Summer School Digital Humanities

09:30-11:00 Session 1
11:00-11:30 Coffee break A
11:30-12:30 Session 2
12:30-13:30 Lunch
13:30-15:30 Session 3
15:30-16:00 Coffee break B
16:00-17:00 Session 4 / Keynote slot

preliminary programme

MONDAY | Digital Scholarly Editing and Medieval Manuscripts

Digital Scholarly Editing, Theory and Practice, XML

We will start the week with the theoretical background of digital scholarly editing. After this introduction to digital scholarly editing, we will specifically focus on digital editing projects of Medieval manuscripts. After lunch, we will focus on the basics of XML and practice with transcribing Medieval manuscripts.

TUESDAY | Handwritten Text Recognition and Modern Manuscripts

Transkribus, eScriptorium, TEI-XML, Axolotl

On the second day, we will dive into the world of handwritten text recognition (HTR) by looking into the workflows in Transkribus and eScriptorium. After a short introduction to HTR, we will use eScriptorium/Transkribus to transcribe a couple of pages of Mary Shelley’s manuscript of Frankenstein. However, the resulting transcription is not outputted in an ideal format for digital scholarly editions, making post-processing and validation a necessary next step. For the post-processing tasks, we will work with the Collaborative XML Editor Axolotl. After importing HTR output from platforms such as eScriptorium and Transkribus, Axolotl allows for post-processing, including correcting and validating transcriptions, linking additions and metamarks, adding additional markup, and modifying annotations and zones.

WEDNESDAY | Keystroke Logging and Born-Digital Manuscripts

Inputlog, keystroke logging, TEI-XML

On the third day, we will explore how we can create digital editions of born-digital manuscripts, specifically through the use of keystroke logging. As an exercise, we will write a poem on the computer and log the writing process using a keystroke logger (Inputlog or GGXLog). We will then use these keystroke logging files to learn the basic technologies involved in making a (genetic) digital edition. As a first step, we will encode all writing operations (e.g. new text production, additions, deletions) in TEI-XML together with the timestamp. These XML files will be used the next day to visualise the reconstructions of the digital writing processes. We will conclude the day with a keynote presentation.

THURSDAY | Towards a Digital Edition Light

Github, Keystroke Loxensis, HTML, CSS, XPath, XSLT

On the fourth day we will learn the basic steps needed to create a digital edition (light). We will start the day with a brief introduction to Github and use Keystroke Loxensis - a tool for visualising the transcriptions of keystroke logging data. By looking at how this tool works, we will be able to gain knowledge of the technologies needed to create a digital edition: HTML, CSS, XPath and XSLT. In the afternoon we will visit the Plantin-Moretus Museum.

FRIDAY | Visualising Manuscripts and Born-Digital Writing Processes

Github, TEI-XML, XPath, XSLT, HTML, CSS

On the last day, we will use the skills acquired in the previous days to create a light digital edition hosted on Github. We will use a template (provided by the teachers) for a mini-Frankenstein digital edition and modify and personalise it accordingly. This will give us plenty of time to practise HTML, CSS, XPath and XSLT. We will conclude the summer school with a final discussion and an overview of other useful tools and software.

Upon successful completion of the summer school course (including the preparatory assignment), students will be credited 3 ECTS — the certificates of which they can present to their home institutions. Students who wish to earn 6 ECTS instead, will receive an additional assignment that will be completed individually over the summer. In this assignment, students will be asked to apply what they learned to their own materials, and develop their own small-scale demo edition.

To include the credits in the curriculum at the home institution, participants need an agreement with the responsible person at the home institution.

A certificate will be awarded at the end of the programme.

Participants will be able to get in touch with peers attending other summer schools at Antwerp Summer and Winter University. A visit to the beautiful city hall, a networking reception, a guided city walk, a quiz night, a football game and a day-trip to another Belgian city such as Bruges or Brussels are only some examples of these activities. All activities of the social programme are offered free of charge, in some cases participants will be asked for a deposit which will be reimbursed upon participation to the activity.

Specific social activities in the days around and during the summer school on Digital Humanities will be announced close to the start of the programme.