Today I’ve completed a terrific course from Library Juice Academy, Introduction to Digital Humanities for Librarians.
The last assignment involved thinking about what you might do in your own work. One option was to create a professional development plan, and I’m sharing mine here so I can come back to it!
I’m very interested in continuing to learn more about DH, both for my own (historical) interest, and also to see if there are aspects I can use to support the historical societies / museums / archives with which I work. I’m thrilled to see that there is a wealth of opportunity for learning “out there.”
Here is my personal development plan for continuing my DH journey, with a focus on learning skills for practical application.
1) Complete DH tutorials available online to learn skills. For example, from Programming Historian:
- Introduction to Encoding Texts in TEI (Part 1) (and TEI by Example)
- Corpus Analysis with Voyant Tools (and Miriam Posner’s Tutorial for Voyant)
- Python Introduction and Installation
- From Sources to Data: Designing a Database for the Humanities and Social Sciences with nodegoat
- Intro to Google Maps and Google Earth
- Introduction to Map Warper
- Introduction to the Principles of Linked Open Data
- Installing QGIS 2.0 and Adding Layers, Geocoding Historical Data using QGIS, Georeferencing in QGIS 2.0
- Installing Omeka, Up and Running with Omeka.net, Creating an Omeka Exhibit
2) Learn what’s going in in educational institutions near me.
- University of Toronto has a Critical Digital Humanities Initiative (CDHI).
- Subscribe to emailing list to learn of future events (done).
- Watch videos on the University of Toronto’s Digital Humanities Network YouTube channel such as DHN Lightning Lunch: How to Build (and Maintain) a DH Project.
- Explore University of Toronto’s DH scholarship tools available.
3) Explore DH societies and their networks and activities.
- Canadian Society for Digital Humanities whose objective is “to draw together humanists who are engaged in digital and computer-assisted research, teaching, and creation.”
- Association for Computers and the Humanities whose “most important activities center on cultivating and strengthening the field of digital humanities, and providing guidance and support to those entering the field.”
4) Explore DH journals and publications.
- Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, an international peer-reviewed journal.
- University of Toronto lists many DH publications.
5) Consider attending DH summer courses (and explore the curricula offered).
- DH at Guelph University Summer Workshops 2026
- University of Montreal Digital Humanities Summer Institute
- DH at Oxford Summer School (I wish!)
March 14, 2026 Addendum
Instructor advises that I also consider adding in the R tutorials from Programming Historian, check out the publication DHQ (Digital Humanities Quarterly), and look at Reviews in Digital Humanities to find out about projects.