Digital humanist shares the new focus of the field and its future.

One of the current projects
for UM's digital humanists
is digitizing manuscripts.

New studies on literature have been conducted in response to the internet boom.

The internet has quickly become a tool for people of all ages to connect to others and learn about topics that have, until recently, been limited only to experts. This new boom has brought about a unique kind of expert, the digital humanist, who brings together studies in the humanities with the digital tools of the twenty-first century. Unbeknownst to many University of Maryland students who inhabit the McKeldin everyday, these experts are located in the basement in the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH) office. In the following video, the assistant director of MITH, Jen Guiliano, talks about how MITH has responded to the ever-growing presence of the internet.

Digital humanities do not only analyze how researchers are using technological tools, but they are also making new ones.

For many it might be hard to imagine integrating technological tools with an old, worn-out Charles Dickens novel, but digital humanists like the ones working with MITH are creating new tools to aid students, teachers and researchers. This isn't limited to e-books. As Guiliano explains, these new tools can be a lot more complex than you think.

In the future, Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities might be more visible and will no longer be hiding in the McKeldin basement.

Within the next year, MITH will be moving out of its small space in the library to a larger office in the Hornbake Library. While it might seem like a normal change, it is a result of the growing popularity of digital humanities. Guiliano shares her opinion on the future of MITH and its effect on the academic world as well as the general public.

Technology and literature is being brought together more drastically than ever before for the advancement of literary studies for researchers, students, and the general public.  The original manuscripts of important documents are becoming accessible to everyone through the work of digital humanists.  Guiliano believes that in the near future many of these private documents and images will be digitized so that anyone with a curiosity can view them.