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#DigitalScholarship

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Mark Carrigan

Academic writing has always been in flux

It can feel when reading academics discussing LLMs that previously settled practices have been suddenly upturned by the introduction of this strange technology into higher education. The reality is that our practices of writing and communication have been through many such changes, often within the span of an individual’s own career. I was reaching the midpoint of a PhD when social media came to be a prominent feature of academic life, offering a potent forum through which to connect with others and discuss ideas alongside an ever present possibility of distraction. During the same PhD I remember talking to my supervisor about producing an 800 page book on a type writer. I simply couldn’t understand how such a thing was possible. Much as I struggled more recently when reading Lamott’s (1994) description of repairing a three hundred page manuscript by placing it on the floor of a cavernous living room in order to reorganise it page-by-page:

“I put a two-page scene here, a ten-page passage there. I put these pages down in a path, from beginning to end, like a horizontal line of dominoes, or like a garden path made of tiles. There were sections up front that clearly belonged in the middle, there were scenes in the last fifty pages that were wonderful near the beginning, there were scenes and moments scattered throughout that could be collected and written to make a great introduction to the two main characters. I walked up and down the path, moving batches of paper around paper-clipping self-contained sections and scribbling notes to myself on how to shape or tight or expand each section in whatever necessary way.” (Lamott’s 1994: 100).

It’s not that I couldn’t do this with my own text. While I’ve still not had reason to find out how to print at my university, in my fourth year since starting to work there, I’m sure I could quickly print out this text if I was motivated to do so. I remember the feeling of holding my PhD thesis in my hands the first time I printed out the draft, suddenly feeling a sense of mastery over this diffuse thing which had been the horizon of my experience for so long. I can recognise the appeal in the physical, the ways of relating to ideas opened up when we get our hands on their material expressions.

It’s just that I struggle to imagine relating in such a physical way, even allowing for the fact that I would undoubtedly be printing an electronic manuscript as opposed to Lamott’s manuscript produced through a typewriter. I was never a routine user of a printer to begin with but the separation from my office printer during the pandemic, combined with a diffuse dislike of the clutter of paper, inexorably led me towards working without print outs. It’s now been at least five years since I last printed something out and it wasn’t something I did much to begin with. The physical manifestations of my writing have slipped out of my immediate experience, no longer presenting as ready-to-hand, in a way that leaves them lodged as an intellectual possibility. In the same way that academics of my generation will often find it perplexing to be reminded that paper journals were once collected and consulted in physical form.

When our routines are disrupted we often feel compelled to account for that disruption. If things don’t work as planned, we are led to reflect on what we expected to happen. It’s easier to see routines when they don’t work because when they do they simply fade into the background. The same is true for the role of technology within these routines (Marres 2014: loc 1919). The introduction of LLMs into academic writing provides such a disruptive occasion because it unsettles many of the assumptions upon which our routines have previously depended. It’s no longer the case that a coherent piece of text we encounter must have been produced by a human author. It’s no longer the case that completing our own text requires only human effort.

This technological shift forces us to confront what writing means to us beyond its mechanical production. Just as word processors transformed academic writing by making revision less laborious, LLMs challenge us to articulate what remains essentially human in our scholarly production. Perhaps what matters most isn’t whether we occasionally use AI assistance, but how thoughtfully we integrate these tools into practices that preserve intellectual ownership and creative engagement with our ideas.

#academicWriting#books#creativeWriting
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(((@amarois)))

[Veille] ESBCO, acteur+++ du #search & #discovery dans le milieu académique, lance ses options #AI powered; 1 de + à tenter de capter les usage(r)s via la mine d'or du texte intégral des publis scientifiques (celui encore derrière les paywalls qui peut permettre de faire la différence via les RAGs vis à vis des concurrents ! #moneymoneymoney )=> "EBSCO launches new AI features" researchinformation.info/news/
#jarvislike #tools #digitalscholarship #bibliographicdatabase #libraries #bibliothèques #ESR

Research InformationEBSCO launches new AI features - Research InformationNew capabilities are part of company's "ongoing commitment to enhancing the researcher journey and user experience"
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Coalition for Networked Info

New CNI Video: “Building a Community of Practice at Scale: Strategies behind the #DigitalHumanities Core Facility at University of Houston ” explains a novel approach to scale digital humanities research by consolidating infrastructure, training, and interdisciplinary expertise into a resource for #DigitalScholarship production and publication.

Learn more about the work at: youtu.be/yk8zCML425M?si=aeHnJx #HigherEd

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Coalition for Networked Info

At our December meeting Marisa Parham and James Shulman discussed the recommendations within and the process of developing the final report of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Commission on Fostering and Sustaining Diverse Digital Scholarship: "Other Stories to Tell: Recovery Scholarship and the Infrastructure for Digital Humanities."

📹 Watch it at: youtu.be/pVJ0s7qPUNA

www.youtube.com - YouTubeAuf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
#DigitalHumanities#ACLS#DigitalScholarship
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Mark Carrigan

Six arguments about scholarly use of LLMs

Summarised by Claude 3.5 from my knowledge base:

  1. The framing of conversational agents as mere tools misses their real potential as intellectual partners in our work. When we approach them as interlocutors – participants in an ongoing dialogue about our ideas – we create opportunities for genuine insight and creative development. This isn’t about outsourcing the mundane aspects of academic work, but rather about finding new ways to think through our ideas by articulating them to a responsive (if limited) partner. The reflexive dialogue which emerges helps us clarify what we’re trying to say, often in unexpected ways.
  2. The distinction between thinking with GenAI and using it to substitute for thought is crucial. When we thoughtlessly outsource tasks to these systems, we risk amplifying their inherent weaknesses – hallucination, common knowledge problems, and the perpetuation of biases. But when we approach them reflectively, being clear about our intentions and expectations, we can harness their capabilities while maintaining intellectual control over the process. This means accepting that using these systems well often requires more rather than less cognitive effort.
  3. The threat of automation isn’t primarily about a sudden replacement of academic labor, but rather about how individual choices made under pressure could normalize practices that make systematic automation seem inevitable. If we respond to productivity pressures by using GenAI to accelerate our work without reflection, we demonstrate that key aspects of academic labor can be automated. The real risk is that we participate in creating conditions which make our own obsolescence more likely.
  4. While GenAI offers both quantitative improvements (doing more in less time) and qualitative improvements (enriching how we work), privileging the former over the latter is dangerous. The academy already suffers from hyperproductivity and metric fixation. Using these tools primarily to increase output will only intensify these problems. Instead, we should focus on how they can help us work in more varied, creative and fulfilling ways.
  5. What I call an ecology of ideas represents an approach to GenAI that prioritizes its role in nurturing and developing our intellectual work. Rather than seeing these systems as labor-saving devices, we should understand them as part of an environment which can support creative and analytical thinking. This means being attentive to how different tools and practices interact, creating conditions conducive to scholarly thought rather than just efficient production.
  6. The remarkable versatility of conversational agents is precisely why they require thoughtful engagement. Unlike template-based systems, they reward careful articulation of context and intent. The more precisely we can explain what we’re trying to achieve, the more effectively they can contribute to our work. This creates a virtuous circle where the effort we put into formulating our requests leads to more sophisticated and helpful responses.
#digitalScholarship#generativeAI#LLMs
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Coalition for Networked Info

In this CNI presentation, Wayne Morse shares insights from his extensive work with Emory University crafting a sustainable #DigitalScholarship ecosystem, showcasing how collaboration among scholars, technologists, and students can drive success despite financial constraints, leadership changes, and evolving technology. #HigherEd #DigitalTransformation

Watch at youtu.be/erDZ53PmNnY?si=-DFTv-

www.youtube.com - YouTubeAuf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
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