Toby Burrows

Dr Toby Burrows is a Senior Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Humanities at The University of Western Australia. He holds a BA from the University of Western Australia, an MA from the University of London, a PhD from the University of Western Australia, and a Graduate Diploma in Library Studies from the Western Australian Institute of Technology. His primary research focuses on digital humanities, medieval manuscript studies, and the history of cultural heritage collections. Burrows has directed major projects such as the internationally funded 'Mapping Manuscript Migrations' (2017–2020) and the ARC Linkage Project 'Collecting the West' (2016–2021). He has also held visiting fellowships at institutions including the University of Pennsylvania and King's College London.

His expertise includes Linked Open Data, medieval manuscript curation, and the design of e-research infrastructure. Current projects include the 'Mobilising Dutch East India Company collections' (2023–2027) and the Humanities Networked Infrastructure (HuNI). Burrows has contributed to over 100 peer-reviewed publications and datasets, including works on computational historical research and the role of serendipity in knowledge organization systems. He has served on editorial boards for journals like Journal of Open Humanities Data and advised on open access policies for European research.

Burrows' grants include Australian Research Council funding for projects on digital humanities infrastructure and cultural heritage digitization. He has also managed significant data archives, such as the Western Australian node of the Australian Data Archive. His work aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals related to cultural preservation and knowledge sharing.