Last November, we presented you with our first update on Generative AI (GAI) use at Knowledge Commons (KC). As the Commons is sponsored, hosted, and developed at Michigan State University, we’ve taken our initial guidance from the MSU Interim Guidance on Data Uses and Risks of Generative AI.  We wanted to update you on how we’re currently using GAI and where we’re planning on going with it in the near future. On the development side, we use GAI for a variety of tasks, including assistance with coding, example code, generation of code templates and fragments, documentation. We also use it ..read more

As you go to create a Commons site for showcasing your research or blogging your academic journey, it’s important to consider how you are presenting your information so that it reaches the largest possible audience. As a crucial part of that audience, people with disabilities often get excluded from the online conversation when websites are created without their needs in mind. To ensure we are including everyone in our work, we can implement a set of best practices when designing our websites to be accessible. And, you don’t have to be a master coder to make these changes happen! These practic ..read more

As those working in the digital humanities know, this field incorporates the use of digital tools and technologies with traditional humanities disciplines. These features center interdisciplinary work with a potentially global impact, which highlights the need for a form of effective communication between scholars, such as Humanities Commons. This past semester I worked on a research project to learn more about Humanities Commons marketing strategy and its users, and presented my findings at Michigan State’s University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF). Humanities Commons’ current ..read more

The team at Humanities Commons has some big news to share.  Over the past year, we have been thinking hard about our purpose, values and strategic direction, and one recurring theme has been that our original name, while very close to our hearts, no longer fully encapsulates the work that we do, or that we seek to support. Our project is born of the humanities, and humanistic values will always be its foundation, but as of May 20th, 2024, we will be known as Knowledge Commons. As a little teaser of what’s to come, here’s the evolution of our logo: What does this mean for you? The most im ..read more

Our team is thrilled to share that James Madison University Libraries have signed on to Humanities Commons as a sustaining member. Their participation over the coming years will help us to continue supporting our community of researchers, educators, students and other creators to discover open works, connect with their peers, and share their valuable contributions to our collective knowledge. What’s more, their first year’s membership contribution has been matched 3:1 as part of our National Endowment for the Humanities matching grant. Yasmeen Shorish, JMU Libraries’ Director of Scholarly Comm ..read more

Three weeks into our fundraising campaign to complete our NEH matching grant challenge, it’s time for an update! (Not sure what we’re talking about? Read our launch post.) We are hugely grateful to everyone who has contributed so far – we have received 10 new individual donations (here’s where to do donate), and a number of others have reached out about funded project contributions. We have also signed on our first sustaining member – keep a look out for an official announcement on that front soon! All of this adds up to our first $3275, or 8% of our $40,000 goal, which equates to an extra $98 ..read more

Friends, today we’re launching a very special fundraising campaign to support the Commons. Here’s the tl;dr: we need to complete the fundraising match for our NEH challenge grant by the end of June to unlock the last of the grant. Every dollar helps our open source, academy owned, community governed platform to operate sustainably for years to come. We’ve got $40,000 left to raise, which will be matched 3:1 by the NEH, and we need your help to get there. How You Can Help That help can come in a few ways: 1. You can make a one-off individual or organizational donation at our Crowdpower site 2 ..read more

The Humanities Commons team is pleased to share that Digital Scholar has generously donated $20,000 to our ongoing work. This gift allows us to continue offering our services to our community of users for free, enabling them to discover open works, connect with their peers, and share their valuable contributions to our collective knowledge. Digital Scholar, the organisation behind such projects as Zotero, Omeka and PressForward, has long been a supporter of critical open source infrastructures in the digital humanities, leveraging the success of their flagship projects to redistribute funds ac ..read more

At Humanities Commons, one of our core values is cultivating community. Bringing together people with multiple perspectives and backgrounds enables us to work toward deeper collective understanding, enriching our connections to one another and to the world. In this spirit, we’re excited to announce we’re revamping our user advisory group!  This group has existed in various forms since 2021, but we’ve decided to make a few changes to the current structure in order to create more opportunities for us to directly engage with our users. The primary goals of this group are to: Empower our use ..read more

This post does not represent the views or opinions of Humanities Commons or Michigan State University. Additionally, mention of products, services, individuals, or companies within this post do not indicate support or preference.  Written by Stephanie E. Vasko, User Experience Researcher for Humanities Commons As a Senior User Experience (UX) Researcher in Mesh Research and the College of Arts and Letters, my goals are to create the best experiences for those who use the products and services we provide. When I’m not running UX research activities, I think it’s important to continue ..read more