Digital Humanities and a New Research Culture

Research data are any information that has been collected, generated, or created to validate original research findings. This essay is focused on data produced by scholars rather than data that are collected and already accessible (e.g. open cultural heritage data). The hypothesis of the paper is that the open research data movement engages two cultures which are guided by different kinds of motives and goals: the administrative or managerial side of the institution that demands opening data and research service infrastructure and provides support in managing and opening data; and the academic researchers’ culture, in which academics collect, produce, and reuse data. One challenge is thus to reconcile institutional requirements with researchers’ motivations. The objectives of this article are to present two views on open research data from the perspective of institution and researchers, to introduce the role of a data agent as a bridge between administrative services and academics, to analyse the impact of the emerging research culture on the transformation of the humanities, and to highlight the role of the digital humanities in the establishment of this new approach. The analysis is based on a case study of Finnish open research data policy, actions, and digital humanities practices using interviews, open data sets, and reports. The open research culture in the humanities represents a move towards a processual approach, in which each research task and piece of data can be traced, validated, and reproduced. When considering the field of digital humanities, there are still a lot of challenges to be met, but, ultimately, the application of open science practices will essentially transform the entire ecosystem of humanities research.