New web platform enables easier access to research methods in digital and experimental Humanities

-    It can be challenging for many researchers to find the equipment, the right materials or educational opportunities related to new research methods. Huminfra will make it easier for them to conduct the research they want with the methods they want to use – regardless of where in Sweden they live, says Marianne Gullberg, Professor of Psycholinguistics at Lund University and Director of Huminfra and Lund University Humanities Lab.

Research in the Humanities is multi-facetted and researchers use several different approaches, methods and techniques. It includes everything from the use of eye-tracking to understand school children’s reading development, to AI-based image analysis to study rock carvings, laser scanning and computer animation of archaeological finds, tests of ChatGPT, and studies of medieval maps combined with register data of population statistics. These new approaches require new methods and expertise.

Huminfra – a consortium of 12 universities and organisations

Huminfra is a consortium consisting of 12 Swedish universities and organisations, or nodes, as they are called within the infrastructure. The beta version of huminfra.se, which has been available online since mid-January, initially contains resources from Lund and Umeå universities. During the spring, the resources of the remaining nodes will be added, and the web platform is expected to be fully operational by the summer of 2023. Meanwhile, other ongoing work within the infrastructure include developing new national method courses as well as preparing and applying for Swedish membership in the European Research Infrastructure Consortium, The Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities (DARIAH-EU).

-    Huminfra provides Swedish Humanities with a competitive edge and new opportunities for impact by giving researchers in Sweden easier access to both Swedish and international tools and resources. In addition, it gives international researchers new avenues to find unique Swedish materials and resources – such as data on languages spoken in Sweden, and Swedish cultural heritage data, says Marianne Gullberg.