Discipline matters: Technology use in the humanities

Abstract

In recent years, many studies have highlighted the changing nature of scholarly research, reflecting the new digital tools and techniques that have been developed. But researcher uptake of these tools is strongly influenced by existing information behaviour, itself affected by a number of factors, particularly discipline. This article outlines findings from a recent study which used six case studies to look at the information behaviours of researchers working in different disciplinary fields or academic departments, or using specific tools. The study suggested that researchers' uses of, and attitudes towards, digital technologies are affected by existing disciplinary habits and preconceptions. Furthermore, it found that the computational and collaborative complexity of the tools that researchers used was linked to their disciplinary backgrounds. © 2011 the Author(s).