Digital Humanities and Libraries

OCLC was established in the mid-60s as the Ohio College Library Center, a non-profit, cooperative "bibliographic utility" intended to create a computerized network for Ohio libraries. Now the Online Computer Library Center, Inc., (but more commonly known, still, as OCLC), it has grown to have over 72,000 member libraries, archives, and museums. OCLC Research's mission is to ". . .  expand knowledge that advances OCLC's public purposes of furthering access to the world's information and reducing library costs. Since 1978, we have carried out research and made technological advances that enhance the value of library services and improve the productivity of librarians and library users." 

OCLC Research has popped up with a report about research libraries support of digital humanities, which is a construct of the intersection of humanities education and research and scholarship with computing and information technology. (Text mining is the canonical example of digital humanities.) Many research libraries are trying to identify their responsibilities and opportunities in this emerging area.

http://www.dancohen.org/category/text-mining/page/2/

Schaffner, Jennifer, and Ricky Erway. 2014. Does Every Research Library Need a Digital 
Humanities Center? Dublin, Ohio: OCLC Research.

The report is just 18 pages long, and a worthwhile read. Here is the executive summary: 

There are many ways to respond to the needs of digital humanists, and a digital humanities (DH) center is appropriate in relatively few circumstances. Library leadership can choose from a range of possible directions:

• package existing services as a “virtual DH center” 
• advocate coordinated DH support across the institution 
• help scholars plan for preservation needs 
• extend the institutional repository to accommodate DH digital objects 
• work internationally to spur co-investment in DH across institutions 
• create avenues for scholarly use and enhancement of metadata 
• consult DH scholars at the beginning of digitization projects 
• get involved in DH project planning for sustainability from the beginning 
• commit to a DH center 

A DH center does not always meet the needs of DH researchers. When warranted, a DH center is not necessarily best located in the library. Library culture may need to evolve in order for librarians to be seen as effective DH partners. A handful of models demonstrate successful collaborations with digital humanists, but one size does not fit all. 

In most settings, the best decision is to observe what the DH academics are already doing and then set out to address gaps.