Managing Uncertainty in the Humanities

Abstract

This paper takes a high-level view of both the sources and status of uncertainty in humanities research and the attributes a digital system would ideally have. It draws upon both the experience of a number of digital projects and research into the many-faceted concept of uncertainty in data. Its intention is to support a dialogue between the humanities and computer science, able to realise the promise of digital humanities without a reversion to a new positivism in disciplines such as history and literary studies.