>>Community Report COMMUNITY REPORT 2001 Introduction In 1998, NINCH invited leaders in the field to submit statements on the best achievements to date in arts and humanities computing in order to develop an argument to include humanities computing in significant Federal funding for information technology research. Best Examples, that collection of statements, achievements and challenges, is still available. Another, related but different, listing of exemplary projects was produced in September 2000 for the NINCH Building Blocks workshop. NINCH is now extending this to an annual review of achievements in the field of networking cultural materials, and a larger group of people have been invited to contribute short statements on what they consider to be the chief developments in the field in the year 2001, as well as what the most pressing challenges are that lie ahead. Questions we asked our panel of experts to consider included: Which recently completed digital projects are making a difference in the work of those using them and why? Can you cite any arts and humanities project that has pushed computer and information scientists and technologists to ask new research questions? Have there been any advances in computer science (or in other fields) during the past year that hold promise for applications in the arts and humanities? Which scientific or technical developments (or even breakthroughs) occurred this year and how does the networking community stand to benefit from them? Which issues were the most important of the year, and what appear to you to be some of the most promising avenues forward? Which statement or article has best crystallized for you key issues or developments of the year? We have asked participants to refrain from referencing their own projects. NINCH will publish an edited version of these collected statements on a separate page. Here is a record of all submissions as they are forwarded. This material will also be available after the edited report has been published. Contributors Susan Ball Christie Carson Ben Davis Susan Hazen Susan Hockey Kathy Jones Matthew Kirschenbaum Richard Rinehart Eve Sinaiko Lisa Spiro Diane Zorich