Computer-aided humanities research at the University of Wisconsin

Abstract

If research in the humanities could be reduced, like the movements of the heavenly bodies, to a series of computable equations, then the same computing systems which now administer to the numerical needs of the physical sciences and their kin could also be employed by the humanist. But words are not curvilinear, nor textual variants well behaved, nor rhyming schemes unambiguous; consequently, the humanist receives little encouragement from linear programming packages, compiler generators, and the other heralded accomplishments of this advanced computer age. At the University of Wisconsin, where the computing center was sired by the Numerical Analysis Department, "number smashing" is a well-advanced art, but the manipulation of words, phrases, or texts is still viewed with suspicion. Nevertheless, computing in the humanities has continued to gain devotees. Some of the forays into this area have been monotonous repetitions of familiar and painful experiences; others have been more rewarding, both in employing available systems successfully and in developing new programs and procedures. The purpose of this article is to describe a series of projects in humanities computing at the University of Wisconsin, centering on two programming systems: an information retrieval system (INFOL) and a concordance system (BIBcoN).1 The work discussed does not exhaust the humanities projects undertaken at the university, nor does it necessarily represent the most successful adventures. These projects were selected because they used one of the two systems just named and I had intimate knowledge of their design and implementation.