The SLUB TextLab helps with writing, digitalizing and analyzing texts

Paul Stadelhofer

The various facets of a text as an object can be reimagined at the SLUB TextLab. The SLUB plans extensive construction work to set up the lab in the August-Bebel-Straße Library.

Even now, employees at the SLUB are making historical sources widely available and present new collections regularly. Working together with academics, they develop research questions and put their plans into action. “You can learn on site what digitalization means in practice. We do not simply create digital scans, we use these and they lead to new results,” explains Dr. Juan Garcés, Librarian for Theology and Philosophy and Specialist for Digital Humanities. His colleague, Dr. Julia Meyer, Librarian for German Studies and Knowledge Manager for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at TUD (TU Dresden), agrees: “Libraries themselves are changing due to digitalization. They are becoming spaces that create a bridge between academia and the public. We are not separate from the academics, but rather are involved in their work. Areas that have previously had no home have a place in the SLUB TextLab. Here, we realize our function as a research support facility and the uptake has been very positive for us.”

Garcés and Meyer help with writing, digitalizing and analyzing texts using IT tools. Students, academics and those working on research projects receive writing consultations and coaching from them. Why is the TextLab important as part of the digitalization strategy for the SLUB and TUD? “Texts in their physical form have been a central part of our shared culture for thousands of years,” explains Garcés. “The way we approach texts, the way we create and analyze them, has to be reimagined for the 21^st century.”

The concept for the SLUB TextLab was developed in close collaboration with various faculties of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at TUD, as well as with various institutions connected to the university. These include the Graduate Academy, TU Dresden’s Writing Center, stakeholders such as DRESDEN-concept and innovation centers such as the Impact Hub near Dresden Central Station. Once the plans have been concluded, August-Bebel-Straße Library’s upper floor will house the TextLab. Here, it can be reached on foot from various Institutes such as German Studies, Theology and Art History. Additional facilities will be available for constructive free time activities. There will be a co-working space separated from the rest of the library, a cafeteria and the outdoor area will be transformed into an urban garden. Because writing is a physical activity – Meyer and Garcés speak of “embodied writing” – there will also be activities on offer such as desk yoga.

Garcés and Meyer envision an integrated concept: “I find there is a difference when I write with a keyboard or a pen. In cases of writer’s block, when I teach, I often recommend changing the location or medium,” says Meyer. “What works in theory will be put into practice here. Older professors in particular are often thrilled that we can present them with a manuscript of a text and then digitalize it step by step. When we end up with the final code, they are usually no longer wary of it.” Garcés agrees: “The problem with academics in the humanities and programming is doubtlessly not an intellectual problem but rather that people don’t learn to handle code as part of their studies. However, all one needs to learn this is an openness and willing to deviate from what we’re used to.”

In initiators of the TextLab look forward to additional suggestions and support in the realization of their plans. If you would like to participate or suggest your own needs, you are expressly welcome to do so.

For more information, please visit: https://www.slub-dresden.de/service/textlab

This article was published in the Dresdner Universitätsjournal, issue 18/2018 on November 13, 2018. You can download the whole newspaper as a PDF file for free here. Please contact doreen.liesch@tu-dresden.de to order the Universitätsjournal as a printed newpaper or as a PDF file. For more information, please visit: universitaetsjournal.de.