Research projects

Institute for the Future of the Book A small think-and-do tank investigating the evolution of intellectual discourse as it shifts from printed pages to networked screens.

The Electronic Textual Cultures Lab The ETCL develops reading environments for electronic scholarly texts that will facilitate activities central to humanities research. The lab conducts original research, develops new ways of disseminating information, and fosters the innovative adaptation of existing tools. Its cross-disciplinary work in the areas of data-harvesting, textual content analysis, and document encoding puts it at the forefront of a global conversation about the future of communication.

Open Source Publishing
A graphic design collective that uses only Free, Libre and Open Source Software. Closely affiliated with the Brussels based foundation for art and media Constant, OSP aims to test the possibilities and realities of doing design, illustration, cartography and typography using a range of F/LOSS tools.

Mute Mute is an online magazine dedicated to exploring culture and politics after the net. Mute combines quarterly issues dedicated to specific topics (Precarious Labour, The Knowledge Commons, etc) with regularly updated articles and reviews. The site also features ongoing coverage of relevant news and events contributed by ourselves and our readers. As well as the online magazine, Mute also publishes a quarterly book (aka Mute Vol. 2) which features selections from current issues together with other online content, specially commissioned and co-published projects, and relevant historical material. Finally, Mute is also an online multi-media resource, with a Public Library where readers can contribute reviews as well as upload media files which flesh out and diversify media history and other of Mute’s perennial concerns.

E-boekenstad Amsterdam (Dutch) is het onderzoeksproject van de Hogeschool van Amsterdam waarin alle elementen van het digitaal leren en lezen in het hoger onderwijs worden onderzocht en beschreven. Initiatiefnemer van het onderzoek is het Lectoraat Electronisch Uitgeven van het HvA-domein Media, Creatie en Informatie. Samen met het bedrijfsleven (boekuitgevers, distribuanten, e-lezer fabrikanten, etc.), studenten en docenten onderzoekt het lectoraat de bruikbaarheid van e-lezers, vergelijkt zij e-lezers met print en beeldscherm en bepaalt waar voordelen voor e-learning liggen. Daarnaast worden de gevolgen voor de huidige bedrijfskolom nauwkeurig in kaart gebracht. Wat zijn de gevolgen voor auteursrechten, boekuitgevers en distributie? Tot slot wordt uiteraard aandacht besteed aan alle technische en procesmatige kanten aan e-learning. Also see  www.inke.ca/ and e-boekenstad.wikispaces.com/

INKE – Implementing New Knowledge Environment The Implementing New Knowledge Environments (INKE) project has been described, in brief, as an interdisciplinary initiative spawned in the methodological commons of the digital humanities that seeks to understand the future of reading through reading’s past and to explore the future of the book from the perspective of its history. Learn more. For this essential work, INKE brings together researchers and stakeholders at the forefront of computing in the humanities, text analysis, information studies, usability and interface design into a network comprised of those who are best-poised to understand the nature of the human record as it intersects with the computer, with its work divided at present into three key research groupings: textual studiesmodelling and prototyping, and interface design. INKE is directed by Ray Siemens (U Victoria) and its work in 2012-13 is led by Siemens, Richard Cunningham (Acadia U), Stan Ruecker (IIT Institute of Design), Lynne Siemens (U Victoria), Jon Bath (U Saskatchewan), and Jon Saklofske (Acadia U); past leaders have also included Teresa Dobson (U British Columbia), Alan Galey (U Toronto), and Claire Warwick (University College, London).