Digital Humanists' Knowledge Space: A Conceptual Design.

Structured Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual design of a virtual knowledge space for use by digital humanists. Digital humanists’ work lies at the crossroads of computer science and the humanities (Stanford Humanities Center, 2017). Moving traditional humanistic material into digital forms brings new challenges for scholars of the humanities. The proposed virtual knowledge space is intended to help users make humanistic knowledge in digital media more manageable and usable. Design/methodology/approach – A knowledge management (KM) approach suggested by Handzic (2004) was used as a theoretical basis for designing the structure of the proposed knowledge space. According to KM, a virtual knowledge space should provide support for knowledge codification and personalisation. It should also support knowledge exploration and exploitation. Following these KM principles, the proposed design incorporates the ability to build and access knowledge repositories (e.g. digital documents, images, metadata), tools for knowledge discovery and presentation (e.g. data mining, topic modelling, visualisation), support for knowledge sharing and collaboration with other researchers (e.g. email, wikis, virtual meeting rooms), as well as for new knowledge creation (e.g. simulation games, mind mapping, brainstorming). Originality/value – This paper contributes a novel conceptual design of a virtual knowledge space that pushes forward the current state-of-the art in digital humanities. It integrates all relevant digital assets, services and tools that support the user experience. It is envisaged as a one-stop shop for humanities scholars in the digital production and usage of relevant humanistic knowledge. Practical implications – The current conceptual work implies that KM technology may change the way humanities scholars interact with their data and share their insights. In particular, the paper suggests that the proposed virtual knowledge space may serve as reference for implementing various digital humanities projects relevant to a wide range of humanities disciplines. However, these implications need to be interpreted with caution due to the current lack of empirical evidence. Future study is recommended to address this research gap. Keywords – Knowledge Management, Digital Humanities, Virtual Knowledge Space, Conceptual Design. Paper type – Academic Research Paper