IT managers (as discussed in this article) carefully consider which software systems an institution will support. They have in mind the need to make life manageable for the IT Helpdesk. Consider how many features each software application has, many of them quite obscure. Then consider all of the different things that people might want to be doing with those features. The range of possible problems is massive. So they have to keep it under control. If your digital humanities project adds to that complexity, support becomes a problem. You may have to consider providing some kind of additional support. Think carefully about the consequences. Build this into your design considerations. Help your users to help themselves with good guidance.
When you seek help from technology support specialists, bear in mind that they support many different, often very complex, systems. They may not understand your context – who you are, what you are trying to achieve, what you have already done, what you know and don’t know. Before contacting them, pause to think about what information may be of use to them, and formulate a clear, simple statement to get them up to speed fast.
- clearly state what you want to achieve, in relation to the specific help you want, and more broadly in terms of the goals and design values you are working towards (for example, if you are trying to simplify things for students, say so);
- identify other related systems that you are using (so if you have a problem with Talis Aspire, and you are also using Moodle, say so, as there may be a connection);
- explain what you have already tried, and support you are getting from others.
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