Quality Digital Humanities Project

1.)User Friendly Interface

The project whether it be an archive, database, map or whatever else should be both easy to access and to operate. Some projects that we have reviewed such as Old Bailey Online were very complex and difficult to use and that is not a very desirable trait for a project.

2.)Organized

A good project will be set up in a way where it is very easy to maneuver through all of the information. This is much more possible when the project is very clean with links available to easily access each part of the site. A bad example of this would be artintheblood.com, because the only way to navigate through it is with just two buttons, and once one leaves a page on this website it is very hard to return to it later because it is severely disorganized.

3.)Visually Appealing

In my opinion, a person will have much more fun navigating through a project if it is pleasing to look at. Clever layouts and color schemes can help catch the reader’s eye and keep them interested in the subject.

4.)Credible

It is very important that the project lists out sources, so the scholars that view the project are able to see where the information came from. If the project is using unreliable sources, the readers would be able to find out and dictate whether or not it actually is a useful project.

5.)Importance

The information on the project should appeal to some type of scholar or academic field. Anybody can put information about anything on the internet, but for a project to have quality in the eyes of a scholar, the information being put on it must be useful knowledge.

A good digital humanities project is made up of knowledge. Out of the five points mentioned above the most important is the last. When push comes to shove, judgement on a project will come down to how useful the knowledge can be to the public eye; whether it be for scholarly use or recreational use.

A good project allows scholars to ask questions by showing them different perspectives or interpretations to certain subjects. Projects should be unique and present information in a way which scholars have never seen before.