Bedfellows in Mass Digital Conversion: Ten Years of Text Creation Partnership(s)

Abstract

This paper offers a brief account of some senses in which “partnership” and collaboration have been and continue to be fundamental to the Text Creation Partnership’s mandate. Additionally, by examining the kinds of collaborative engagements in which TCP has participated, it raises and addresses questions about some frictions produced by unlikely partnerships between the private and public sectors as well as about benefits afforded by the same. Finally, it tenders some suggestions about future collaborative efforts the TCP might help to foster and, in turn, be fostered by. Ultimately, this paper stresses cooperative protection of the digital cultural commons as a cardinal virtue of digital humanities collaborative effort. It seeks to refocus attention on this aspect of the TCP’s role in the field.