16.642 consumptive humanities

From: Humanist Discussion Group (by way of Willard McCarty willard.mccarty@kcl.ac.uk)
Date: Tue Apr 29 2003 - 02:05:49 EDT

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                   Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 16, No. 642.
           Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
                       www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/
                         Submit to: humanist@princeton.edu

       [1] From: "Martin Mueller" <martinmueller@northwestern.edu> (14)
             Subject: RE: 16.641 the consumptive humanities?

       [2] From: "Bonnett, John" <John.Bonnett@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca> (10)
             Subject: RE: 16.641 the consumptive humanities?

       [3] From: George Whitesel <whitesel@jsucc.jsu.edu> (8)
             Subject: Re: 16.641 the consumptive humanities?

    --[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
             Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 07:02:51 +0100
             From: "Martin Mueller" <martinmueller@northwestern.edu>
             Subject: RE: 16.641 the consumptive humanities?

    Willard's question is excellent, but MS Access may not be the appropriate
    villain (MS Word is a much better candidate. In fact, one can argue that MS
    Access is an excellent example of a program that cannot be used
    intelligently without a clear understanding of its underlying principles
    while lowering technical entry barriers considerably. If the modal users of
    information technology in the humanities had pushed the limits of that tool
    and expressed frustration their inability to do subtler and more powerful
    things, that would be wonderful. But the situation on the ground is much
    worse. It's not a matter of going beyond Access; it's a matter of going
    toward it.

    What is true of relational database technology is even more true of XML,
    arguably a better data modelling technology for the humanities. The
    humanities computing world would be a much better place if there were a tool
    or suite of tools that does for XML what Access does for relational
    databases.

    --[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
             Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 07:03:26 +0100
             From: "Bonnett, John" <John.Bonnett@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca>
             Subject: RE: 16.641 the consumptive humanities?

    Dear Willard,

    If I understand you correctly, you are suggesting that efforts by
    humanities scholars to transcend the limitations of their tools, by
    learning to program, will inevitably result in an abandonment of the
    humanities discipline that gave rise to the effort in the first place.
    I fail to see how such a conclusion follows. Why would learning a
    computer language lead to such an outcome, while presumably learning
    a human language, from Coptic to Croatian, would not?

    Best wishes,

    John Bonnett
    National Research Council of Canada

    --[3]------------------------------------------------------------------
             Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 07:03:47 +0100
             From: George Whitesel <whitesel@jsucc.jsu.edu>
             Subject: Re: 16.641 the consumptive humanities?

    Willard:

           Good point! Research in the humanities is being shaped by the
    nature of the tools, not the needs of the discipline. Researchers are
    taking the easy way out, the electronic way. This is understandable
    but regrettable. Articles have been written lamenting the failure to
    consult older materials not covered in the 1963-0000 electronic
    version of the MLA. All the best!

    George
    whitesel@jsucc.jsu.edu



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