Scholarly (R)evolution: Roles of E-texts in the Research Process in the Humanities

Introduction
The study on the roles of electronic texts (e-texts) in the
research process in the humanities investigates how
academics in literary and historical studies work with electronic
textual resources and how interaction with electronic texts
affects their research processes. It is situated in the context of
discussions about the cultural revolution triggered by the
development of digital media. The common comparison with
the print revolution suggests that textual sources are at the centre
of the change, which is particularly significant for scholars in
the humanities. Since text is the basic working material for
research in the humanities, the provision of text in an adequate
electronic form is crucial for qualitatively new applications of
computer technology in humanistic disciplines. At the same
time, an understanding of scholars’ interactions with e-texts is
critical for decisions on how to present existing sources and
for any work on further developments.
In his seminal book, Radiant Textuality, Jerome McGann talks
about the ‘material revolution’ in which we reconceive the
entity of our cultural archive of materials. Since these
repositories provide the basis for all traditional scholarly work,
institutional changes have been having a radical effect on the
traditional scholarship (McGann 2001). The acceptance of
digital resources in the humanities has not been as clear and as
decisive as in sciences, but reports from different countries over
the last few years point to a positive shift in the quantity and
quality of scholars’ engagement with information and
communication technologies (Houghton, Steele, and Henty
2003; The British Academy 2005; American Council of Learned
Societies 2006)
A range of studies explored the information behaviour of the
humanities scholar; some were focused on the use of digital
resources in the humanities but none dealt primarily with the
use of electronic texts. Several studies have been conducted,
dealing briefly with the use of electronic texts as part of a
broader investigation (Massey-Burzio 1999; Brockman et al.
2001) or surveying the use of a particular electronic resource
(Flanders 1998; Porter 1998; Duff and Cherry 2000; Cherry
and Duff 2002). The literature suggests that electronic texts,
while much appreciated by those who use them, have not
become widely accepted, even in disciplines that are heavily
based on textual studies (Warwick 1999; Brockman et al. 2001).
Studies of citation patterns, such as Graham’s investigation of
citations in historians’ professional publications, show that
electronic resources do not rate highly in published works
(Graham 2000, 2001). However, citation patterns may indicate
intellectual exchanges to some extent, but they are not an
accurate reflection of the use of electronic resources. Palmer
(2005) points out that there are scholars who have begun to
create digital resources for themselves, which is one of the
indications of how scholars wish to engage new technologies
in their research.
There is a gap in our knowledge about the roles of electronic
texts in the research process so we need to explore various
aspects of scholars’ interactions with e-texts and explain how
these interactions contribute to the research process.
Methodology
The exploratory study on the roles of electronic text in the
research enquiry used qualitative methodology to
investigate research projects in which e-texts have been used
and the nature of academics’ interactions with these texts. The
following research questions guided the development of the
study:
1. How do academic researchers in literary and historical
studies work with electronic texts?
• How and for what purposes do researchers interact with
electronic texts?
• How do researchers think and feel about the research
context in which they work with e-texts?
2. How are the interactions with e-texts integrated in the
research process?
3. What is the contribution of e-texts to the research process?
4. What are the obstacles and aids in engagement with
electronic texts?
The study has dealt with the use of electronic texts as a resource
and tool, as opposed to projects that aim to produce electronic
textual editions or enhance electronic texts in any way. The
participants saw their work as traditional humanities research
or discussed their projects aiming to have traditional outputs.
Investigated research projects were in the areas of literary and
historical studies, because both fields are known for extensive
and sophisticated use of textual resources. Participants from
six universities in two Australian cities and one participant from a university in the USA (altogether 16 participants) participated
in the study and discussed thirty research projects.
The term ‘electronic text’ in this study means any textual
material in electronic form, used as a primary source in literary
and historical studies. Primary materials are usually poetry,
stories, novels, plays, and a variety of historical documents —
government, public or private. Digitised archival copies of
magazines and newspapers, as well as web-sites and blogs,
could be electronic texts as defined here when they are used as
primary sources. Electronic texts could be written or spoken
(e.g., oral histories), digitised or created electronically,
stand-alone documents or part of electronic databases and
editions.
The study has had two phases. The first phase included in-depth
semi-structured interviews, examination of participants’
manuscripts and published works as well as examination of
some e-texts they mentioned during interviews. The second
phase involved detailed data-gathering from a small group of
academics drawn from the participants in the first phase. The
grounded theory techniques described by Strauss (1987), Strauss
and Corbin (1998a; 1998b) and Glaser (1998) were used for
data analysis.
Roles of e-texts
This paper presents findings directly related to roles of
e-texts in the research process but the understanding of
the roles is based on other findings that emerged from the study.
Firstly, scholars in the study perceived e-texts as fluid entities,
which combine different media and formats in a way that does
not match the traditional divisions of library materials. The
perceived fluidity of electronic textuality leads to converging
and transformed practices of networking and information
searching. These practices combine aspects of networking,
chaining, browsing and web-surfing in traditional and new ways
so that the pattern of a new information behaviour emerges. I
called this new practice netchaining (Sukovic 2006).
The roles of e-texts are based to a large extent on working with
e-texts as fluid entities. Four main roles of e-texts in the research
process emerged from the study.
1. Support in finding documents and information. Search
capabilities combined with the provision of full text documents
provide a powerful aid in information discovery. E-texts provide
support in information retrieval and discovery of primary
materials; they lead to other sources and aid in working with
analogue sources; supplement hard copies and contribute to the
current awareness.
This is the most fundamental role. Not only do information
discovery and retrieval provide a basis for all other roles, but
the nature of scholars’ interaction with e-texts during the
retrieval determines other roles to a large extent (Role 3, for
example).
2. Aid in managing the research process. Access to e-texts
allows scholars to plan visits to remote collections; aids the
publication process and provides sources for some research
activities (e.g., ordering digital images, confirming publication
rights, and exchanging files with collaborators and publishers).
3. Aid in investigation of the topic. The multiplicity of sources,
formats and textual information that could be quickly brought
together is a basis of exploration that allows scholars to see
different meanings and aspects of the topic. Exploration of
research questions through interactions with e-texts took four
main forms:
• exploration of patterns and connections by searching and
comparing diverse bodies of electronic texts;
• production and/or interrogation of textual databases to
explore research questions;
• exploration of electronically born literature and
• exploration as part of the academic research to be used in
creative.
4. Contribution to writing and presenting research results. The
use of e-texts improves the speed and accuracy in writing by
allowing copying and pasting of passages. Interactions with
e-texts and digital media in general promote new, less structured
and linear ways of thinking about the topic, which influences
the academic writing style. From subtle changes in presenting
the argument to more radical combinations of academic and
creative writing styles, the participants reflected on different
ways in which electronic textuality was influencing their
traditional academic writing. Interactions with e-texts also
encourage thinking about alternative modes for presenting
research findings that do not fit traditional academic genres.
E-texts contribute to the final research stages in a complex
process of negotiation with the research tradition.
These roles serve two main functions:
• aid in providing basis for research (support roles) or
• aid in exploring the topic and presenting research findings
(substantive roles).
E-texts provide basis for research, or play support roles, when
they make some aspects of the research process quicker and
easier. The speed and convenience, or frustration sometimes
associated with working with electronic sources, may influence
the process, but they normally do not affect the scholar’s
intellectual engagement with the topic in a significant way. The
first two roles, Support in finding information and Aid in
managing research process, are support roles. The fourth,
Contribution to writing and presenting research results, plays a support role when e-texts help in improving the speed and
accuracy.
E-texts aid in exploring the topic and presenting research
findings, or play substantive roles, when they take part in
shaping the scholar’s thinking process. Interactivity is an
essential element in following hunches, testing hypotheses and
making connections in a way that was impossible or impractical
without e-texts. The scholar’s thinking about the topic develops
in the interplay with the e-text and this experience can influence
the presentation of research results. The third role, Aid in
investigation of the topic, is a substantive content-oriented role.
In Contribution to writing and presenting research results,
e-texts have a substantive role when they influence the writing
style and presentation of research results.
Conclusion
Understanding of the roles of e-texts in the research process
contributes to our understanding of the envisaged
scholarly change as well as information needs and behaviour
in the humanities. It confirms the recent reports on the change
of research practices resulting from the use of ICTs and explores
the impacts of interactions with e-texts on the research process.
The study can have practical implications for the development
of digital collections and software applications, approaches to
text encoding and development of training programs and
institutional policies.
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