Research Guides: Digital Humanities: Tools & Software

Types of Tools

Below you will find digital humanities tools grouped by type. Many DH projects involve a combination of visual, spatial, temporal, quantitative and qualitative representations. DH projects can involve standalone web sites or mobile apps, but they can also be discrete interactive components that exist alongside longer textual analysis.

This overview page gives top-level resources:

Content Management Systems
Web Design and Prototyping
Coding and Programming Resources
General Directories of Tools/Apps/Software
Project Management and Workflow
Easy Animations
Equipment for Use and Checkout

Subpages include resources specific to:

Mapping and Timelines: GIS Apps and Sites
Storytelling:
- General tools
- 3D Modeling, Photogrammetry, AR, and VR
- Oral Histories and Podcasts
- Open Image and Multimedia Collections
- Interactive Timelines and Displays
- Easy Animations
Text Analysis:
- Text Corpora
- Text Mining
- Text Visualization
- Text and Video Annotation
Visualization:
- Visualization Apps and Tools

Content Management Systems

Facsimiles of historic handwritten letters superimposed over a black and white line map.

A screengrab from My Dear Little Nelly, created with Neatline.

Drupal
Drupal is an open source content management platform powering millions of websites and applications. It’s built, used, and supported by an active and diverse community of people around the world but does require significant set-up and skills.
HistoryPin
A collaborative tool to share images history across time and space, and place those memories on maps and timelines.
Mukurtu
Mukurtu (MOOK-oo-too) is a grassroots project aiming to empower communities to manage, share, preserve, and exchange their digital heritage in culturally relevant and ethically-minded ways.
Omeka
Omeka is a free, flexible, and open source web-publishing platform for the display of library, museum, archives, and scholarly collections and exhibitions. Its “five-minute setup” makes launching an online exhibition as easy as launching a blog.
Omeka-Based: Curatescape
Curatescape is a set of tools for the Omeka CMS, including mobile apps for Android and iOS devices, for building walking tours and other history-organization type sites and exhibits.
Omeka-Based: Neatline
Neatline is an Omeka plug-in that allows scholars, students, and curators to tell stories with maps and timelines.
Omeka Everywhere
The Omeka Everywhere suite of tools allows institutions to create a rich and accessible online presence, and use the same content for unique in-gallery and mobile experiences for visitors.
Wordpress
Open-source blogging software that is free and easy-to-use. Can also be used to build websites with a variety of features, though not quite as versatile and robust as Drupal.

Web Design & Prototyping

Drupal For Humanists
This book intended for scholars, librarians, museum and archive professionals, and others with a humanistic background who want to build robust digital projects using the open source content management system Drupal. The first book in the new Coding for Humanists series, which provides an introduction to technologies applicable to digital humanities scholarship, without assuming the reader has prior technical background. Contains a nice comparison of Drupal to other web options, such as Omeka, Wordpress, TEI, etc.
HTML5Up
This site makes spiffy HTML5 site templates that are: Fully Responsive, Built on intelligent, HTML5 + CSS3, SuperCustomizable, and 100% Free under the Creative Commons.
invisionapp
A power prototyping tool: just upload your designs and add hotspots to transform your static screens into clickable, interactive prototypes complete with gestures, transitions, and animations.
Wordpress
Open-source blogging software that is free and easy-to-use. Can also be used to build websites with a variety of features, though not quite as versatile and robust as Drupal.

Coding & Programming Resources

LinkedIn Learning This link opens in a new window
LinkedIn Learning is an online video training library with over one hundred thousand expert-led videos and thousands of courses. NYU community members can use LinkedIn Learning in connection with their LinkedIn account to learn the latest tools, software, and techniques in business, digital media, design, photography, animation, development, and more. Access to LinkedIn Learning is available in the Academics and Worktabs of NYUHome as well as through this link.
Formerly Lynda.com, LinkedIn Learning provides the same services and access to resources via the LinkedIn platform.

This resource requires an NYU NetID and password

14 JavaScript Data Visualization Libraries in 2021
Current trends in JavaScript data visualization in a coherent list.
Code Academy
Learn to code interactively, for free.
DocNow
DocNow is a tool and a community developed around supporting the ethical collection, use, and preservation of social media content. The project is a collaborative effort between Shift Collective, the University of Maryland, and the University of Virginia.
Eloquent Javascript
Eloquent JavaScript dives deep into the JavaScript language to show you how to write beautiful, effective code. Author Marijn Haverbeke immerses you in example code from the start, while exercises and full-chapter projects give you hands-on experience with writing your own programs.
Hour of Code
A basic coding introduction for all ages and skill levels.
HTML5Up
This site makes spiffy HTML5 site templates that are: Fully Responsive, Built on intelligent, HTML5 + CSS3, SuperCustomizable, and 100% Free under the Creative Commons.
Learning the Java Language
The basics of Java, an object-oriented programming language.
A Programmer's Guide to Data Mining
A guide to using Python coding in relation to data mining.
Stack Exchange
Stack Exchange is a network of question and answer Web sites on topics in varied fields, each site covering a specific topic, where questions, answers, and users are subject to a reputation award process.
Basic Web Scraping
Christopher Potts's introduction to Requests and Beautiful Soup libraries in Python 3.
Stack Overflow
A language-independent collaboratively edited question and answer site for programmers.

General Directories of Tools/Apps/Software

Hackastory's Tool Directory
This wonderfully compiled directory has easy-to-use tools for journalists and other storytellers, without heavy-coding required! Check out many categories, including VR, Video, Multimedia, Data, and More!
DH Box
Setting up an environment for digital humanities computational work can be time-consuming and difficult. DHbox addresses this problem by streamlining installation processes and providing a digital humanities laboratory in the cloud through simple sign-in via a web browser.
TAPoR 3.0
Curated gateway to the tools used in sophisticated text analysis and retrieval.

Project Management & Workflow

Basecamp
A Basecamp is a private, secure space online where people working together can organize and discuss everything they need to get a project done. See it, track it, discuss it, act on it. Tasks, discussions, deadlines, and files - everything’s predictably organized in Basecamp. **Free accounts for educators for classroom use.**
Github
GitHub fosters a fast, flexible, and collaborative development process that lets you work on your own or with others. It is often used by software developers to document and manage their agile workflow.
Redbooth
"With Redbooth, projects manage themselves.
When collaboration and visibility meet, fewer tasks fall through the cracks. Know what needs to be done, by whom and when."
Slack
A messaging app for teams: Organize your team conversations in open channels. Make a channel for a project, a topic, a team, or anything—everyone has a transparent view of all that’s going on.
teamgantt
Easy to use project management software that uses Gantt charts.
Trello
Trello lets you work more collaboratively and get more done. Trello’s boards, lists, and cards enable you to organize and prioritize your projects in a fun, flexible and rewarding way.
Ushahidi
Ushahidi is open-source software for crowdsourcing for social activism and public accountability, serving as an initial model for what has been coined as "activist mapping"—the combination of social activism, citizen journalism and geospatial information.

Easy Animations

Adobe Spark - Graphics, Stories, Videos
Create impactful social graphics, web stories and animated videos with Spark’s free graphic design app.
Animoto
Make great videos, easily. Turn ordinary photos and video clips into stunning, HD videos with Animoto's online video maker.
Explain Everything
Explain Everything is a unique interactive screencasting whiteboard app. Create and share ideas as videos and more with easy-to-use tools and integrations.
LICEcap - Animated GIFs
LICEcap can capture an area of your desktop and save it directly to .GIF (for viewing in web browsers, etc) or .LCF. Works with Windows and OSX.
VideoScribe - Whiteboard Video Animations
Make your own whiteboard video animations with Sparkol VideoScribe – award-winning video scribing app for PC, Mac and iPad. Free trial available.

Equipment for Use & Checkout

NYU Digital Studio
The Digital Studio, located in Bobst Library on Floor 5 (South), provides consultations, trainings, workshops and resources in support of teaching and learning. An NYU NetID is required for access.
LaGuardia Co-op
The LaGuardia Co-op offers reservable computer stations, collaboration space, and 3D printing.

Digital Humanities