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Paula Krebs

Paula Krebs

Executive Director - Modern Language Assn
I'm Executive Director of the MLA, the disciplinary association for language, literature, writing, and cultural studies researchers and faculty members. We have roughly 24,000 members in more than 100 countries. We publish the MLA International Bibliography, the research database, of more than 3 million entries, for language and literature; books series centered on pedagogy in our fields; the premiere research journal in language and literature; and MLA Style--the standard in humanities research. MLA hosts a 5000-person annual convention as well as year-round professional development workshops and institutes.
Email
pkrebs@mla.org
Website

2 Results

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Unlocking JSTOR & Portico for Text Analysis & Pedagogy 
Text analytics, or the process of deriving new information from pattern and trend analysis of the written word, is making a transformative impact in the social sciences and humanities. Sadly, there is a massive hurdle facing those eager to unleash its power: the coding skills and statistical knowledge that text mining requires can take years to develop; moreover, access rights to high quality datasets for text mining are often cost prohibitive and may include further license negotiations. Over the past several years, JSTOR’s Data for Research (DfR) has addressed some of these issues, providing metadata and full-text datasets for its archival content. In January, ITHAKA – the organizational home of JSTOR and Portico – announced a completely new platform that incorporates DfR’s features, as well as adding visualization tools and an integrated analytics lab for learning and teaching text analysis. At NISO Plus, key members of the ITHAKA team will describe the design of this new multifaceted platform and highlight how its components can intersect with the needs of librarians, publishers, educators, students, and faculty. The presenters will emphasize the platform’s hosted analytics lab, where librarians and faculty can create, adapt, and adopt text mining analysis code that works with publisher content for data science instructional sessions.
Collections as Data: From Digital Library to Open Datasets
Collections as Data “aims to encourage computational use of digitized and born digital collections” (https://collectionsasdata.github.io/statement/), but how do you get started developing a Collections as Data program, especially with existing staff and technology resources? The Digital Library Services department at the University of Utah will share their practical approach to Collections as Data, ranging from releasing oral history data for text mining to developing a metadata transcription project to create a new historical dataset of mining labor employment records. We will also discuss developing partnerships with digital humanists on campus and the potential uses of the collections we’ve released to the public. We will also show how analyzing digital collections with a digital humanities approach can provide new insights into potential new processes for descriptive metadata creation.
Public Humanities: Challenges and Opportunities
Directors of leading humanities associations and initiatives discuss the impact and the challenges of public humanities, as an idea and as a method of study. What is public humanities, and why is it important? What forms of scholarly and creative output does it encompass? How can it be recognized and supported at institutional, national, and international levels? How do humanities scholars engage with a broad, diverse audience? How might these encounters change the nature and course of humanities study?

Join Modern Language Association Executive Director Paula Krebs, University of Virginia President's Commission on Slavery and the University Chair Kirt von Daacke, and University of Illinois Chicago Engaged Humanities Initiative Director Ellen McClure for a roundtable discussion and lively Q&A.
For many in the humanities, the monograph -- whether published traditionally or as an open access title -- is the single most important deliverable. Some concerns are readily understood, but some might ask what has really changed in the production and delivery of a monograph. There is a wider array of formats but is the production workflow dramatically different now? Has the dust settled with regard to licensing arrangements? What about discovery and resource-sharing? This full day program offered an opportunity for professionals working in the humanities to come together to discuss this most critical form of output.  Launched in 2001, the Humanities Roundtable (originally hosted by NFAIS and now by NISO) provides a unique opportunity for content providers, platform aggregators and others to come together to discuss the specific needs and requirements of those working in the humanities today.  Confirmed speakers include: Lisa M. Bayer, AUPresses President (2021-22) and Director of the University of Georgia Press; Rebecca Brasington Clark, Director of Publishing, Library of Congress; Lettie Y. Conrad, LYC Consulting; Lorraine Estelle, Executive Director, COUNTER; Paula Krebs, Executive Director, Modern Language Association; Liz Krznarich, Adoption Manager, DataCite; Charles Watkinson, Associate University Librarian for Publishing, University of Michigan; and B. M. Watson, PhD. Student @ UBC iSchool.
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