Making the Most of a Pile of DiRT (Digital Research Tools)

Quinn will be speaking on the DiRT (Digital Research Tools) Directory, the latest incarnation of a community-generated resource for learning about digital tools, particularly those applicable to humanities research. Originally created as a wiki in 2008, DiRT has seen ebbs and flows in contributors over its lifespan. Adopted by Project Bamboo, a Mellon-funded cyberinfrastructure initiative, DiRT received its own development grant from Mellon after the conclusion of Bamboo. Quinn will demonstrate the work that has been done under that grant to enhance the directory and make the data from DiRT accessible in other environments. She will also discuss project sustainability — both social and technical — as it pertains to this long-running project that is widely recognized as valuable, but whose uptake requires consistent, tedious work. Lastly, Quinn will talk about future directions for DiRT, including potentially partnering with another tool directory to provide a way for digital humanities tools to be assigned a DOI to increase tool citeability in a variety of contexts.