One thing that I love about directing the DHSS program is keeping up with what former Summer Scholars have been doing since their time in the program came to an end. It’s fascinating to see where their research, writing, and professional journeys take them. William Gordon, a 2015 Summer Scholar, and Ian Morse and Mila Temnyalova, 2016 Summer Scholars, contributed a book chapter titled “The Good Side of Failure: Explorative Yet Productive Failure in Digital Humanities Projects” as part of the ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) book, Scholarship in the Sandbox: Academic Libraries as Laboratories, Forums, and Archives for Student Work.

The book is a “collection of case studies and discussions describes efforts to curate student work, explores intellectual property issues, and provides tips for promoting and preserving access to this production through new programming and services that affirm libraries’ roles in intellectual processes.” (April 24, 2019, ACRL Insider). William, Ian, and Mila’s chapter focuses on their experiences creating digital humanities-based digital research projects in the early iteration of the program. As the phrase, “The Good Side of Failure…” in the title of their book chapter indicates, they put forth the idea that the “failure” that can sometimes arise when taking on an experimental project is when some of the best learning and research can happen. This idea is a terrific distillation of the unique pleasure of being a Digital Humanities Summer Scholar and completing a digital research project within the program. Congrats all!