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Happy fifth birthday, Humanities Commons!

Looking back in some old shared files recently, I came across some of the early descriptions of MLA Commons, the first network of what would become the multi-network Humanities Commons. From the beginning, the network was conceived of as a space for community, especially for extending conversations happening at the MLA’s annual convention throughout the year, and for experimenting with ways to publish and share scholarship. The subsequent development of Humanities Commons and the open access repository CORE has allowed the community to extend those conversations even further. I look forward to seeing the ways this community-driven scholarly infrastructure develops in the future, with further interdisciplinarity and more features to support the work of scholars.

In my work with the Commons over the past few years, we’ve had the chance to experiment with different kinds of virtual events, including HC summer camps, a Twitter conference, and, most recently, a Teaching Remotely CORE Deposit Party (inspired by the deposit party hosted by MSU Commons). I have also had the privilege of presenting the Commons to a range of audiences at conferences, libraries, and campus centers. In those conversations, I underscore the value of the open access repository—with structured metadata and a promise of preservation—being integrated with the social aspects of the Commons, like profiles and groups. The Commons gives us tools to shape our scholarly presence online and by doing so we contribute to a network that is not-for-profit, invested in open source software and open access scholarship.

For an organization like the MLA, MLA Commons and Humanities Commons not only provides a way for members to communicate and share scholarship, it has also provided space for the collaborative work of the organization to take shape, whether it’s a group for scholars in particular a subfield, a site for a committee’s public-facing work, or a home for an interactive, open access publication like Digital Pedagogy in the Humanities.

Here’s to five years of Humanities Commons, and many more to come!

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HC User Spotlight: Luís Henriques

Balloons

Luís Henriques is a musicologist and PhD candidate at the University of Évora. In this special birthday-edition HC User Spotlight, he reflects on how he has used CORE (over 250 deposits!) and sites hosted on the Commons to share his work.

I joined the Humanities Commons community in early 2017. The platform had launched in late 2016, so it was still in a very initial stage with not many users. I remember that at the time I was disappointed with surge of commercial advertisement and the introduction of a “premium” feature in academia.edu, where I had all of my research output. After reading an article posted by a senior scholar and user of that website where he raised some interesting questions for reflection, I started looking for a non-commercial platform. I found a 3-minute video of Nicky Agate at OpenCon 2016 on the The Right to Research Coalition YouTube channel. This led me to search for HC and found the website. In short, this is the story of me finding the Humanities Commons website. Continue reading “HC User Spotlight: Luís Henriques”

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Top CORE Deposits of October 2019

a gloomily lit forest

The most downloaded CORE deposits in October 2019 included books, articles, and five syllabi—on topics ranging from American horror films to women’s medical writing:

  1. James Gifford, Modernism. Syllabus.
  2. Caitlin Duffy, EGL 194: Intro to Film. Syllabus.
  3. Edith Hall, The Return of Ulysses: A Cultural History of Homer’s Odyssey. Book.
  4. Ilana Gershon, “Media Ideologies: An Introduction.” Article.
  5. Ayesha Majid, “Marketing strategy of Lenovo laptops.” Report.
  6. Anastasia Salter, Introduction to Texts & Technology. Syllabus.
  7. Titus Stahl, “What is Immanent Critique?” Article.
  8. Rebecca Ruth Gould, Theorising Violence: Colonial Encounters and Anticolonial Reactions. Syllabus.
  9. Oscar Martinez-Peñate, El Salvador Sociología General. Book.
  10. Krista Roberts, Women Medical Writers/Writing Women’s Medicine. Syllabus.
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Most Downloaded CORE Deposits in September 2019

close up of typewriter letters

The most downloaded work in CORE last month:

  1. Oscar Martinez-Peñate, El Salvador Sociología General. Book.
  2. Titus Stahl, “What is Immanent Critique?” Article.
  3. Ayesha Majid, “Marketing strategy of Lenovo laptops.” Report.
  4. Ilana Gershon, “Media Ideologies: An Introduction.” Article.
  5. Hanna de Vries, “Collective nouns.” Book chapter.
  6. Edith Hall, The Return of Ulysses: A Cultural History of Homer’s Odyssey. Book.
  7. Anastasia Salter, Introduction to Texts & Technology. Syllabus.
  8. David Bawden and Lyn Robinson, “Library and Information Science.” Encyclopaedia article.
  9. James Gifford, Modernism. Syllabus.
  10. James E. Dobson, ENGL64.05: Cultural Analytics. Syllabus.
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August 2019’s Most Downloaded CORE Deposits

rows of bricks

The most downloaded works in CORE in August 2019:

  1. Oscar Martinez-Peñate, El Salvador Sociología General. Book.
  2. Matthew Kirschenbaum, ENGL 479P: BookLab. Syllabus.
  3. Titus Stahl, “What is Immanent Critique?” Article.
  4. Ilana Gershon, “Media Ideologies: An Introduction.” Article.
  5. Hanna de Vries, “Collective nouns.” Book chapter.
  6. Ayesha Majid, “Marketing strategy of Lenovo laptops.” Report.
  7. Shawn Graham, EX FIGLINIS: The Network Dynamics of the Tiber Valley Brick Industry in the Hinterland of Rome. Book.
  8. Cameron Neylon, “Research excellence is a neo-colonial agenda (and what might be done about it).” Book chapter.
  9. Brigitte Fielder, “Animal Humanism: Race, Species, and Affective Kinship in Nineteenth-Century Abolitionism.” Article.
  10. Johann-Mattis List, Pragmatics of Language Evolution. Book.
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Top CORE Deposits of July 2019

many seashells

The most downloaded CORE deposits in July cover diverse topics, from computer science research to the racial politics of music history:

  1. Oscar Martinez-Peñate, El Salvador Sociología General. Book.
  2. Nicholas Rinehart, “Black Beethoven and the Racial Politics of Music History.” Article.
  3. Ayesha Majid, “Marketing strategy of Lenovo laptops.” Report.
  4. Titus Stahl, “What is Immanent Critique?” Article.
  5. Ilana Gershon, “Media Ideologies: An Introduction.” Article.
  6. Hanna de Vries, “Collective nouns.” Book chapter.
  7. Camille Akmut, “An Introduction to Computer Science Research.” Bibliography.
  8. Marlene Manoff, “Archive and Library,” Essay.
  9. David Bawden, “The Dark Side of Information: Overload, Anxiety and Other Paradoxes and Pathologies.” Article.
  10. Brigitte Fielder, “Animal Humanism: Race, Species, and Affective Kinship in Nineteenth-Century Abolitionism.” Article.
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June’s Most Downloaded in CORE

wooden path leading to the beach

Top downloads in June 2019 include syllabi, books, white papers, and more:

  1. Oscar Martinez-Peñate, El Salvador Sociología General. Book.
  2. Iris Agmon, “On the Civil Struggle of Academics in Turkey: The Peace Petition Signers.” Article.
  3. Ilana Gershon, “Media Ideologies: An Introduction.” Article.
  4. Titus Stahl, “What is Immanent Critique?” Article.
  5. Ayesha Majid, “Marketing strategy of Lenovo laptops.” Report.
  6. Brian O’Leary and Kevin Hawkins, Exploring Open Access Ebook Usage, ed. Charles Watkinson, Lucy Montgomery, Cameron Neylon, and Katherine Skinner. White paper.
  7. Brigitte Fielder, “Animal Humanism: Race, Species, and Affective Kinship in Nineteenth-Century Abolitionism.” Article.
  8. Justin M Power, Guido W Grimm, and Johann-Mattis List, “Evolutionary Dynamics in the Dispersal of Sign Languages.” Article.
  9. Nicholas Rinehart, “Black Beethoven and the Racial Politics of Music History.” Article.
  10. Sergio Cigada, Études sur le Symbolisme, edited by Marisa Verna. Book.
  11. Alison Booth, Brandon Walsh, Digital Literary Studies Syllabus. Syllabus.
  12. Erika Supria Honisch, Historical Sound Studies Seminar Syllabus. Syllabus.
  13. David Bawden, “The Dark Side of Information: Overload, Anxiety and Other Paradoxes and Pathologies.” Article.
  14. Elton Barker and Joel Christensen, A Beginner’s Guide to Homer. Book.
  15. Isaías Albertin de Moraes, “A Imigração Haitiana para o Brasil: Causas e Desafios.” Article.
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May’s Most Downloaded Work in CORE

track with lanes numbered one to six

The most downloaded work in May 2019 included a white paper on open access ebook usage and a digital literary studies syllabus.

  1. Brian O’Leary and Kevin Hawkins, Exploring Open Access Ebook Usage, ed. Charles Watkinson, Lucy Montgomery, Cameron Neylon, and Katherine Skinner. White paper.
  2. Brigitte Fielder, “Animal Humanism: Race, Species, and Affective Kinship in Nineteenth-Century Abolitionism.” Article.
  3. Sergio Cigada, Études sur le Symbolisme, edited by Marisa Verna. Book.
  4. Titus Stahl, “What is Immanent Critique?” Article.
  5. Ilana Gershon, “Media Ideologies: An Introduction.” Article.
  6. Oscar Martinez-Peñate, El Salvador Sociología General. Book.
  7. Nicholas Rinehart, “Black Beethoven and the Racial Politics of Music History.” Article.
  8. Ayesha Majid, “Marketing strategy of Lenovo laptops.” Report.
  9. Alison Booth, Brandon Walsh, Digital Literary Studies Syllabus. Syllabus.
  10. Samuel Moore, Common Struggles: Policy-based vs. Scholar-led Approaches to Open Access in the Humanities. Thesis.