Frequently Asked Questions

What is ILiADS?

A week-long, in-person, intensive environment for collaborative project teams composed of some mix of researchers, librarians, technologists, archivists, and students to build upon established digital pedagogy or scholarship projects and/or launch new ones.

Who can participate in ILiADS?

Any digital project team that would benefit from a week of focused work! The “Liberal Arts” in ILiADS refers broadly to projects that draw on a range of methods and subjects and align with ILiADS values, not to an institutional designation. For a sense of the range of institutions that have sent teams to ILiADS, please see the list of Past Participants.

Typically, project teams are a mix of faculty, students, librarians, and/or technologists. For additional information, see the “Reciprocal Partnerships” section of ILiADS Key Values.

What does it take for a proposal to be accepted to ILiADS?

ILiADS welcomes proposals for projects at all stages. Proposal guidelines lay out the core elements of a successful proposal: an object for the project, a set of team members, a goal for the team’s work at ILiADS, a timeline, and a consideration of project sustainability. When proposal reviewers have questions or concerns, these are typically relayed to the team for clarification or revision.

What support does ILiADS provide to project teams?

Each team is assigned a Liaison expert to consult on the project and help connect them to other experts. The week is focused on dedicated team work time and supplemented by panels and talks designed around the cohort’s expressed interests.

What can I expect to learn during ILiADS?

Participants will spend the bulk of their time delving into their projects, so you’ll learn a great deal about the questions at the center of your work. Additionally, though, the ILiADS community drives professional development opportunities throughout the week through responsive pop-up sessions. Workshops have ranged from mapping and timeline creation to WordPress development to project management and instructional design.

How is ILiADS different from other conferences/institutes?

Though ILiADS is an opportunity for people interested in digital scholarship work, it differs from a conference in that the primary focus of ILiADS is offering participants dedicated time to develop projects in their teams of faculty, students, librarians, and (or) technologists. An important additional benefit of ILiADS is the opportunity to work with our pool of ILiADS Liaisons who provide expert help with technologies, project guidance and digital scholarship methods. One of the recurring pieces of feedback we have gotten from past teams is that this type of environment for focused work is rare, and they are often surprised at how much progress they made.

What are the costs of participating in ILiADS?

ILiADS registration fees cover the costs of breakfast, lunch, snacks, space usage, and modest compensation for Liaisons. Teams may also opt in to on campus housing for an additional cost, or arrange for other housing. Beyond the registration costs, teams are responsible for their travel and dinners on nights when there is no group event. Registration costs with housing have typically ranged $600-800 for non-student registrants, and $200 lower for those who arrange their own housing. We make every effort to offer a low rate for student registration. In past years this has been $45 without housing and $250 with housing.

What if I’m new to digital scholarship? / What if my university does not have much support for digital scholarship?

A powerful component of ILiADS is the opportunity to broaden one’s horizons about what digital scholarship “looks like” across the Liberal Arts landscape. As project teams develop their projects in ILiADS, they do so alongside a dozen or so teams from across the country (sometimes the globe). Throughout the week ILiADS gives institute participants an opportunity to explore the broad questions that frame digital scholarship. The Liaisons are there in part to help guide people newer to digital scholarship in best practices, workflows, platforms, software, and more!  Participants often find that the personal and professional relationships built at ILiADS can stretch far beyond the week of the Institute, developing a valuable network of individuals interested in driving digital scholarship forward within the liberal arts.

What have past participants said about ILiADS?

“The ILiADS institute was transformational for my entry into the DH field, connecting me with a community of practitioners, including faculty, students, and staff from other liberal arts colleges. At LACs we may not have the same DH resources as larger universities, but we have dexterity, ingenuity, and a tendency to stretch ourselves outside our areas of specialization—all of which foster innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration. ILiADS was also essential in connecting me with folks with the technical expertise we needed to figure out what was possible for our project. The supportive, communal spirit of the institute and the energy that came from the spirit of curiosity, creativity, and intellectual risk taking energized our team and gave us the confidence to move forward with our project. Our students were empowered to see themselves as research partners and leaders in the field of DH—they even formed an organization for undergraduate research in DH and organized student conferences. At ILiADS, we developed lasting connections with colleagues at other institutions that continue to inform our work.”

Suzanne W. Churchill
Professor of English @ Davidson College
Editor, Index of Modernist Magazines
Co-PI, Mina Loy: Navigating the Avant-Garde

“Working as an ILiADS liaison over multiple years, I have had the chance to contribute my skill and experience in project management and digital methods application as well as have these skills challenged and enriched by engaging with a variety of insightful and creative project teams. I’ve seen how even just a week of immersive work can lead to breakthroughs, small and large. And if that were not enough, the friendship and comradery that develops can be as rich as the digital sharpening.”

Daniel J. Story

Digital Scholarship Librarian, University Library Center for Digital Scholarship

University of California, Santa Cruz