Research Uncovered—Digitization for Research at the Bodleian: Creating Tools for Active Scholarship

What: Digitization for Research at the Bodleian: Creating Tools for Active Scholarship

Who: Judith Siefring and Emma Stanford

When: 13:00—14:00, Tuesday 16 May 2017

Where: Centre for Digital Scholarship, Weston Library (map)

Access: all are welcome

Admission: free

Institutions like the Bodleian Libraries have been digitizing their holdings for decades now. These digitized collections have not always been easy to find or use, but in the last few years the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) has opened up a vast range of possibilities for creators and users of these collections. In theory, researchers can now compare, share, remix and annotate digitized objects from institutions across the world, whether to transcribe marginalia, read a damaged palimpsest, or reconstruct the leaves of a fragmented codex. In practice, however, this nascent technology can be difficult to use.

Two recent projects, Digital.Bodleian and the Digital Manuscripts Toolkit, have explored the possibilities of IIIF at the Bodleian, with a focus on creating usable tools for research. Using these projects as a jumping-off point, this talk will serve as an introduction to IIIF through the lens of scholarship. Judith and Emma will provide an overview of currently available
tools, discuss what works and what doesn’t, and share what they’ve learned about facilitating scholarly engagement with digitized materials. The talk will be aimed at researchers and library and museum staff, but all are welcome to attend.

Emma Stanford is the Digital Curator at Bodleian Digital Library Systems and Services (BDLSS). Among other things, she manages Digital.Bodleian and conducts IIIF training workshops in the Centre for Digital Scholarship.

Judith Siefring is the Head of Digital Research at Bodleian Digital Library Systems and Services, where she led the Mellon-funded Digital Manuscripts Toolkit project.

Access: Please meet at 12.55 by the Information Desk in the Weston Library’s Blackwell Hall to be taken to the Centre for Digital Scholarship. If you have a University or Bodleian Reader’s card, you can also get there through the Mackerras Reading Room on the first floor of the Weston Library, around the gallery, having checked any bags into a locker (£1 returnable deposit) before you head upstairs.