Exploring Inclusive and Sustainable Models for Facilitating Collaborative Digital Scholarship Project Development

Week-long intensive project development institutes such as ILiADS (Institute for Liberal Arts Digital Scholarship) and CODEX (Collaborative for Digital Engagement and Experience) have proven to be successful in jumpstarting or revitalizing projects and fostering strong communities of practitioners. However, not everyone has the ability to devote a full week to a digital project due to a variety of personal and professional constraints and commitments that preclude them from participating as equal members of a team. This might be particularly true for community partners who do not have summers “off” in the way that many academics and students do.

The presenters will share their experiences as conveners and participants of multiple intensive week-long digital project development institutes and their observations on this rewarding but resource-intensive model for stimulating project development and sustaining collaboration over the long-term. 

Further, the presenters will lead a discussion and brainstorming activity to explore opportunities for more inclusive models of sustained collaboration that account for practitioners’ commitments outside of work, such as caregiving, and constraints such as mobility issues, financial resources, geography, and workload. The goal of this interactive session is to foster a conversation about practitioners’ positive and negative experiences with sustained collaboration and to contribute to a set of considerations and recommendations for institute organizers from the perspective of their participants.