 (Wolfville, N.S.) -- From ancient cave paintings to hand-printed books to Facebook, people have been reading in various forms for thousands of years. But what will the act of reading look like in the future and what can we learn from the past to ensure digital applications enhance and expand the reading experience?
That’s what an international team of researchers led by the University of Victoria’s Canada Research Chair in Humanities Computing, Ray Siemens, will be studying over the next seven years through participation in the Implementing New Knowledge Environments (INKE) project.
“What's different about this project is our point of departure in human-computer interaction, says Dr. Richard Cunningham of Acadia University, who is part of the research team. “We start from the human and move into interface design and information management, rather than the other way around. Manuscript and print textuality has a long history that can inform the development of electronic textuality, and we plan to use that history to shape the future of reading technologies.”
Funded with nearly $2.5 million through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Major Collaborative Research Initiative (MCRI) program, with an additional $10.4 million funding in institutional and research partner support, INKE will focus its work in four areas:
1. Richard Cunningham at Acadia University and Alan Galey at the University of Toronto will lead textual studies – the evolution of reading and writing technologies from antiquity to present.
2. User experience (how and why people read and how the reading process can change the cognitive process) will be led by Teresa Dobson at the University of British Columbia and Claire Warwick at University College London.
3. Interface design (how people visualize information on a computer) will be led by Stan Ruecker at the University of Alberta.
4. Information management, or the building of new digital reading interfaces, will be led by Siemens and Susan Schreibman at the Royal Irish Academy.
“Dr. Cunningham and his colleagues are engaging in cutting-edge research,” says Dr. David MacKinnon, Acadia’s Acting Dean of Research and Graduate Studies. “For many of us, reading is taken for granted. But what will it look like for our children and grandchildren, and how will it affect their communication patterns and the ways in which they narrate their lives?
“Through his SSHRC and other research endeavours, Dr. Cunningham has established an enviable scholarly reputation. I look forward with much anticipation to the outcomes of this particular research project.”
The INKE team of 35 researchers will work with 21 partner agencies to develop a better understanding of literacy in the digital age. The research team will also involve 19 postdoctoral research fellows and 53 graduate and undergraduate research assistants from all participating institutions.
In concert with existing endowments, Acadia University’s English department hopes INKE will attract graduate students interested in working in the digital humanities, textual studies, and book history under Dr. Cunningham’s supervision.
Student researchers will help with the organization of a major international conference, the maintenance of a variety of possible forms of electronic dissemination, and the presentation of research at national and international conferences.
During the planning process, Dr. Cunningham also included the need for funding undergraduates, in order to ensure Acadia students could be represented in this major, international, interdisciplinary research project.
“From the outset, Acadia has supported my work in the digital humanities, and when Dr. Tom Herman assumed the role of Vice-President, Academic, he made it clear that he supported me and wanted to do everything he could to ensure I was able to participate in INKE as fully as possible,” says Dr. Cunningham.
SSHRC MCRI funding will be supplemented with support from several partners including the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, the Canadian Research Knowledge Network, Service BC, Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal, the Public Knowledge Project, and ProQuest – a digital database of historical documents and academic materials. |
