23 October 2008 - Dr Jimmy Devins TD, Minister of State at the Department of Science and Education, officially launched the DHO on 22 October 2008. He was welcomed by RIA President Professor Nicholas Canny, RIA Secretary Professor Jane Conroy, and the Director of the Digital Humanities Observatory, Dr Susan Schreibman. The launch was a tremendous success as over 150 invited guests enjoyed fascinating conversation and were treated to an engaging series of posters presented by researchers from throughout the Island.
Professor Nicholas Canny, President of the RIA, warmly welcomed Minister Devins and expressed his appreciation of the government's confidence and foresight in investing in the DHO as part of the larger HSIS initiative under PRTLI 4. Dr Devins responded with his own great pride and that of the government in being able to invest in such an innovative and forward looking area of scholarly endeavour.
He further reminded those present of the value that he and the government place on 'creating an infrastructure that will allow Ireland to leverage its tremendous wealth in third level education and to use its rich cultural and intellectual heritage to build for the future.' The Minister noted that the work of the DHO, originating as it does, 'from the national collaborative programme, Humanities Serving Irish Society (HSIS), is an excellent illustration of the tremendous contribution digital technology is making to scholarship on the island of Ireland'.
The full text of Dr Devin's speech is available.
The contrast between the venerable surroundings of Academy House and the digital projects being demonstrated that evening was not lost on the Minister as he delivered a speech in praise of the innovative initiative to over 150 invited guests. He closed his talk by noting that the 'activities of these partner institutions, many of whom have been demonstrating their projects here tonight, gives you a sense of the extraordinary range of material coming online and becoming more readily available to scholars in Ireland and elsewhere. I do not think it is an over-statement to suggest that, by making these projects available via a shared technical infrastructure and by promoting awareness of digital practice, the work of the DHO will revolutionize the way researchers go about their work in the future.
Special guest, Former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, was warmly received and took special interest in the Academy sponsored project 'The Doegen Records Web Project' which explores recordings made of Irish speakers during a project officially launched by his own father in 1926. A digital recording of his father's speech from that time featured prominently in the poster session and can be listened to on the World Wide Web.
The DHO has in a few short months begun to effectively establish its presence and deliver on its pledge to become a knowledge resource providing outreach and education on a broad range of digital humanities topics. As a digital repository it positioning itself to provide data management, curation, and discovery services supporting long-term access to, and greater exploitation of, digital resources in the creation of new models, methodologies, and paradigms for 21st century scholarship.
Activities of the DHO include organising the very successful first Digital Humanities Summer School in Ireland; a series of internationally-recognised speakers during its autumn speaker series; and delivering workshops on topics including digital project management, text encoding, and digital imaging. Over the coming months the DHO will launch a community-focused web portal and Database of Research and Projects in Ireland (DRAPIer). DRAPIer will help to raise the visibility of digital humanities projects throught the island and connect researchers and resources in the humanities in Ireland and throughout the world. An article about the DHO by Dick Ahlstrom, The Irish Times Science Editor, appeared in The Irish Times on Thursday 23 October.
A gallery of photographs from the evening is also available.
