This paper presents an overview of the LL(O)D and NLP methods, tools and data for detecting and representing semantic change, with its main application in humanities research. The paper’s aim is to provide the starting point for the construction of a workflow and set of multilingual diachronic ontologies within the humanities use case of the COST Action Nexus Linguarum, European network for Web-centred linguistic data science, CA18209. The survey focuses on the essential aspects needed to understand the current trends and to build applications in this area of study.

Inspired by the fictional construction of Stephenson (2000), an "anfractuous" book able to answer reader's questions by self-expansion and ramification, and functioning on the principle "tell me more about this subject", our project deals with the construction of an interface allowing several levels of detail and implying different "scales" of textual representation. By revisiting a number of traditional narrative paradigms, the paper will discuss some new possible ways of storytelling determined by this kind of textual development and exploration. Greenblatt (2004)

The article focuses on the analysis of the user as an aesthetic category and proposes a methodology for evaluating user response within a framework that combines theoretical background from different areas, the theory of aesthetic response, psycholinguistics, appraisal theory, dialogism, and affective stylistics, with the application of digital tools for corpus linguistics and sentiment analysis. Four user types were derived from the corpus linguistics analysis referred to as immersed, distant, sceptical, and enthusiastic users. Each type may encompass a certain degree of intentionality and convey an attitude, implying features such as commitment and honesty, objectivity and engagement with the audience, critical reflection and circumspection, openness to technological novelty, and enjoyment. This assumes that the users involved in usability testing are not neutral or undifferentiated informational entities placed in an experimental context but individuals that respond to the same stimuli and express themselves differently in light of psycholinguistic factors and rules of social interaction. On the other hand, the results of sentiment analysis showed that an experiential analysis, centred not only on the artefact but also on the response and the experience it generates, may enable understanding the user as involved in a hermeneutic process of interpretation during his/her interaction with the studied artefact. Given the small scale of the analysed data, the study does not intend to provide evidence for general or definitive statements but formulates and illustrates a set of interpretative hypotheses and methodological directions for further enquiry aiming at developing an ‘aesthetics’ of user response.

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The paper proposes a methodology that combines theoretical and practical aspects from human-computer interaction (HCI) and genetic criticism to trace and analyse prototype evolution. A case study illustrates this type of enquiry by examining the iterations and the dynamics of change in the design and development of the Transviewer, an interface for digital editions. The initial assumption is that such an analysis can inform existing models in interface design and possibly provide new ground for discussion in humanistic HCI. For instance by fostering broader reflections on software production as a technological and cultural artefact and the gradual shaping of the principles and metaphors underlying the construction of a certain type of knowledge, argument, or interpretation through an interface. Cet article propose une méthodologie qui combine les aspects théoriques et pratiques de l’interaction homme-machine (IHM) et la critique génétique afin de repérer et analyser l’évolution de prototypes. Une étude de cas illustre ce type d’enquête en examinant les itérations et les dynamiques du changement dans la conception et le développement de Transviewer, une interface pour des éditions numériques. La supposition initiale est qu’une telle analyse peut offrir des renseignements sur les modèles existants de la conception d’interface et peut potentiellement fournir de nouvelles informations à la discussion autour de l’IHM humaniste. Par exemple, cela peut faciliter de meilleures réflexions plus élargies sur la production de logiciels comme artefact technologique et culturel, ainsi que sur la formation progressive des principes et métaphores qui sont à la base de la construction d’un certain type de connaissance, d’argument, ou d’interprétation à travers une interface.