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The Unit

Arts eResearch assists staff and graduate students in incorporating digital methods at all stages of their research and teaching projects, from initial scoping and grant-writing through information collection, management, analysis and visualisation, to the design of sustainable web sites and the archiving of research materials in the Sydney eScholarship repository.

We combine domain knowledge in the Humanities with the technical expertise required to develop software tools and integration at all levels. The unit can help develop data models, break down project requirements into components, integrate existing tools (mainly free and open source) to support project needs, develop strategies and workflows for data collection and develop new tools where needed.

Recent collaborations include: Dictionary of Sydney and Digital Harlem (Dept. of History); Zagora, Living With Heritage and Greater Angkor projects (Dept. of Archaeology); newsfeed harvesting and analysis (Media and Communications); Bali Paintings (SE Asian Studies); Patrick White diaries and Harpur Poetry (SETIS/ADFA); FieldHelper fieldwork support tool (NSW Intersect); ‘Gallipoli - The First day’ and ‘ABC Earth’ newsfeed mapping (ABC Innovation); Picturing Change (UWA Archaeology); EARTH network (European Science Foundation); Rethinking Timelines (ARC Linkage w. Education, Macquarie Library, ANMM, UC Merced); Dictionary of Sydney II (ARC Linkage w. Powerhouse Museum, Historic Houses Trust NSW and State Records NSW).

Specific expertise includes:

  • Collaborative web-based text markup, annotation and digital publishing
  • Research data management, analysis, visualisation and archiving
  • Database design and web databases (bibliographies, historical data, images etc.)
  • Modelling complex historical information, digital encyclopaedias
  • Content-managed web sites (including integration of data into the University CMS)
  • Collaboration tools and social media for staff and students
  • Mapping and GIS, interactive web mapping, spatio-temporal visualisation
  • Data collection and applications on mobile devices (iPad, smartphone, GPS)