JiTP: The Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy. 4(2013). With Valerie Cruz, Dylan Grozdanich, Randy Holaday, Amanda Kolstad, Alexander James Papoulias, Ilyssa Russ, Genevieve Sanvictores, Erik White

This article is an extensively detailed picture of the work done on BeardStair: a project conducted by several MA students at a large public US university. It also provides a reflective history of the wider DH and the role that such projects can play in HE teaching. The research agenda of the project was to produce a scholarly digital edition of several rare books which had been anonymously donated to the San Jose State University Library. Those involved in the project believe that it yielded “unique implications for administrators, faculty, and students who are interested in building DH projects and fostering collaborative digital pedagogies”. The majority of this article is a narrative account of the foundation, initiation and continuation of the BeardStair project. This includes the difficulties that occurred with funding (including Kickstarter), development of legitimacy (defining what they were attempted to do and why it was important), retention of participants, and issues over proving accuracy. This account of the project is illustrated with screen grabs and digital images. These images enable a visualisation of the progression of the project from the initial discovery of the texts, through the ‘brainstorming on a whiteboard’ phase, to the development of a user interface on the webpage and final publication, so that others can share in the projects findings. The article concludes with a summary of what the students who participated in the project gained through their involvement. Not only in terms of DH skills, but also in the intricacies of project management and collaboration. These skills are transferable outside of academic, and demonstrated the intrinsic value of such projects to students.