Review of Digital Research in the Study of Classical Antiquity [Book]

It is often stated that trying to deal with information on the internet is like drinking from a firehose. But trying to put together a book about the current state of digital anything must be rather more like trying to paint a landscape from the window of a moving train. By the time the painting is complete, the scenery has changed dramatically. This puts books on digital approaches to academic disciplines in an interesting position: by the time a volume makes it into the hands of its readers, it is already a historical document as well as a scholarly work. The editors of Digital Research in the Study of Classical Antiquity are very aware of this: as they state, the book seeks "to create a snapshot of the research activities of Digital Classicist members as represented by a selection of the papers given at our Summer seminars and conference panels in one particular year, 2007" (p10). When one considers that the printed volume went to press in 2010, and is being reviewed in 2011, this means that almost four years—a digital eternity—have passed since most of the papers were first composed. I think, therefore, it will be most useful to discuss Digital Research from two perspectives: first, in terms of its scholarly contribution, and second, in terms of what the framing of this work and the identity of its contributors tell us about a particular moment in the history of the field of 'digital humanities'