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IMC 2019: Sessions

Session 924: The Polonsky Foundation England and France Project: Manuscripts from the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France, 700-1200 - A Round Table Discussion

Tuesday 2 July 2019, 19.00-20.00

Sponsor:Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris / British Library, London / Polonsky Foundation
Organiser:Kathleen Doyle, Department of Illuminated Manuscripts, British Library, London
Moderator/Chair:Kathleen Doyle, Department of Illuminated Manuscripts, British Library, London
Abstract

Last year, the British Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France launched two new innovative bilingual websites interpreting 400 manuscripts from each Library made between 700 and 1200 in England and France. This partnership was made possible thanks to generous funding from the Polonsky Foundation. One website, hosted by the Bibliothèque nationale de France uses the IIIF standard to allow display of complete coverage of all of the manuscripts, including side-by-side comparisons, available here https://manuscrits-france-angleterre.org/polonsky/en.

The other, Medieval England and France, 700-1200, https://www.bl.uk/medieval-english-french-manuscripts, created by the British Library, is designed to interpret these manuscripts for the widest possible audience, through short descriptions, articles, videos, and animations. Both websites are promoted actively on blogs and social media and well as in more traditional media such as radio and print.

In this roundtable we will explore ways to increase the impact of research on medieval manuscripts within the Research Excellence Framework (3) categories of creativity, culture, and society, and understanding, learning, and participation, using this project as a model. We will examine how to maximize the use of research outputs with different audiences, both nationally and internationally, and will encourage questions and audience participation.

Participants include Tuija Ainonen (Merton College, Oxford), Alison Ray (Canterbury Cathedral Archives & Library), and Joanna Story (School of History, Politics & International Relations, University of Leicester).