COMPUTER SCIENCE & THE HUMANITIES BUILDING BLOCKS

Questionnaire Summaries

Performing Arts

History | Interdisciplinary Studies | Language & Literature | Visual & Media Studies

Summary of Performing Arts responses to the Questionnaire, prioritized from highest to lowest.

A. Use of Resources:

1. Many use primary sources extensively, either by examination of the original source materials, or in facsimile.
2. Many also use trusted secondary sources, although this was less popular, because of potential biases of other researchers.
3. Use of electronic indexes or databases was deemed vital, either in on-line library catalogs, or in other Internet space (web sites, newsgroup archives, or specialized databases on CD-ROM).

B. Tools to Facilitate Research:

1. The most frequently expressed need was the ability to access primary sources, on-line, with concomitant searchable database, either for full-text or keywords.
2. On-line indexes, without source content, were also useful, to find sources, which could then be ordered or viewed on-site.
3. Other tools used or needed included:
   1. Electronic devices to digitize sources.
   2. CD-ROM readers/writers for electronic publication.
   3. On-line teaching tools and tutorials.
   4. "Web-based interlibrary loan" or on-line archiving.

C. Barriers for Scholarship:

1. Non-recognition of digital publication as "real publication."
2. The steepness of the "learning curve" to use available tools effectively.
3. Current interpretation of copyright and fair-use regulations in scholarship or teaching.
4. Lack of ability to validate information on the web, since most is not peer-reviewed or vetted.

Robert M. Keller

Questionnaire Responses

BUILDING BLOCKS