About

Frequently Asked Questions:

What were you?

Jointly-sponsored by the Dietrich College and Humanities and Social Sciences and the University Libraries, dSHARP (digital Sciences, Humanities, Arts: Research and Publishing) was a coalition of faculty and staff dedicated to advancing research and teaching involving digital scholarship: the use and reuse of digital evidence, methods, and tools for research, pedagogy, and publication.

Where were you?

dSHARP was a virtual center with no fixed physical presence on campus.

Who are you?

As dSHARP, our core team built websites, databases, and data analysis pipelines, and ran research projects (Create); educated and involved the CMU community in digital scholarship (Engage); and offered resources to help students, faculty, and staff in achieving digital research goals (Support).

As the University Libraries have recruited more information professionals with expertise and experience in digital research and publishing, requests for consultations, instruction, and workshops now flow into two channels: the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries’ Data Services and the CMU Library Publishing Service.  Please use this form to request assistance related to managing, curating, and/or visualizing your research data, using tools including the KiltHub repository or Open Science Framework, or to enquire about Digital Humanities or the Open Science and Data Collaborations program.

CMU Libraries’ Research Data Services team

  • Hannah Gunderman is the Data, Gaming, and Popular Culture Librarian in the University Libraries. She offers individual and group consultations on data management, as well as helps support education in data management at all stages of the research process, from collecting and/or reusing data, analysis, to dissemination and storage. She has a background in cultural geography and is interested in providing consultations on projects integrating qualitative and ethnographic data into quantified environments.
  • Emma Slayton is the Data Curation, Visualization, and GIS Specialist in the University Libraries. She offers consultations on data visualization (data analysis, making graphs/charts, using tools like Tableau or languages like R), evaluating and providing advice on visual content (such as website design, presentation, or poster design), GIS data (finding GIS data, manipulating or preparing GIS data), GIS modeling, GIS visualizations, virtual reality pedagogy, and data management.

CMU Library Publishing Service

  • Rikk Mulligan is the Digital Scholarship Strategist in the University Libraries. He has experience with content management systems, digital publishing, text encoding, usability, and user interface design.
  • David Scherer is the Scholarly Communications and Research Curation Consultant in the University Libraries. He offers consultations on digital publishing, open access publishing, and research curation including CMU’s institutional repository, KiltHub.

The University Libraries and Archives

University Libraries’ faculty in the Open Science & Data Collaborations (OSDC) program partner with the Research Data Services team to offer Library Carpentry workshops periodically through the academic year. The Digitization Unit also offer valuable expertise and services including digitization, metadata enrichment, and consultations for digitization projects.

Additional digital and analog resources of value as source materials for research and pedagogy are available from:

CMU Partners

  • The Center for the Arts in Society is dedicated to the exploration of society in the arts, including the digital.
  • Entertainment Technology Center is involved in a wide variety of digital scholarship activities, such as the creation of educational games and ETC Press, a partner with dSHARP in the Publishing@CMU initiative.
  • HumAn, Dietrich College, Department of English – dSHARP’s closest relationship on campus is the Humanities Analytics program in the Department of English. With this group, dSHARP co-sponsors the weekly DH Lunch Lecture series, co-organizes events, and frequently shares research projects and goals.
  • IDeATE has a variety of Makerspace technology, including 3-D printers. While prior training is required before being allowed access to their spaces and equipment, such training is offered on a regular basis.
  • The Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Enquiry, in the College of Fine Arts is a laboratory for atypical, anti-disciplinary, and inter-institutional research at the intersection of arts, science, technology and culture. They sometimes co-host events, seek external sponsorship for projects, and occasionally exchange students with dSHARP.

Pittsburgh Partners

  • The Carnegie Museum of Art also occasionally hosts digital projects and events, such as Art Tracks and the 2016 Digital Provenance Symposium.
  • The Digital Scholarship Commons in the University of Pittsburgh Library works with CMU Libraries faculty to invite speakers, host workshops, and bring together students and researchers as part of the local digital scholarship community.
  • Pitt’s DHRX, Pitt’s DMAP, &Pittsburgh Digital Humanities (PGH|DH)  – these extra-institutional digital humanities organizations organize events, train students, and share organizational work.
  • Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, a joint effort between CMU and Pitt, offers access to powerful systems for high-performance computing, communications and data storage. CMU faculty/staff/students are eligible for reduced data storage rates on their systems. PSC also offers advanced collaborative support grants and training for people interested in the application of supercomputing in their research.
  • The University of Pittsburgh has the Visual Media Workshop, directed by Alison Langmead (Itinera, Decomposing Bodies) and Constellations.