Ruth Kirkham – Project Manager John Pybus – Technical Support bvreh.humanities.ox.ac.uk

1. Building a Virtual Research Environment for the Humanities:Connecting user needs with appropriate technologies Ruth Kirkham – Project Manager John Pybus – Technical Support http://bvreh.humanities.ox.ac.uk Digital Classicist Work in Progress Seminars 4th August 2006

2. What is a Virtual Research Environment? Definition of a VRE: “A set of online tools, systems and processes interoperating to facilitate or enhance the research process within and without institutional boundaries.” Mike Fraser - OUCS

3. What is a Virtual Research Environment • A framework into which tools, services and resources can be plugged, rather than a free-standing product • More loosely aggregated than a typical VLE • Joining together existing components in addition to developing new

4. What is a Virtual Research Environment? • Research administration • Resource discovery & access management • Data creation, use and analysis • Collaboration and communication • Research publication, curation and preservation

5. VRE Programme • Part of UK wide JISC programme (~15 projects) • Three projects at Oxford • Sakai VRE • Integrative Biology VRE • Building a VRE for the Humanities http://www.vre.ox.ac.uk/

6. Project Outline • The humanities division at Oxford University wanted to create a virtual environment to assist researchers with their work • Preliminary Survey of Humanities researchers • The BVREH is a 15 month project to investigate the suitability of a VRE within the Humanities at Oxford • The project breaks down into three main stages…

7. Project Outline Stage One:Detailed ICT user requirements survey, initially of Oxford humanities researchers Stage Two: Three to four demonstrator tools Stage Three: Recommendations as to what might be included in a fully fledged humanities VRE

8. Requirements gathering process • Unstructured and semi-structured interviews, researchers were asked about: • Current IT usage • Collaboration specifically using IT • Local and external tools/processes used to carry out research • Interaction with all aspects of grant applications such as seeking funding, interaction with  Research Services etc • No specific questionnaires, informal meetings allowed our researchers to speak freely • Focus Groups • Wherever possible the interviews were recorded

9. User needs • Supporting the ‘Mechanism of Research’ • Many of the same, generic needs have been expressed time after time • The division covers a very broad range of research activities • Individual researchers vary widely in their relationship with technology

10. User scenarios Simon Brown: Researcher -18th Century German Dr Mary White: Researcher at a university library Bob Black: Researcher - Classics Gwendolyn Green: Lecturer and artist in the Fine Art department Disclaimer: Names have been changed to protect the innocent. No animals/researchers were harmed during the production of this presentation

11. Simon Brown: Researcher - 18th Century German Representing those who believe themselves to be non-technical Simon Brown is a member of the Modern Languages faculty and specialises in 18th Century German He mainly uses primary sources and spends a great deal of time in the library. Simon admits to using his computer as a ‘glorified typewriter’ In recent years, Simon has used the internet to find out about more ephemeral material including articles by journalists and lesser known authors, which in the past he may have missed. Simon finds signing up to email lists an annoyance due to the sheer amount of unwanted, non-related information that results. However he does find one list of particular interest. Simon is particularly keen to hear about grants and potential sources of funding

12. Dr Mary White: Researcher at a university library Representing those who work internationally and collaboratively and is just discovering the benefits of technology Mary White works on a research project in a university library, cataloguing Medieval Manuscripts using local xml tools. Mary uses bibliographic tools and word processing packages extensively and is keen to be able to share her work easily and quickly. Mary works collaboratively with many researchers across the world. Typically she uses email and the telephone to communicate with them. Mary has recently experienced an IRC Chat meeting which she found particularly useful Mary is interested in the idea of the Access Grid however, she is concerned that her colleagues may not have access to the technology.

13. Bob Black: Researcher - Classics Representing those who are technically minded and have significant involvement in digital projects Bob Black is a researcher within the Classics faculty specialising in ancient Greek inscriptions. Bob has been involved with many digitization projects, enabling resources to be made available for study. IT use already reflects the way his group is working. Bob often collaborates with other experts across the world and appreciates the benefits of technology in assisting with this. Like Mary, Bob is concerned that his colleagues don’t have the same familiarity with ICT and although he actively seeks the latest tools, he finds relatively little of use at this time.

14. Gwendolyn Green: Lecturer and artist in the Fine Art department Representing those actively seeking collaborations across subject and institutional boundaries Gwendolyn Green is a lecturer and artist in the Fine Art department. Her work is heavily influenced by science and electronics. Gwen uses the internet and various software and graphic design tools extensively in her work. Keen to work with others across subject and institutional boundaries, Gwen wants to know what researchers are doing elsewhere and how she might work with them. Gwen is keen on the notion of an ‘ideas pool’ where artists and interested parties can advertise their ideas and interests to one another.

15. ‘Supporting the Mechanism of Research’ • Simon Brown: Researcher -18th Century German • Centralised information regarding grants and funding • Searchable lists of conferences lectures and seminars • Dr Mary White: Researcher at a university library • Chat Facilities • Working collaboratively on documents • Assistance in publishing online • Access Grid technology • Bob Black:Researcher - Classics • Information about researchers and research interests • Communication tools e.g. Video conferencing/ Access Grid technology and chat facilities • Gwendolyn Green – Lecturer and artist in the Fine Art department • Information about researchers and research interests • Centralised information regarding grants and funding

16. Research • Find Material • Search on terms • View; Identify items of interest • Organise; make notes • Compare; process • Use specialised tools • Maybe consult with collaborator • Repeat the above • Compose output to great acclaim

17. Locating Material • Search on-line databases • Cross Search multiple sources • Provide a Front End to ease this rather than replacement for existing sources • Retrieve and Integrate data from multiple sources • DataGrids

18. a Personal Space • Store • View • Organise • Annotate...

19. Demonstrators • Currently building the following demonstrators: • Research Discovery Service • Application of Physical Tools • Eighteenth Century Workspace (Jane Austen) • Virtual Workspace for the Study of Ancient Documents

20. Research Discovery Service • Medical Sciences project • Database of researchers and research interests across the division • BVREH adapting for the Humanities

21. a Research Discovery Service • Database of research interests • Enables collaboration • Similar project already underway in Oxford (Medical Sciences) • Needs to provide good coverage of up to date information • How do we bootstrap the process? • What Classification / Taxonomy?

22. Physical Tools • Physical tools such as communication and novel user interface devices such as digital pen and paper (Anoto) and Personal Interface to the Access Grid (PIG) It’s all about keeping track of 669 845 157 115 773 458 169 very small dots.

23. Eighteenth Century Workspace • To support a study of Jane Austen’s work • Current thinking to integrate four online resources: • Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language (1755) • Eighteenth-Century Collections Online (ECCO) • Chadwyck-Healy Literature Online • British Fiction 1800-1829: A database of production, circulation and reception

24. Virtual Workspace for the Study of Ancient Documents • An interface allowing browsing and searching of multiple image collections, including tools to compare and annotate the researcher’s personal collection

25. Virtual Lightbox • Embeds in Browser • Java • Multiple Images • Multiple sites • Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities

26. VLMA • Extension to Virtual Lightbox • Reading University & Max Planck Institute for the History of Science • Sponsored by the JISC

29. Acknowledgements Principle Investigators: Professor Alan Bowman and Dr Charles Crowther Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, Oxford Dr Michael Fraser Oxford University Computing Services Other acknowledgements: Anne Bowtell - Medical Sciences Division, Oxford

30. Feedback/Questions • Any questions? ruth.kirkham@humanities.ox.ac.uk john.pybus@humanities.ox.ac.uk http://bvreh.humanities.ox.ac.uk/

31. RDF

32. RDF • Resource Description Framework • W3C standard to represent metadata Subject Object Predicate

33. So, back to our hard-working researchers Shortly after the new system goes live… • Simon Brown: Researcher -18th Century German • Least likely to jump headfirst into such a system • If uses VRE for generic functionality may experiment as becomes more familiar • Dr Mary White: Researcher at a university library • Collaborative editing tools (integrated with chat) • XML base allows to export work from VRE to local system • Bob Black:Researcher - Classics • ‘Virtual Workspace’ ideally suited to his needs • Stores images from other collections and adds annotations • Enthusiastic to use and share with colleagues • Gwendolyn Green – Lecturer and artist in the Fine Art department • Keen to test the limits of the collaborative possibilities • Finds new collaborators through RDS system and uses VRE to help overcome distance • Find images helpful to her work