The Chili and Honey of Digital Humanities Research. The Facilitation of the Interdisciplinary Transfer of Knowledge in Digital Humanities Centers

This article examines digital humanities (DH) centers as focal points of the interdisciplinary transfer of knowledge. It is based on the assumption that the manner in which the knowledge-transfer activities of DH communities are facilitated affects the knowledge they produce. Following an analysis of eight semi-structured interviews of directors, researchers, and administrators, the article considers how DH professionals describe the facilitation of the interdisciplinary transfer of knowledge in DH centers. It demonstrates that the transfer of knowledge in DH centers is based on overlapping layers of organic networks and stable organizational structures that support various kinds of knowledge-sharing practices. The transfer of knowledge in DH centers combines the exchange of ideas in the same physical space with online communication at various levels, ranging from outside academia to the internal communication of a research group. Further, the factors that enable information flow also have the capability to restrict potentially meaningful information from entering into the field. As a result, this article suggests that it is important to continue the discussion on the boundaries for the transfer of knowledge in DH.