills/money/time)?
• Where in the research process is there a role for M2LD
technologies? Which ones?
• What are the scope/resource implications of this
adoption (in the short and long term)?
– How well integrated into its environment is the project?
– Who are its stakeholders, and are they engaged?
– Does the project need to raise/lower its ambitions to be
deliverable?
exploring the human condition
Case Studies
• 10 minutes: Intro, shuffle, elect rappoteur (not the case
owner)
• 10 minutes: read/review case study
• 10 minutes: questions to case owner
• 20 minutes: discuss within case study framework, in
particular how various technologies *could* be
implemented and whether they *should* be used (but
don’t feel limited to this)
• 10 minutes: assemble report
Coffee at 11!
exploring the human condition