[Update (9/3/13 8:15 CST): Contributors list now active at the main Text Analysis with R for Students of Literature Resource Page]

Below this post you will find a link where you can download a draft of Text Analysis with R for Students of Literature. The book is under review with Springer as part of a new series titled “Quantitative Methods in the Humanities and Social Sciences.”

Springer agreed to let me post the draft manuscript here (thank you, Springer), and my hope is that you will download the manuscript, take it for a test drive, and then send me your thoughts. I’m especially interested to hear about areas of confusion, places where you get lost, or where you feel your students might get lost. I’m also interested in hearing about the errors (hopefully not too many), and, naturally, I’ll be delighted to hear about anything you like.

I’m open to suggestions for new sections, but before you suggest that I include another chapter on “your favorite topic,” please read the Preface where I lay out the scope of the book. It’s a beginner’s book, and helping “literary folk” get started with R is my primary goal. This is not the place to get into debates or details about hyper parameter optimization or the relative merits of p-values.*

Please also read the Acknowledgements. It is there that I hint at the spirit and intent behind the book and behind this call for feedback. I did not learn R without help, and there is still a lot about R that I have to learn. I want to acknowledge both of these facts directly and specifically. Those who offer feedback will be added to a list of contributors to be included in the print and online editions of the final text. Feedback of a substantial nature will be acknowledged directly and specifically.

Book is now in production and draft has been removed.That’s it. Download Text Analysis with R for Students of Literature (1.3MB .pdf)

* Besides, that ground has been well-covered by Scott Weingart