Does Every Research Library Need a Digital Humanities Center?

The digital humanities (DH) are attracting considerable attention and funding at the same time that this nascent field is striving for an identity. Some research libraries are making significant investments by creating digital humanities centers. However, questions about whether such investments are warranted persist across the cultural heritage community. To help directors confront these issues, Schaffner and Erway familiarized themselves with the DH scholars' point of view--about their processes, their issues, and their needs. Schaffner and Erway followed online discussions, attended scholarly conferences, read the literature, and took advantage of opportunities to talk to scholars about what they do, how they do it, and where they would like assistance. In this essay, Schaffner and Erway argue that library directors can engage with DH along a continuum of investment. Developments in DH generate demand for technical skills that are still rare among scholars and librarians alike. The needs and desires of digital humanists can be addressed in a nuanced way, and tailored to demand. Most institutions will find their appropriate solutions along a spectrum of possible investments in the digital humanities, and only rarely will a director need to sink resources into a DH center.