Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 39, No. 390.
        Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
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        Date: 2026-03-31 16:59:42+00:00
        From: James O'Sullivan <james.osullivan@ucc.ie>
        Subject: Call for Chapters: Minimal Computing for Social and Cultural Heritage

Call for Chapters
Minimal Computing for Social and Cultural Heritage
Edited by
Olga C. Patroni, James O’Sullivan, Susan Rea, Shawn Day, Luigina Ciolfi, & Mary
Galvin
Link to call:
https://jamesosullivan.github.io/MinimalComputingCFP


Overview

This edited collection will explore how principles of minimal computing,
understood as low-resource, sustainable, and ethically grounded digital
practice, can be applied to the preservation and curation of social and cultural
heritage.

At a time when digital heritage infrastructures are increasingly shaped by
platform-dependent systems, this volume asks a fundamental question: what forms
of digital practice are genuinely sustainable, not only technically and
economically, but socially and culturally, for the communities who produce and
maintain heritage?

The book brings together scholars and practitioners to examine how lightweight
technologies, decentralised infrastructures, and community-led approaches can
address structural inequalities in digital heritage.
This book will be peer-reviewed and published as an open access volume, ensuring
wide and equitable availability for academic, professional, and community
audiences.


Scope and Themes

We invite contributions that engage critically and/or empirically with minimal
computing in relation to social and cultural heritage. We are particularly
interested in work that addresses sustainability in its fullest sense, including
environmental impact, economic feasibility, and community viability.
Topics may include (but are not limited to):

  1.
Low-resource and low-energy approaches to digital preservation and curation
  2.
Community-led and participatory heritage infrastructures
  3.
Decentralised, local, or sovereign digital systems
  4.
Equity, exclusion, and access in digital heritage practices
  5.
Maintenance, longevity, and the problem of digital obsolescence
  6.
Ethical and political dimensions of cultural data stewardship
  7.
Design methodologies for minimal or appropriate technologies
  8.
Case studies from under-resourced organisations or marginalised communities
  9.
Critiques of scale, extraction, and platform dependency in digital heritage
  10.
The relationship between minimal computing and cultural sustainability

The volume is explicitly interdisciplinary, and so we welcome contributions from
(among others), scholars and practitioners across digital humanities, cultural
and heritage studies, human–computer interaction, digital design, community-
engaged and participatory research, media and communication studies, information
studies and archival studies.

Contribution Formats and Submission Process
Expressions of interest should be sent to Dr Olga Concetta Patroni
<OPatroni@ucc.ie> and Dr James O’Sullivan
<james.osullivan@ucc.ie> by April 30th 2026,
17:00 (Irish Standard Time).
Submissions should include:

  1.
A brief abstract of the proposed contribution (maximum 200 words), indicating
the intended format (full chapter or short contribution);
  2.
A brief biographical note for author(s).

Authors of selected proposals will be invited to submit full contributions.
We welcome two types of contributions:

  1.
Full Chapters of 6,000–10,000 words in length, presenting substantial
theoretical, empirical, or case-based contributions.
  2.
Short Contributions of approximately 3,000 words in length, which may may
include reflective case studies, practice reports, interviews, position pieces,
methodological notes, or community perspectives.

All contributions will be peer-reviewed.
Final submissions will be due in December 2026.


About Minimal Curation

The collection is being developed by the Minimal Curation project, generously
funded by Research Ireland, which investigates sustainable, low-resource
approaches to digital sociocultural heritage. The project focuses on identifying
practical alternatives to high-cost and high-dependency digital infrastructures,
with particular attention to the needs of smaller organisations and community
groups.


James O'Sullivan Ph.D., M.A., M.Sc., Pg.Dip., H.Dip.
Senior Lecturer in Digital Humanities
O'Rahilly Building 1.69 | University College Cork


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