Of course I forgot to add the link which is: http://jeffreycwitt.com/plaoul
Jeffrey Witt's lovely critical edition project. I do recommend this. Nicely laid out, I love the way you can match the image of the manuscript with the Latin transcription (as well as toggle through the ms). Having done this myself, I recognise there is a problem with 'cutting' the digital images so that they match the text. The line spacing of the MS is never consistent from page to page, nor within the page (it is effectively handwriting after all). Could semi-intelligent software scan the MS to determine the lines, and automatically line up with the transcript? I don't bother doing this any more after much experimentation. I simply have the text in one window, the image in another, and use the mouse to line up.
Two comments, Jeffrey, and a preliminary remark. Preliminary remark: the three main components of value/reward for academic publishing are (a) accredition - giving an author recognition for the work they have put in (b) authority - having a recognised name or panel of specialists review the work (c) archiving - not just giving a 'how to cite' reference, but also a place that people are guaranteed to find the work, i.e. a library, usually a large number of libraries which store a physical representation of the work, which researchers are guaranteed to find.
With those preliminary remarks in mind, here are my comments.
1. I made two corrections to the transcription via the form provided. This disappeared into the ether without any recognition. The system therefore fails the accreditation test. I contributed to the project, but it is unlikely I will be recognised. I'm not complaining of course, just noting that in order to give an incentive for people to work on the project, they are likely to need some reward - wiki software can do this, by the way, because you can estimate the amount each person contributed, though an art not a science.
2. The project also fails the 'archiving' test - it is on a personal website. If I link to the edition, how do I know it won't break in a year or two? I used to create external links when I started my website 6 years ago. So many of them broke that I don't bother. If I want to point to something, I just load it onto my own website, and link internally (always accrediting the orignal owner of the text, of course - no one has complained so far).
BTW archiving, I believe, is what explains the strange economics of academic publishing. There are three components, as I said, of which the first two are given free of cash payment. The labour of the author is rewarded by the accreditation - stuff you can put on your CV. The labour of those who give authority is unpaid,but rewarded by the prestige of being a series editor, or journal editor, or serving on a panel. The publishing, by contrast, is rewarded in cash, to the publisher. The printing costs are negligible (I was told by a good friend who works). The value provided is in distributing the work to archivists - university libraries - who pay handsomely for this. The critical edition I am using for my current translation project cost £80, of which the main labour - the writing and peer review - was free, and the printing cost probably £5. The rest goes to the publisher. And this odd state of affairs will continue until some organisation provides a very large server onto which all such material can be uploaded, for the use of everyone. But no one has an incentive to go to this expense, because it will be unpaid. (A university library, which costs between £5m and £10m a year to run, will go to this expense, because of the value it provides to the university, which will bear the cost. The value to the university, in turn, is to provide access to the library in return for a portion of the tuition fees.