This report looks at how staff at eight academic institutions gained new insight about how students and faculty use their libraries, and how the staff are using these findings to improve library technologies, space, and services. Participatory design is a relatively recent approach to understanding library user behavior. It is based on techniques used in anthropological and ethnographic observation. The report is based on a series of presentations at the second CLIR Seminar on Participatory Design of Academic Libraries, held at the University of Rochester’s River Campus June 5-7, 2013. Chapters focus on projects at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Colby College; University of Connecticut; Columbia University; Rush University Medical Center; Purdue University; Northwestern University; and the University of Rochester. David Lindahl, of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, provided the keynote.

The essay discusses specific concerns of digital humanists in hopes of bridging the gap between how library directors and digital humanities researchers think. It suggests many ways to respond to the needs of digital humanists, and creating a Digital Humanities center is appropriate in relatively few circumstances. The essay recommends that a “Digital Humanities-friendly” environment may be more effective than a Digital Humanities Center but that library culture may need to evolve in order for librarians to be seen as effective Digital Humanities partners. The authors conclude that what we call “The Digital Humanities” today will soon be considered “The Humanities.” Supporting Digital Humanities scholarship is not much different than supporting digital scholarship in any discipline. Increasingly, digital scholarship is simply scholarship.

The essay discusses specific concerns of digital humanists in hopes of bridging the gap between how library directors and digital humanities researchers think. It suggests many ways to respond to the needs of digital humanists, and creating a Digital Humanities center is appropriate in relatively few circumstances. The essay recommends that a “Digital Humanities-friendly” environment may be more effective than a Digital Humanities Center but that library culture may need to evolve in order for librarians to be seen as effective Digital Humanities partners. The authors conclude that what we call “The Digital Humanities” today will soon be considered “The Humanities.” Supporting Digital Humanities scholarship is not much different than supporting digital scholarship in any discipline. Increasingly, digital scholarship is simply scholarship.