When you leave a message on my friend’s voicemail, she asks that you give your name, your phone number, and the name of a good book. Since I’m in grad school for history, I tend to end my messages with phrases like “if you suddenly need to know about balance of power politics at the turn of the nineteenth-century then…,” and when she calls back, we have a good laugh before she tells me about the new novel she’s reading.
I think recommending a really good book is one of the easiest ways to markedly improve someone’s life — personally or professionally.
But finding good books for digital humanities can be a real struggle. Especially since the market is flooded with computer books, most of them completely unsuited to the needs of your average beginning digital humanist.
So, I’ve decided to create an annotated bibliography for the digital side of digital humanities (the most frequently used languages/computer science concepts). This is hardly an exhaustive list of all the books that you could find useful, but instead a few books (2 or 3) on a given topic, aimed at beginners or those who want to move beyond basic knowledge. I assume that experts already know how to find the books they need. I’m starting with the books I’ve found most helpful and hope people will suggest new titles and categories over time.
To see the list, click on “Annotated Bibliography”, in the sidebar (under Pages).
Happy reading!
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