Digital Humanities Planning Tool

Digital outputs may be digital resources such as an online database or collection, a virtual reality construct, a digital map etc., or datasets, such as interview transcripts, survey results, etc. Digital resources may consist of an interface e.g. a searchable website, and the underlying data and documentation. 

Formats and standards can be critical to interoperability and re-usability, and ultimately the sustainability of digital outputs. The DH Hub provides guidance on formats and standards. 

You should establish whether hardware and software needs can be met by the University before procuring from external providers. Use of external providers for processing University information may require you to follow approval and procurement processes, to ensure there are required contractual protections for University information and other confidential information, such as personal data. If you wish to procure services from external suppliers, the Hub can support you in consulting your DTS Business Relationship Manager. 

UMASCS provides equipment and services to support digitisation. For more information, please see our guide on working with collections and UMASCS’ page on digital scholarship. 

The University provides access to a variety of software through AppsAnywhere, as well as online survey tools.  

The University can provide project websites in the University domain using the WordPress platform free of charge, but there may be costs if a large amount of storage is required on the webserver or if work is needed to develop special functionality. Refer to the DTS guidance on WordPress websites. Third-party website providers should only be used if a University website cannot meet project requirements. 

UMASCS is in the process of developing infrastructure to support interactive online collections and exhibitions, which will provide linked data capabilities and a set of online exhibition templates including map interfaces. (Available exhibition templates currently include: carousel type, grid type, hotspots type and Google map type.) The new infrastructure will be based on standards to support usability and preservation and is likely to be a better long-term solution than creating a bespoke website. Contact the DH Hub to discuss your requirements. 

Data should be stored in a primary storage location within University infrastructure. If a large amount of storage is required (as a rough guide, upwards of 100 GB), there are likely to be data storage costs, which can usually be included in grant budgets. See the DH Hub guidance on storage. 

Computing infrastructure provided by the University can meet high-performance computing needs and support collaborative working using virtual machines. There are costs to use some computing resources, e.g. the Research Cloud platform. Costs can usually be included in grant budgets. The DH Hub provides information about internal computing resources. 

If the academic staff involved in the proposal do not have the technical skills to deliver the digital outputs, these will need to be procured in one way or another. Technical skills might be provided through recruitment, by an external academic collaborator, by UoR DTS colleagues, or by an external contractor. Your Research Development Manager can help you explore your options and the likely cost implications. 

DTS colleagues can support delivery of research software engineering elements, such as the creation and modification of research software code, database design and website construction, and a research software engineer can be costed into project budgets. For a discussion with DTS about your requirements, contact the DH Hub or complete the research project support request form. 

If the success of the project relies on use of copyright materials, especially if there is an intention to publish them, it is essential to establish a basis for using the materials. You may also need to include costs for copyright clearance. 

Statutory provisions for use of copyright works include the Fair Dealing and Text and Data Mining exceptions to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The alternative to reliance on statutory exceptions is for usage to be based on permissions. These may be general permissions, for example where a work has been licensed for re-use under a licence such as Creative Commons Attribution, or specific permissions granted ad hoc by the copyright holder, which may be at a cost. There is guidance on legal exceptions and permissions at copyrightuser.org. 

If you require guidance on use of copyright materials, contact the University’s Copyright and Compliance Officer. 

Legal and ethical requirements might apply e.g. if you are collecting data from research participants, working with archival or pre-archival materials containing information relating to living persons, using personal information that has been published online, or working with information that is commercially confidential.  

The Research Data Service provides guidance on research ethics and data protection when working with research data. Academic and Governance Services provides guidance on research ethics and matters related to ethical approval for research. Information Management and Policy Services provides guidance on data protection and research. 

The Centre for Data, Culture and Society at the University of Edinburgh has useful ethical guidance on social media research. 

Project websites can maintain the usability of online resources and deliver value both during a project and for many years beyond. But they are not preservation solutions, and without active maintenance they will eventually become non-viable.  

If online resources can be hosted in institutional archival infrastructure, this may extend their longevity. For example, when working with an external archive or museum, that institution‘s platform might be the most appropriate location for a digital outcome. Different institutions will have different capabilities, and it is important that the lines of responsibility are clear. UMASCS can advise on issues such as these, which need to be considered when working with a third party heritage institution. The online collection/exhibition infrastructure that UMASCS is currently developing may also provide better sustainability for suitable online resources than a project website. 

Where digital resources have been developed, steps should be taken to preserve the underlying data and documentation relating to the design of the resource by depositing them in a data repository. 

A data repository should also be used as the place of deposit for datasets created during the research. The University’s Research Data Archive can be used for this purpose, but external data centres such as the Archaeology Data Service or the UK Data Service may also be relevant places of deposit, depending on the nature of the data. The Archaeology Data Service is one of the few data repositories that charges for the deposit of data. The Research Data Service provides guidance on the use of data repositories. 

Where there are costs for data archiving, these should be included in the grant budget where possible.