Authors Alliance congratulates the UC Berkeley Libraries on obtaining a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to fund “Building Legal Literacies in Text Data Mining,” an institute to teach humanities researchers, librarians, and research staff how to confidently navigate the major legal issues that arise in text data mining research. 

As the UC Berkeley noted in its grant announcement, “Potential legal hurdles do not just deter text data mining research; they also bias it toward particular topics and sources of data. In response to confusion over copyright, website terms of use, and other perceived legal roadblocks, some digital humanities researchers have gravitated to low-friction research questions and texts to avoid decision-making about rights-protected data.”

Thanks to the NEH’s $165,000 grant, Rachael Samberg of UC Berkeley Library’s Office of Scholarly Communication Services will be leading a national team from more than a dozen institutions and organizations to help humanities researchers and staff navigate complex legal questions in cutting-edge digital research.

The institute will be held in summer 2020 at the UC Berkeley and training materials will subsequently be published in an openly-available online book for researchers and librarians around the globe. Authors Alliance Executive Director Brianna Schofield will take part in the institute in her capacity as a copyright expert. We look forward to joining this outstanding group of scholars, librarians, and legal experts to inform discussion and best practices for the benefit of authors in the digital humanities.

Authors Alliance will provide an update in October when the call for participants is issued (participants will receive stipends to support their attendance).