Courses in the Transcriptions project are designed not just to teach students majoring in the humanities skills in information technology but to integrate those skills with the themes of the curriculum (see Project Rationale). Students without their own computers and Internet access can make use of university resources (see below). English 197 uses the following information technologies:

You will be able to do all the course assignments if you are familiar with e-mail.

General philosophy regarding technology in this course: Because much of the information technology used in the Transcriptions project is new to the humanities (much of it is being personally configured, coded, or designed by Transcriptions instructors and research assistants), there are sure to be glitches, gotchas, and bugs. One scholar has suggested that we only use the word for "technology" when "it doesn't quite work." This is not a problem but an opportunity. Transcriptions -- and this course on "Digitalizing Culture" in particular -- encourages a philosophical approach to the experience of information technology. Problems should be reflected upon in the process of evaluating the overall life of contemporary information. (For instance, if you are having trouble accessing a site or are experiencing delays, how might those practical problems be related to larger issues of access or time in contemporary culture? Why is a delay of a minute now so frustrating compared to the delays of days, weeks, or months that societies in the past accepted as part of the normal rhythm of human communication?) In his Zen Computer, Philip Toshio Sudo suggests that as you sit down to boot up your computer you should first acknowledge it and what it means: "Before you start and after you finish working, make this one simple gesture toward your computer: Give it a nod,".