The dilemmas of digitization

Thinking about the Past, Planning the Future. How to Digitize the Humanities?

Convenors: Paolo D’Iorio, CNRS-ITEM, Anne Simonin, CNRS-MFO, Alexis Tadié, MFO & Paul Flather, Europaeum

Place : Maison Française d’Oxford, 2-10 Norham Road, Oxford, OX2 6SE; Tel. (01865) 274 220,   

  

General Abstract  :

A key element in the new research world has been the digitization of library holdings, archives, research material, making it possible to access, search, and structure research material online.
However, while digitization has become commonplace, and the research community enjoys its many benefits, there remains work to be done to ensure that it is done efficiently, in an internationally coordinated way. This is how it must benefit scholarship and scholars.
This conference gathering international experts on digitization plans to assess the achievements of the last 30 years, to examine successes and failures.
The first day will address the main aspects of the digital libraries and research infrastructures for the humanities.
The second day will be devoted to an analysis of a number of specific case studies. Contrasting successful, and less successful, attempts at digitization and digital scholarship will provide fruitful ground for future plans.
The last session should be devoted to the conditions of access of the digitized material. Such essential issues as the question of copyright, of funding of digitization projects, as well as national and transnational cooperation and harmonization should be addressed in this session.

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Thursday 22nd May ( 2pm-5.30pm)

 I. Why should we digitize the humanities?

First panel. Digital libraries and research infrastructure
Chair: Hans Walter Gabler (University of Munich)

2.30 Introduction, Paul Flather (Europeaum), Alexis Tadié (MFO)
2.40 Luca Martinelli (European Commission), i2010 Digital Libraries: a European Commission initiative for Europe’s cultural heritage and scientific information
3.10 Lou Burnard (OUCS) and Martin Wynne (Oxford Text Archive), CLARIN and DARIAH:  standards for computing in the Humanities, and an infrastructure for Europe
3.40 Discussion
4.10 Milad Doueihi (University of Glasgow), Digital libraries and cultural identity
4.40 Paolo D’Iorio (ITEM, CNRS/ENS), Scholarsource. Scholarship in the digital era
5.10 Discussion

Friday 23rd May (9am-7pm)

II. What works? What doesn’t?

First Panel. Did they want what they have achieved?
Chair: Ian Maclean (All Souls College, Oxford

9.20 Alain Giffard (Ministère de la Culture), From the Très Grand Bibliothèque Numérique to Gallica
9.50 Lynne Brindley (British Library), British Library digital strategy
10.20 Gino Roncaglia (University of Rome), Digital Humanities in Italy
10.50 Discussion
11.30 Robert McNamee, Electronic Enlightenment Project: every character a digital object
12.00 Pietro Corsi (Oxford University), History of Science on the Web
12.30 Discussion

Second Panel. Can Institutions act better?

Chair: Alexis Tadié (Director, Maison Française d'Oxford)


2.30 Denis Bruckmann (Bibliothèque Nationale de France), Digital strategy of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
3.00 David Robey (AHRC), Digital resources in the humanities: sustainability and evidence of value
3.30 Yannick Maignien, (CNRS-Adonis), Adonis: Integrated access to digital data and documents in the Humanities and Social Sciences
4.00 Jill Cousins (Director of The European Library) Coalescing cultural institutions, Europeana: European digital library
4.30 General discussion
5.15 Plenary lecture : Jacques Roubaud, On the future of libraries
Chair: Michael Sheringham (All Souls College, Oxford)

Saturday 24th May (9am-1pm)

III. Access issues

Introductory lectures
Chair: William Dutton (Oxford Internet Institute)

9.20 Robert Morrissey, Russ Horton (ARTFL), The ARTFL Project: From words to works
9.50 Sophie Lieber (Conseil d’Etat), Orphan works and copyright: proposals from the French Committee on orphan works
10.20 Christine Madsen (Oxford Internet Institute), Digitizing rare and unique resources: the “long tail” role of libraries in digital scholarship
11.10 Round table: should free access be our goal?
Moderator: Sarah Thomas (Bodleian Library)
Richard Boulderstone (British Library), Life cycle costs of digitisation
Mats Dahlström (Swedish School of Library and Information Science), Digitized library collections – an open source approach
Denisa Kera (Charles University, Prague), Mash-ups and widgets: from open access to open excesses.
Other participants: Denis Bruckmann, Pietro Corsi, Paolo D’Iorio, Jill Cousins, Alain Giffard, Christine Madsen, Yannick Maignien, Luca Martinelli, Robert Morrissey, Richard Ovenden