Katherine L. Walter
Co-Director, Center for Digital Research in the Humanities
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Building collaborative partnerships in digital humanities research can help strengthen university ties, contribute to interdisciplinary inquiry, and enrich the scholarly work of faculty. The Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln began in 1998 as a cooperative endeavor of the University Libraries and the College of Arts and Sciences. Today, the Center enjoys strong administrative commitment, a diversified financial portfolio, and increasing numbers of faculty and graduate students engaged in digital humanities projects. Its varied activities exhibit a commitment to collaborative research approaches and to partnering with other institutions, agencies, and with the University of Nebraska Press. Among federally-funded projects are ones such as the Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Online Edition (NEH), the Walt Whitman Archive (NEH, IMLS), and Omaha Indian Artifacts and Images (IMLS). Recent developments include an agreement with the University of Nebraska Press to create a new digital, expanded edition of the Calendar of the Letters of Willa Cather, and a new IMLS-funded award to study interoperability of metadata with Brown University and the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia. Collaborative projects such as these benefit all members of the research teams — from undergraduates to senior faculty — by offering opportunities for developing new skills and new perspectives.
