Centre for Computing in the Humanities (case study)
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OVERVIEW
The Centre for Computing in the Humanities was chosen by Ithaka as a case study in Sustainability to demonstrate a real world example of a theoretical business model. These business models were outlined in the initial report by Kevin Guthrie, Rebecca Griffiths and Nancy Maron, Sustainability and Online Revenue Models: An Ithaka Report (May 2008).
Background
The Centre for Computing in the Humanities (CCH) at King’s College London is an academic department focused on exploring the ways in which computing can advance knowledge in the arts and humanities. The culture of the department is characterized by a unique relationship between technologists and domain-specialist humanities scholars who operate as equals, rather than as vendors and clients. In addition to more traditional income sources—external grants, institutional/government research funding, and teaching income—CCH generates revenue through a range of “knowledge transfer” activities. The King’s Digital Consultancy Service and the King’s Visualisation Lab create significant income for the department, while also providing services that benefit the community.
CCH demonstrates some of the benefits and economies of scale that can be achieved when infrastructure and expertise are shared across a range of digital projects. All of CCH’s projects are developed on the same software core, allowing programmers to focus their attention on project-specific custom elements while keeping development costs low compared to the costs of starting a new project from scratch. The department model also allows CCH technologists to split time between multiple projects, giving each project access to talented and experienced developers and analysts on a part-time basis—something that can be difficult for stand-alone efforts to do.
CCH’s projects are built with research questions—not use or community needs—at their heart, and this is reflected in several aspects of the projects’ design. The department’s research orientation seems well-suited for projects focused on the use of technology to answer new research questions, and is consistent with its goals as an academic department. However, for other projects that seek to create more user-focused online academic resources, the CCH model may present challenges related to user outreach and long term enhancement of content and tools.
[[role::strategy manager]] [[role::policy maker]] [[role::project manager]] [[role::content manager]] [[role::acquisitions manager]] [[goal::managing]] [[goal::planning]] [[level::basic]] [[level::medium]]
