The themes of both scarcity and abundance in the realm of digital humanities is important when it comes to how we store and collect our documents. First, we will discuss what exactly is scarcity. Scarcity revolves around the idea that some documents and data sets may be harder to access than other topics. This can be due to documents being missing or damaged or just non-existent. Abundance, on the other hand, refers to the surplus and copious number of documents belonging to one topic. This can sound nice but can mess up data sets and other analytical aspects.

Both scarcity and abundance are worrisome, but abundance scares me more than scarcity. Abundance can sound nice because it seems like there is more data and documents about specific topics and that can make it sound more accessible and more researched than other topics. Well, as we see in our daily life with social media and other sources of media, every story regarding politics, news, and facts are all contradicting themselves and adds more opinions than facts. This can mess up data sets and themes regarding events and documents due to the information being cluttered. Psychologist Aleskandr Luria brings up a point saying “How do we find the forest when there are so many damaged trees,” comparing the truth and lies with abundance.

In order to preserve and not lose historical documents, we must include them onto digital databases where they can be accessed forever. Many libraries and other data centers are using these methods, but another problem arises. “Licensed and centrally controlled digital content not only erodes the ability of libraries to preserve the past, it also undercuts their responsibility.” Although storing them online and having them being accessed from all over the world, publishers and licensing teams must agree on how these documents can be accessed. My solution to this problem is for all libraries to create a subscription service where you can rent or buy online books to support the authors and be able to access the content.