The following new partner is a university (personnel > 500) active
in the field addressed by the TNP.
- name: Università Ca' Foscari
- type EDU.4
- department/unit: Dipartimento di Studi Indologici ed Estremo-Orientali
- last and first name of contact person Greselin, Federico A.
- title and position in organization: Professor
- full postal address: Ca' Soranzo, San Polo 2169, 30125 Venezia, IT
- intl. phone number: +39- 41-5285570
- intl. fax number: +39- 41-720809
- e-mail: laofei@unive.it
Universität Zürich is not an eligible partner, but participates in the project.
There are no changes to the objectives as formulated in the previous renewal application.
The conference originally planned for May 1998 had to be postponed (see C.5). Meanwhile, the planning of this conference is making good progress and the event will be held on September 25-28, 1998.
Several working groups did not arrive at some of their proposed results due to an underestimation of the required time and resources (see C.5). More realistic goals are set for the coming year . TNP efforts will, from October 1998, be strongly channeled towards the production of a publication (see C.2).
During the present year, a working group on Computing for Non-European Languages was added, according to plan. Proposed plans for future extensions to other humanities areas, such as cultural studies, archaeology, music, art, logic and philosophy, and religion and biblical studies, are not further pursued within the planned 3-year lifetime in this project, although they may be considered for a follow-up project.
Another working group was added, this one addressing Formal Methods in the Humanities. This working group, led by prof. Tito Orlandi (Roma, La Sapienza) will horizontally cross-link with the existing working groups in order to address the general, common problems which all humanities disciplines share when they use computer technology. The group will form a platform for identifying the theoretical foundation of computer applications in the humanities and its implications for humanities scholarship. The group will analyze best practice in humanities computing, starting from a clarification of the link between humanities disciplines and computing, and will aim at recommendations which are compatible Europe-wide. The group will work by organizing high level restricted meetings on the problems of technological platforms for humanities applications, and of the consequences of formal and modeling methodologies. The group will also prepare suggestions for the institution of more explicit methodology teaching in humanities curricula. Supporting actions include the organization of a bibliography and showing the professional openings in humanities computing in general.
Two working groups were added (see B.3). These will continue in the third year. All working groups will have a large degree of own responsibility to arrive at results.
The A-partners (core group) will contribute 20 days (instead of earlier 30 days) to the project. These partners find that contributing more than 20 days at the present level of funding is no longer supportable.
N.B. The conference which was originally planned for May 1998 was postponed to September 1998 (see C.5). This conference, which is presently under active preparation, ought to be considered part of the 1997-1998 activities. In December 1997, a request was sent to the Commission, via TAO, to consider this activity within the 1997-1998 budget. To this day, we have not received an answer to this request.
After September, the common focus will shift towards a finalization of analyses and recommendations. These will be disseminated in the form of a publication on the web and on paper. This dissemination will be in cooperation with the TNP on Speech Communication Sciences and the published web pages will cross-link.
The analysis and recommendations will be based on the previous survey, on previous analyses of the field during the past activities of the TNP (including the conference), and on additional information gathering. Each of the 'vertical' working groups will contribute a chapter covering the following topics:
The 'horizontal' working groups will write special chapters (see below).
The planned ODL web courses in cooperation with ELSNET and the TNP on Speech Communication Sciences will be developed, performed and evaluated. Experiences from these courses will for the basis for identification of best practice and recommendations in ODL.
A session on computational linguistics curricula and teaching is planned at the EACL'99 conference (cooperation with EACL, ELSNET and the TNP on Speech Communication Sciences).
For finalization of recommendations on curricula, intensive cooperation is planned with the TNP on Speech Communication Sciences. The working group will be present at the Spring 1999 conference of the TNP on Speech Communication Sciences.
Finalization of recommendations, writing of book chapter.
Finalization of recommendations, writing of book chapter.
At the working group meeting in May 1998, a selection will be made among the following specific activities:
Planning of intensive programmes for training teachers.
Final recommendations for a European master's (including programme minimum requirements and indicators of minimal acquired competence).
Finalize the content of modules and units with ref. to credit and certification (in case of approval of the CDA application).
Evaluation and selection of programmes in other non-European languages which could benefit from active cooperation.
Evaluation of pilot on Akan, possible extension to other languages.
Continue work on an pilot Introductory Course on African Linguistics, including multimedia teaching aids and computational linguistics awareness.
A working group meeting will be organized at the University in Joensuu in the spring of 1999, in collaboration with the ALLC.
Finalization of work on core curricula components and on requirements and prerequisites for university level courses covering textual computing.
The proposals for core curricula components will be tested out at a summer school planned for three weeks in Glasgow in the summer of 1999. Participating universities are the universities of Crete, Cork, Joensuu, Bergen, Roma (La Sapienza) and Glasgow.
The outcome of the following activities will be gathered in the special chapter for the book:
Organizing a high level restricted meeting on the problems of technological platforms for humanities applications, of humanities problems formalization, and of modeling in the humanities.
Preparing suggestions for the institution of methodology disciplines inside the curricula of humanities computing, taking care of how to teach them, and relations to be established between scholars of mathematics, engineering, linguists, philosophers, and others.
Organizing and disseminating a new web bibliography of humanities computing, on the basis of the one published by Giovanni Adamo (Rome, La Sapienza).
Showing the professional openings in the frame of research about Humanities Computing in general.
Each of the working groups, as well a the steering committee, will have one meeting in the course of the period.
While the second year aimed at dissemination via a conference, the third year aims at dissemination via a publication, being a handbook on Advanced Computing in the Humanities. This publication focuses on the topics described in C.2 and will be prepared for distribution via the web and in print. 1000 copies will be printed and distributed to contact persons at all TNP partners and other interested audiences. In addition, a web version will be placed at the TNPs web site.
Other dissemination includes presence at scientific meetings in the humanities (see C.2). Activities and results will be announced at the web site in a similar way as has been done up to now.
There is no special provision for this in the renewal period, but the monitoring and evaluation planned for spring/summer 1998 may need to be followed up, depending on outcomes.
The conference which was originally planned in May 1998 relied strongly on the possibilities for obtaining additional funding. The project office spent many efforts toward obtaining this funding through several applications at national sources. It proved extraordinarily difficult to obtain funding and it turned out that national authorities were insufficiently aware of the strategic goals of TNPs. Finally, through intervention of the national SOCRATES office, a grant was obtained in February 1998. By then it was too late to organize the conference in May. The event was postponed to September 1998 and its planning is now on schedule.
The management and administrative support of the project lacks staff resources. With the expansion of the network from 4 to 6 working groups, and the extra organizational efforts for preparation of the conference, this lack is at present acutely felt. This problem cannot be solved within the present budget.
A few specific planned activities (such as building repositories of materials, implementing awareness spreading actions, building European placement infrastructure) turned out to be overambitious and beyond what is strictly necessary for the drafting of analyses and recommendations. This problem is approached by a stronger focus on clearly defined results in the coming year (see above).
The working group on Computing for non-European languages reports a greater need for attracting knowledge about computational linguistics than assumed earlier. Contacts with the working group on Computational Linguistics and Language Engineering are highly desiderable but difficult to achieve because of the different traditions in the various areas involved. This problem will be addressed by discussion with the working group on CL&LE.
| Project coordinator 40 days x 150 ECU = 6000 Working group coordinators 6 x 20 days x 150 ECU = 15000 A-partners, teaching staff 44 x 20 days x 150 ECU = 132000 B-partners, teaching staff 48 x 10 days x 150 ECU = 72000 C-partners, teaching staff 17 x 5 days x 150 ECU = 12750
|
237750
|
| Project administrator, 12 months 50% of 3000
|
18000
|
| Total personnel
|
255750
|
| Travel, accommodation, subsistence*: Steering Committee Meeting 2 x 5 x 900 = 9000 Working group meetings (see C.2) 33 x 900 = 29700
|
38700
|
| Technology: publishing software (see C.2)
|
800
|
| General administrative costs (office supplies,
communication, copying)
|
100
|
| Consultancy
|
0
|
| Production of publication (see C.2): copy editor
1 month, 3000 ECU publication layout and design 0.5 months 1500 ECU Web editing and design 2000 ECU Printing 1000 copies x 2,6 ECU = 2600 ECU Mailing 900 x 1 = 900 ECU
|
10000
|
| Total other costs
|
49600
|
Total budget: 305350 ECU. The requested grant is 55000 ECU, covering the other cost elements plus approx. one third of the administrator's salary. The remainder of the administrator's salary will be contributed by the coordinating institution.
* Costs for travel, accommodation, and subsistence are for partners who are involved in the Steering Committee and working group meetings. Please refer to our web pages (http://www.uib.no/acohum) for distribution per partner in each group. For each meeting, it is assumed that one partner will host the meeting and thus the costs are calculated for one participant less than the size of the group.
An average academic rate of 150 ECU per day or 3000 ECU per month is used in calculations, which is lower than standard commercial rates. Travel is limited to one meeting per committee and working group and is supplemented by Internet-based communication which the partnership provides free of charge to the project.
No proposals are submitted for funding of these activities under other actions.