Got this from the Library of Congress this morning
Seems that crowdsourcing is one way that the Library can continue to do expensive, time-consuming, and precise sorts of research like this. I think it's a good idea, given where research funding is at the moment (and presumably for the future).
I don't think any future administration, even if they are Democrats, will return the research funding to Universities that it once had. I think they will be very happy not to take the political cost for cutting something they don't care about either. So long term, we all need to be thinking about alternative ways of performing research. This is a great one but only works because it's a popular, famous author and a very interesting sort of project.
As for me, I think publishing work on the blog and YouTube is the way to go. My university cut all research support with the exception of thoughts and prayers, and would have done so under a Harris administration as well. There's no material support for the job of professor anymore. They just want you to teach, and by that they mean make the students feel that they are getting something worth the tuition.
A rhetoricians challenge indeed. I should be more into it, but I miss the energetic combination of research and teaching together. And I am not in a financial position anymore to fund my own archive excursions. I also feel my field, run by the inept NCA, prefers a private, walls-up approach to scholarship and publication.
A lot of challenges exist for sure, but there are still some good ideas, or at least the inspiration for some good ideas out there if you are looking around.