dm-l October 2010

dm-l@uleth.ca

28 participants
15 discussions

Re: [dm-l] Best practices for "scholar's own" digitization?
by Orion Montoya 29 Oct '10

29 Oct '10

Aha, so you forgot your link, and I neglected to send my message to the list. Here's a copy to get the rest of them up to date since our URLs are so useful. O. On Oct 26, 2010, at 2:15 PM, Maxim Romanov wrote: > Thanks. I have already built mine, but it is anything but portable. Although this Liberator looks quite much like my first scanner. The only problem is that it is hardly suitable to digitizing delicate documents or manuscripts. BTW, my url somehow disappered from my message, it was http://www.diybookscanner.org/ > > > On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 1:10 PM, Orion Montoya <gorion(a)gmail.com> wrote: > http://bkrpr.org/doku.php is a project to make a fairly compact book scanning machine for ~$300 including camera. It's not quite super-portable but it's pretty close. > > On Oct 26, 2010, at 1:04 PM, Maxim Romanov wrote: > >> Dear Dot, >> >> You should take a look at where people discuss and build different types of scanning/digitalizing machines, including portable ones meant to be used in archives. You can find some are really nice designs there, as well as software that people use to process those images. >> >> Best regards, >> Maxim G. Romanov >> >> Doctoral Student in Arabic & Islamic Studies >> Department of Near Eastern Studies >> University of Michigan >> Ann Arbor, MI, U.S.A. >> >> >> >> On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 9:05 AM, Dot Porter <dot.porter(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> Hello list, >> >> Are there any best practices aimed at scholars who wish to take images >> of manuscripts "in the field", using their own equipment? I'm thinking >> particularly of very remote repositories, that would not have their >> own digitization equipment; for a scholar interested in imaging only >> one or two manuscripts it might not be reasonable to try to have a >> professional set-up (with special book-cradle, special lighting, >> etc.). However even in those circumstances it's important to maintain >> high quality both in imaging and in metadata. I know for a fact that >> there are people doing work like that, hopefully some of them are on >> this list. Has anyone actually taken the time to write up best >> practices, though? >> >> And if not, perhaps we need some. >> >> Thanks, >> Dot >> >> -- >> *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* >> Dot Porter (MA, MSLS) >> Digital Medievalist, Digital Librarian >> Email: dot.porter(a)gmail.com >> *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* >> >> Digital Medievalist -- http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/ >> Journal: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/journal/ >> Journal Editors: editors _AT_ digitalmedievalist.org >> News: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/news/ >> Wiki: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/wiki/ >> Twitter: http://twitter.com/digitalmedieval >> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49320313760 >> Discussion list: dm-l(a)uleth.ca >> Change list options: http://listserv.uleth.ca/mailman/listinfo/dm-l >> >> >> >> Digital Medievalist -- http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/ >> Journal: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/journal/ >> Journal Editors: editors _AT_ digitalmedievalist.org >> News: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/news/ >> Wiki: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/wiki/ >> Twitter: http://twitter.com/digitalmedieval >> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49320313760 >> Discussion list: dm-l(a)uleth.ca >> Change list options: http://listserv.uleth.ca/mailman/listinfo/dm-l > >

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Best practices for "scholar's own" digitization?
by Dot Porter 28 Oct '10

28 Oct '10

Hello list, Are there any best practices aimed at scholars who wish to take images of manuscripts "in the field", using their own equipment? I'm thinking particularly of very remote repositories, that would not have their own digitization equipment; for a scholar interested in imaging only one or two manuscripts it might not be reasonable to try to have a professional set-up (with special book-cradle, special lighting, etc.). However even in those circumstances it's important to maintain high quality both in imaging and in metadata. I know for a fact that there are people doing work like that, hopefully some of them are on this list. Has anyone actually taken the time to write up best practices, though? And if not, perhaps we need some. Thanks, Dot -- *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Dot Porter (MA, MSLS) Digital Medievalist, Digital Librarian Email: dot.porter(a)gmail.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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Re: dm-l Digest, Vol 74, Issue 13
by Frederick Gibbs 28 Oct '10

28 Oct '10

Hello to everyone, To echo the sentiments of Dot and Maxim, I'd like to emphasize the importance of ad-hoc DIY digitization even without elaborate set-ups and procedures. Even a modest digital camera can go an awfully long way towards improving visibility of manuscripts (though obviously insufficient for official archival purposes). From a community standpoint (complicated logistical issues aside for the moment), I think that a large open access repository of legible images, even if some are subject to poor lighting and shaky hands, is far more valuable than a much smaller collection of more painstakingly produced digitizations. Ideally, we can pursue both at the same time. But I think it's useful to keep in mind what a tremendous resource even our quick and dirty image work can become--and that we shouldn't be discouraged from jumping in with an itchy trigger finger simply because we're worried that we're not following official best practices. The above comments probably reveal my preference for thinking about how to create and utilize an open access image repository (perhaps more of a social challenge than a technical one) rather than the logistics of producing images in the first place. Though by no means do I mean to minimize the challenges of digitization. Indeed, the discussion of how to meet the threshold of utility in image creation is a crucial first step. But a larger (and somewhat utopian) vision of manuscript image access, even with a latitude of image quality, is perhaps worth bearing in mind as best practices are worked out. Fred Gibbs 2010/10/28 <dm-l-request(a)uleth.ca> > Send dm-l mailing list submissions to > dm-l(a)uleth.ca > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://listserv.uleth.ca/mailman/listinfo/dm-l > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > dm-l-request(a)uleth.ca > > You can reach the person managing the list at > dm-l-owner(a)uleth.ca > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of dm-l digest..." > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Best practices for "scholar's own" digitization? > (Maxim Romanov) > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Maxim Romanov <romanov(a)umich.edu> > To: "Neven Jovanović" <neven.jovanovic(a)ffzg.hr> > Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 12:31:54 -0400 > Subject: Re: [dm-l] Best practices for "scholar's own" digitization? > Hi, > > This can quite efficiently done without engaging control via PC. I am > using two Canon 12 megapixel point-and-shoot cameras (SD 780). I am not > convinced that you need a DSLR camera for this (they are way to expensive > and do not necessarily provide a better image quality). I use them in > combination with some software (http://stereo.jpn.org/eng/sdm/index.htm) > that allows to use a usb switch to trigger both cameras at the same time > (you get two pages - left and right - in the same instance and 12 megapixel > is quite enough for up to A4 format). Thus, I end up with two flashcards > holding left and right pages separately. There are programs which allow to > renames images in batches (so, I rename all right images as XXXX-1 and left > images as XXXX-2, where XXXX are automatically generated numbers). Then, > copy them into one folder and they are automatically arranged. Then, for > processing images I found an excellent freeware program, ScanTailor, that > does a great job - most of it automatically - processing images into nice > looking pages (http://scantailor.sourceforge.net/), which then can be > combined into a very nice looking PDF. > > Maxim > > > > > > 2010/10/27 Neven Jovanović <neven.jovanovic(a)ffzg.hr> > >> Hi, >> >> a short technical afterthought on cameras. >> >> As we assembled the field kit following Todd Rester's ideas, it turned out >> that the SLR camera on offer, Canon PowerShot G11, did not have the option >> of remote operating through a computer. This option was dropped (perhaps >> to be reserved for more expensive models). >> >> The model you can control through a computer, and which downloads the >> pictures directly to the hard disk, is the older (and therefore cheaper) >> CANON EOS 1000D. We bought this, and it really works. >> >> But anyone preparing to make photos in this way should consult a decent >> dealer or a photographer, and the internet. It's worth it --- you learn >> much in the process. >> >> This obviously calls for a "best practice" guide somewhere... >> >> Neven >> >> >> >> Digital Medievalist -- http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/ >> Journal: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/journal/ >> Journal Editors: editors _AT_ digitalmedievalist.org >> News: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/news/ >> Wiki: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/wiki/ >> Twitter: http://twitter.com/digitalmedieval >> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gidI320313760 >> Discussion list: dm-l(a)uleth.ca >> Change list options: http://listserv.uleth.ca/mailman/listinfo/dm-l >> >> >> > > Digital Medievalist -- http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/ > Journal: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/journal/ > Journal Editors: editors _AT_ digitalmedievalist.org > News: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/news/ > Wiki: http://www.digitalmedievalist.org/wiki/ > Twitter: http://twitter.com/digitalmedieval > Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49320313760 > Discussion list: dm-l(a)uleth.ca > Change list options: http://listserv.uleth.ca/mailman/listinfo/dm-l > -- Frederick W Gibbs Assistant Professor Department of History and Art History <http://historyarthistory.gmu.edu/> Director of Digital Scholarship Center for History and New Media <http://chnm.gmu.edu> George Mason University <http://www.gmu.edu/>

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Director of the School of Library and Information Science, The University of Iowa
by Digital Medievalist » News: digitalmedievalistnews 26 Oct '10

26 Oct '10

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Session at CAA2100, Beijing: Digging with words: e-text and e-archaeology
by Stuart Dunn 24 Oct '10

24 Oct '10

With apologies for cross postings. Submissions are invited for the session, Digging with words: e-text and e-archaeology, at Computer Applications and Archaeology 2011, Beijing, April 12th-16th 2011. For further details, including author guidelines and submission information, please go to http://www.caa2011.org/#home|default <http://www.caa2011.org/#home%7Cdefault>. Deadline is *15th November 2011.* Digging with words: e-text and e-archaeology Keywords: text, digital libraries, text mining, grey literature Abstract: There are many complex ways in which archaeology is written about. Formal publications in journals, books, site reports, so-called 'grey literature', field notes, excavation daybooks, diaries and, latterly, websites and blogs, all contain a collective written discourse about the past, and how it is discovered. Added to this may be historical sources about sites and artefacts: if excavating a site of the Classical period in Greece for example, it is likely that the excavator will wish to consult Classical authors such as Strabo or Thucydides. Furthermore, evidence from text bearing objects such as inscriptions will heavily influence the interpretation of any site at which it is found. Hitherto, an excavator is likely to have accessed most secondary documentary evidence via institutional libraries and catalogues, or via booksellers or publishers. However, the relatively recent provision on a large scale of such documentary evidence digitally --- the Perseus library at Tufts, and online inscriptions corpora such as the Inscriptions of Roman Cyrenaica and Inscriptions of Aphrodisias are good examples --- combined with increasingly sophisticated techniques for interrogating that content, and extracting information automatically, prompts us to rethink the very nature of the evidence with which we can form interpretations about the past. Once distinctions between text and artefact, history (or philology) and archaeology were clear. Now however (for example) texts can be parsed for formal units of information and databases of entities built, which can then be used to underpin new knowledge or enhance resource discovery. On the other hand, the bases of comparanda for assessing archaeological data are becoming more widely available in digital form, along with digital representations of those artefacts, allowing deeper comparison and (textual) annotation. This prompts questions as to how the digital medium can be used in their interpretation. This session will seek to explore these distinctions by bringing together archaeologists with interests in textual evidence, textual scholars, historians and philologists. Themes will include, but are not limited to: * Theoretical considerations of the nature of textual and archaeological evidence * The use of standards and mark-up schemas in digitized archaeology texts * Text mining and parsing (especially including geoparsing), and automatic entity extraction * Linking textual evidence with archaeological evidence using linked data and semantic web technologies * Provision for non-Latin texts in digital libraries for archaeology, with an emphasis on Chinese and other Asian scripts particularly encouraged -- Dr Stuart Dunn Research Fellow Centre for e-Research King's College London www.ahessc.ac.uk/stuart-dunn Tel +44 (0)207 848 2709 Fax +44 (0)207 848 1989 stuart.dunn(a)kcl.ac.uk Centre for e-Research 26-29 Drury Lane London WC2B 5RL UK Geohash: http://geohash.org/gcpvj1zm7yp1

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Re: [dm-l] TAN: How does one reference a location in an electronic book on Kindle or iPad?
by Shawn Moore 18 Oct '10

18 Oct '10

I know this is coming a bit late and I know this is a bit off topic, but I had this question specifically concerning citing Kindle or iPad ebooks in MLA format. I have students using their Kindles and iPads and this question has come up quite often. I asked a professor about how to cite those editions in MLA and more specifically about the reference locations. He was unsure about the reference locations (and said he would check on it), but this was the response I was given by Dr. Jim Harner about citing them in MLA and I thought I would share it: Several people have asked me about citing a Kindle a la MLA. I contacted David Nicholls at MLA: he reported that MLA is working on a form that resembles he citation of a non-periodical CD-ROM: Author. Title. Publication information. Kindle. Until that form is finalized, he said MLA is recommending using the form for citing a digital file (6.8.18 in the MLA Style Manual; 5.7.18 in the Handbook). Jim Best, Shawn W. Moore Ph.D. Student Department of English Texas A&M University

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Beyond the Facsimile: Rich Models of Late Medieval and Early Modern Texts
by Digital Medievalist » News: robertordt 18 Oct '10

18 Oct '10

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Research Assistant in Art History, Warburg Institute
by Digital Medievalist » News: digitalmedievalistnews 15 Oct '10

15 Oct '10

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TEI MM 2010 Conference program published
by Digital Medievalist » News: robertordt 09 Oct '10

09 Oct '10

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RE: [dm-l] TAN: How does one reference a location in an electronic book on Kindle or iPad?
by Birnbaum, David J 07 Oct '10

07 Oct '10

Dear Digital Medievalist, This is part of a larger and older problem. For example, my Film Studies colleagues tell me that there is no standard way to point to a particular location in a film for reference purposes. Film scholars may use approximate timing references, and at some point in the production process film has very fine-grained timing information attached to it, but there is no standard pointing and reference system in wide use in scholarship, comparable to page references with paginated print materials. The reference system for music is better developed, since we can count measures, although I have no idea how one points to a moment inside an improvisational cadenza. Closer to our electronic home, unless there is internal section numbering in the text or internal anchors in the html, there is no standard way to point to a particular location in a static web page comparable to a page in a book (even though the web page may be length of many, many book pages). We may be more aware of these limitations with Kindles and their ilk than we are with other media because we naturally think of them as a funny kind of book and we subconsciously expect to find the familiar book-like interface, complete with pagination, but fine-grained, reproducible location referencing may be more exceptional in the world of texts than we think. Sincerely, David J. Birnbaum (djbpitt(a)pitt.edu) -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Gardella [mailto:pgardella@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2010 4:41 PM To: daniel.odonnell(a)uleth.ca; dm-l(a)uleth.ca Subject: Re: [dm-l] TAN: How does one reference a location in an electronic book on Kindle or iPad? At this point, there is no way to reference one specific location. Locations provide a way for Kindles, but the Locations will vary depending on the font size in use. So it will provide the individual with a way to reference something for themselves, but not for anyone else (arbitrary bookmarks that might come close to canonical). This is one of the largest problems with ebooks and ereaders for scholarly work. Some body will need to define the standards for footnoting, and doing cross-references. To date, I have no heard of any such standards in the works. Perhaps others have. Patrick Gardella Annapolis, MD

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dm-l October 2010