DH Infrastructure Needs

* Supporting/Sustaining/Maintaining Large Digital Projects

* Supporting Classes and Workshops

* Providing Space for Low-Stakes Individual Experimentation with New Tools

Varieties of DH Infrastructure

* Local server hardware in DH Centers and Libraries

* Local server hardware maintained by Information Technology groups

* Cloud-based servers

* Computer Labs

* Laptop Carts

* National shared resources (Dariah/Compute Canada)

Barriers to Building Flexible DH infrastructure for Experimentation and Teaching

* Local security policies and concerns

* Dependencies/set-up complexity

* Individual laptop / platform differences

Use Case: GC Digital Initiatives

* GCDI - cuny.is/gcdi

* Praxis Class - cuny.is/dhpraxis15

* GC Digital Fellows workshops - cuny.is/digitalfellows

* GC Digital Research Institute - cuny.is/dri

What is DH Box?

Virtual computer

Pre-installed DH tools

Instant learning environment

Tools

Command line

Text Editor

Omeka

RStudio

IPython

NLTK/MALLET

Wordpress

Docker

Portability

Ephemerality

Instant instances

DH Box Principles

Access

Sustainability

Experimentation and Play

Access

Lower barrier to entry

Shortcut to experimentation

Catharsis of accomplishment

Drawbacks

Delays configuration training

Requires technical knowledge

Creates "illusion of ease"

Sustainability

Preserving code

Maintaining ecosystem

Transferring skills

Experimentation and Play

An experiment in experimentation

Built by faculty and students

Sharing DH methods