Technology can help individuals in all fields and disciplines access critical information. The Government and New Communities team touches the future by exposing new populations to the technology that is redefining discovery and decision making. Traditionally, high-performance computing and other advanced technologies have been the domain of the "hard" sciences--biology, chemistry, physics, and others. The inference has been only these disciplines have problems complex enough to warrant the use of "big iron" supercomputer resources. However, as the focus of technology shifts away from computing power exclusively, and embraces visualization, simulation, networking, and database development and integration, the benefits of technology become more useful to a broader community of users within academia, as well as in business and government. REMOVING BARRIERS WITH TECHNOLOGYConsider the study of history. Previously, to study a single historical event, the researcher may have had to find and read letters and other correspondence, consult maps, look at artifacts, examine photographs or other images, read periodicals from the time, and peruse all of the writings on that event published to date. Today, digital libraries are making possible scenarios where, with a single mouse click, that same information can be accessed on a screen in the researchers own workspace. Public agencies, such as the U.S. Patent Office or the local assessor's office, maintain a variety of information in different formats in offices that are only open 9-5, Monday through Friday. Today's technologies make it easier for government officials and private citizens to use that information in a way that saves money and provides more effective service. Reaching the point, however, where social scientists, humanists, business professionals, and government officials make productive use of technology depends upon exposing them to the possibilities and benefits inherent in technology. Doing so depends on providing models for others to emulate. Consequently, the Government and New Communities team often works with populations of government officials, social scientists, and experts in the humanities who are using advanced technology in their own work. Then, through workshops and publications, those projects become examples for others of what technology makes possible. Projects in the humanities and social sciences are not limited to developing discipline-specific databases. Visualization and simulation hold great promise for these communities, and often build on database efforts. For example, given the availability of data, an economist can simulate currency fluctuations across global markets over a significant period of time, input variables that generate interdependent changes in currency value, and then fast-forward that model into the future to determine whether a potential policy impacting the economy was sound. A literary scholar can visualizing the construction of a work of literature, giving pictorial representation to events and characters and illustrating the relationships that drive the story's plot. Perhaps comparing visualizations of several works of the same author might reveal a pattern not previously anticipated or elucidated by scholars. Teams working with government have identified strategic technologies upon which to focus their efforts, including using the Internet to communicate both within government offices and with the public at large. Data analysis technologies help heads of government programs assess the effectiveness of the services they offer, while visualizations make that information come to life. Collaboration technologies create national teams of researchers in the humanities and social sciences, while at the same time helping government officials craft policy in a time-efficient manner with appropriate input from the citizenry. |
 Hi-tech Humanities Making Resources Available for Social Science Research Providing Lessons in American River Basin Culture and History |