Emerson College Library: Digital Scholarship Services: Home

Digital Scholarship at Emerson College

What is digital scholarship at Emerson College and how can the Iwasaki Library support you and your initiatives?

Digital Scholarship is defined as any scholarly activity that makes extensive use of one or more of the new possibilities for teaching and research opened up by the unique affordances of digital media. From digital scholarly works, canvas courses, digital projects, digital teaching resources- we partner with you inside and outside the classroom to support digital humanities projects. We use a variety of open access and Emerson-based platforms that are available freely for the Emerson Community such as emerson.build, Omeka, Wordpress, JSTOR, and Digital Commons. We also keep up-to-date with emerging technology trends.

How can the Iwasaki Library support you?

Step one: Consulting

Do you have a project, creative idea, or any other form of scholarship that you want online but are not sure how to start? Set up a meeting with Melissa DiBerardino, Digital Access, and Reference Archivist; melissa_diberardino@emerson.edu; to go over options
Already have a project or initiative started but not sure where or what to do next? Email melissa_diberardino@emerson.edu to begin your consulting process.

Step two: Project Management

We identify key partners to help. IT, ITG, Grants office? Your project will dictate who we may need to partner with
Identify the platform(s) that best suit your Digital Scholarship. The Digital Access and Reference Archivist will assist you in the research and implementation of the final platform, including training if appropriate.
- The Digital Access and Reference Archivist does NOT provide curation, inputting, or data creation of your project.

Step three: Maintenance

Evaluation, digital preservation, and outreach

Below are a few examples of projects the library has assisted with as well as ongoing projects.

Emerson ARC

Our full-time and affiliated faculty are a vibrant community of Emerson Authors, Researchers, and Creators. Iwasaki Library's mission is to facilitate access and create opportunities for discovery and campus-wide connection. This has led us to the creation of an online space facilitating the discovery of faculty research and works. We are excited to share our Emerson Authors, Researchers, and Creators (ARC) Database with Faculty, Staff, Students, Alumni, and beyond.

Emerson ARC is one of many growing collections within Digital Commons @ Emerson College (DC@EC). If you have any questions or are interested in learning more, please contact Digitalcommons@emerson.edu.

The Banjo Project

Collaborating with Professor Marc Fields, we have assisted in archival consulting, metadata management, and digital preservation best of practices. We also continue to assist with grant applications, including the successful National Endowment for the Humanities Digital Projects for the Public grant with additional funding from Mass Humanities and the Popular Culture Association.

The Banjo Project
"A Digital Museum for America's Instrument"
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The Banjo Project is a digital museum for the history of America’s quintessential instrument, from its African roots to the present day. Combining interactive narratives, online archives and museum browsing experiences, it features a wealth of curated media and primary source content on the banjo’s colorful and contested history. Hosted by Emerson College and built on over 300 hours of original footage produced by Marc Fields, The Banjo Project will also serve as the hub for a consortium of cultural and educational institutions, providing them with portals to showcase related content and digital collections.

Online Exhibits

Collaborations between departments and other partnering institutions allow us to create online exhibits for increased accessibility and discoverability. Below is an example of a physical exhibit within the Iwasaki Library which we converted into an online exhibit as well using Omeka.

Emerson's History of Prison Education
Sponsored by: Emerson Prison Initiative; Emerson Speech & Debate; Iwasaki Library.
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Nearly 70 years before the Emerson Prison Initiative (EPI) launched, the College was facilitating the exchange of ideas inside prison through its award-winning debate team. This through-line in Emerson’s mission is being explored through an exhibit currently on display in the Iwasaki Library, Disrupting Mass Incarceration: Six Decades of Emerson Prison Education.

Digital Scholarship in the Classroom

Shakespearean Journey
Partnering with Associate Professor Adele Lee and ITG, this Omeka and Neatline site hosted on emerson.build was created as an interactive site for students and researchers.
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Adele Lee's research focuses on "Global Shakespeare," Renaissance travel writing and the "transnational turn" in literary studies. She is the author of The English Renaissance and the Far East: Cross-Cultural Encounters (Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 2017) and has published articles in such journals as Shakespeare Bulletin, Early Modern Literary Studies, Quidditas and Contemporary Women's Writing. She has also contributed to several edited collections, including Shakespeare in Hollywood, Asia and Cyberspace (Purdue UP, 2009), Shakespeare Beyond English: A Global Experiment (Cambridge UP, 2013), Richard III: A Critical Reader (Bloomsbury Arden, 2013) and a special issue of The Literary London Journal on the topic "Shakespeare's London/London's Shakespeares" (2017).