Brown University is launching a digital scholarship initiative to be administered jointly by the University Library and the Office of the Dean of the Faculty. This Mellon funded project will support the development, publication, and preservation of digital publications, with an emphasis on long-form, interactive digital monographs by Brown faculty in the humanities and humanistic social sciences.

Recognizing the importance of encouraging and supporting new forms of scholarship, Brown’s initiative will put in place editorial and enhanced technical staff resources to guide and facilitate the development of faculty-authored digital publications. The process will include building and testing a prototype infrastructure for digital publications that includes editorial and specialized design assistance, dissemination and preservation services, and new systems of peer review and scholarly validation.

Digital scholarship has deep roots at Brown, and the Mellon grant will extend further the Library’s capabilities as a central force in advancing new forms and methods of scholarly communication at Brown and beyond.  As part of this initiative, the Library will hire a Digital Scholarly Editor who, along with other institutionally- and grant-funded project staff, will work closely with faculty on developing their scholarship into digital publications, as well as work with presses and other publication organizations that will produce and disseminate this digital scholarship.  Establishment of this program will also provide opportunities for the next generation of scholars, at both the graduate and undergraduate level, to gain experience and skills in the creation of digital scholarship in the humanities.