Interview Transcripts: Using and Producing Digital Tools and Resources for Ancient World Research

My CHASE-funded PhD in Classical Studies in which these interviews played a crucial role, investigated Linked Ancient World Data usability. The interviews took place between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, with a sample of 16 participants who had completed the survey that formed the previous phase of this study (data available at https://doi.org/10.17613/1291-4r33). The survey was aimed at anyone involved in Ancient World research, with any level of digital expertise. Interview participants were selected to include a range of technical skill levels, while being broadly demographically representative of the survey population. Questions related to participants' experiences of using and producing digital tools and resources in general (including their effectiveness for different research activities), with additional questions for those participants who had knowingly used or produced Linked Data. For the purposes of this study: digital resources are defined as any material that can be consumed in an electronic format, including digitised or born-digital texts, images or artefacts, as well as websites, databases, catalogues, and interactive visualisations; digital tools are defined as software that enables the user to carry out a specific function relating to a digital resource (such tools may be online or installed on the user’s computer); Ancient World research refers to the study of any civilisations existing prior to the end of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD.