IMC 2021: Sessions

Session 1402: Mass Digitisation of Medieval Manuscripts: How and Why? - A Round Table Discussion

Sponsor:	Bodleian Library, Oxford
Organiser:	Matthew L. Holford, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Moderator/Chair:	Stewart J. Brookes, Faculty of English, University of Cambridge
Abstract	This round table discussion looks back on two major three-year manuscript digitisation projects. We will explore expectations and lessons learned, and discuss ways to increase the impact of medieval manuscript digitisation and cataloguing projects for both public and academic audiences. Both projects were generously funded by the Polonsky Foundation. 'Manuscripts from German-Speaking Lands' was a three-year collaboration between the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford and the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel, digitising 600 medieval manuscripts of Germanic origin or provenance. The Polonsky Foundation 'Greek Manuscripts Project' saw a significant collaboration between Cambridge University and Heidelberg University. The project conserved, catalogued, and digitised all the medieval and early modern Greek manuscripts in Cambridge libraries. It also digitised and catalogued the Greek manuscripts of the Bibliotheca Palatina, now physically divided between the Vatican Library and Heidelberg University Library, providing access in total to over 800 Greek manuscripts. Participants include Tuija Ainonen (University of Oxford), Andrew Dunning (University of Oxford), Suzanne Paul (University of Cambridge), and Torsten Schaßan (Herzog-August-Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel).