Early Modern Manuscripts Online (EMMO): Difference between revisions

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Early Modern Manuscripts Online, or [[EMMO]], is a multi-faceted project funded by a grant from the [http://www.imls.gov/ Institute of Museum and Library Services] (IMLS) that will provide scholars and the general public with convenient web access to transcriptions, images, and metadata for a substantial number of English manuscripts from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.  
Early Modern Manuscripts Online, or EMMO, is a multi-faceted project funded initially by a grant from the [http://www.imls.gov/ Institute of Museum and Library Services] (IMLS) that provide scholars and the general public with convenient web access to transcriptions, images, and metadata for a substantial number of English manuscripts from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.  
[[File:FSL-EMMOLogo-vFinal-2ColorBlue.png|thumb|right|300px]]
[[File:FSL-EMMOLogo-vFinal-2ColorBlue.png|thumb|right|300px]]


The EMMO project will make a variety of rare manuscripts from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s premier collection available to users for free via an easy, searchable web site with high-quality images and consistent transcriptions of letters, diaries, wills, coats of arms, literary pieces, recipe books, miscellanies, and more. This combination of resources will enhance research in many disciplines by removing barriers to the rich content of manuscripts, such as: location, early handwriting, and the current inability to search manuscript texts online. At the same time, EMMO will also promote the learning of paleography (the study of pre-modern handwriting methods) through events such as conferences, classes, and online tutorials so users may attain the skills necessary to understand and appreciate these manuscripts in their original form.  
EMMO makes a variety of rare manuscripts from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s premier collection available to users for free via an easy, searchable web site with high-quality images and consistent transcriptions of letters, diaries, wills, coats of arms, literary pieces, recipe books, miscellanies, and more. This combination of resources will enhance research in many disciplines by removing barriers to the rich content of manuscripts, such as: location, early handwriting, and the current inability to search manuscript texts online. At the same time, EMMO promotes the learning of paleography (the study of pre-modern handwriting methods) through events such as conferences, classes, and online tutorials so users may attain the skills necessary to understand and appreciate these manuscripts in their original form.  


The project will advance in phases, so by the end of the three years that are currently funded, the following will be complete:
The project is advancing in phases:
:Phase 1:  Create and prepare transcriptions
:Phase 1:  Create and prepare transcriptions
:Phase 2:  Develop an optimized, searchable database
:Phase 2:  Develop an optimized, searchable database
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:Phase 4:  Roll out shareable software
:Phase 4:  Roll out shareable software


Educational events highlighting paleography and scholarly research regarding the study of manuscripts will take place throughout all of the above phases and continue beyond these early stages of the project.
==Paleography and transcriptions==
 
The majority of manuscripts written in English during the period stretching from 1500-1700 were written in what has come to be known as secretary hand, a mode of handwriting that most people today cannot read accurately without advanced training in paleography.  Since transcriptions customarily serve as the bridge between secretary hand and our present-day typefaces, EMMO provides searchable transcriptions for ease of use. However, EMMO also gives users the opportunity to learn about paleography and make their own transcriptions.
As more scholars—or anyone interested in the early modern period—engage with the manuscripts directly, intriguing questions about and investigations into language, history, and culture are emerging. Software tools are under development by Folger staff to assist users in the learning process. 
 
Through a combination of methods that includes gathering existing edited and published transcriptions, producing transcriptions at the Folger, organizing special events such as transcribathons, and encouraging robust online crowdsourcing efforts, EMMO fosters an ever-growing a body of transcriptions that are vetted for accuracy and consistency, then published online for study.
 
The viewable transcriptions in EMMO’s approved collection follow established conventions of semi-diplomatic transcription i.e., minor alterations will be made in the transcribed text. These changes enhance clarity and facilitate reading for a twenty-first century audience, for example archaic letters such as a thorn (looks like "y") would be updated to ''th''. It is important to remember that the transcriptions in EMMO—as is the case with all transcriptions—are simply useful depictions of what appears on the actual, physical manuscripts. However, the high-quality images that accompany each semi-diplomatic transcription in EMMO give users a good sense of the original, and comparing the two onscreen constitutes a learning experience of its own.
 
In order to make as much information as possible available as soon as possible, re-vetted transcriptions can be searched and read through the [https://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/FOLGER~3~3 Folger Manuscript Transcriptions Collection] in [[Digital image collection|LUNA]], the Folger's Digital Image Collection.
 
==Text encoding==
 
In addition to transcribing the text of manuscripts, EMMO encodes the transcriptions for proper digital representation online, using tags in [http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_whatis.asp XML] that adhere to [http://www.tei-c.org/release/doc/tei-p5-doc/en/html/ TEI P5 guidelines], thereby giving the digital transcriptions an appropriate and consistent look as well as streamlining them for quick computer searches and analysis.  More advanced encoding to add glosses on the text or highlight items for debate may be done in later stages of EMMO or as part of specific research or learning initiatives in the future.
 
==EMMO web site (beta)==
 
In early January, 2017, the EMMO project launched a beta web site with a number of encoded transcriptions: [http://emmo.folger.edu/ emmo.folger.edu]. The site has three versions of each transcription (diplomatic, semi-diplomatic, and regularized) along with associated metadata and high-resolution images of the manuscript pages offered via a [http://iiif.io/ IIIF] viewer. The full text of the transcriptions is available for searches.
 
==Staffing and structure==
 
Initial funding for EMMO came from a three-year grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS); the project ran from 2014 through early 2017 in its early phases.  This broad venture draws upon the expertise of staff members across several divisions at the Library, including personnel from the Collections Division, [https://www.folger.edu/digital-media-publications/ Digital Media and Publications], and [[Folger Institute]], as well as dedicated EMMO staff members [[User:PaulDingman|Paul Dingman]] and [[User:SarahPowell |Sarah Powell]]. 
 
EMMO also has a highly-respected external advisory group whose guidance and assistance was of immense help in achieving the project’s initial goals:
:Julia Flanders, Northeastern University
:Neil Fraistat, University of Maryland
:[[Alan Galey]], University of Toronto
:James Ginther, Toronto School of Theology
:Ben Vershbow, Independent Digital Library Strategist
:[[Peter Stallybrass]], University of Pennsylvania
:[[Alan Stewart]], Columbia University
:Kathryn James, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
:Elizabeth O’Keefe, The Morgan Library and Museum (retired)
 
The online tools and scholarly programs of EMMO serve as important resources for students, teachers, and researchers in a host of fields.  By expanding the study of paleography and manuscripts, our understanding of the early modern period will deepen.  Assumptions about the literary record will be challenged; new questions will be asked and new answers found.
 
==Further Readings and Resources==
:[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/ National Archives - Paleography: reading old handwriting]
:[http://scriptorium.english.cam.ac.uk/handwriting/history/intro/index.php Early Modern Handwriting: An Introduction by Elisabeth Leedham-Green]
:[https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/ Early English Handwriting: 1500-1700]
:[[Manuscripts (disambiguation)]]
:[[Manuscript transcription projects]]
:[[Transcribed_manuscripts]]
:[[Folger_Paleography_listserv|Folger Paleography listserv]]
:[http://scriptorium.english.cam.ac.uk/handwriting/materials/conventions/ Scriptorium: Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts Online]
:[[List of online resources for early modern English paleography]]
:Folger blog posts:
::''The Collation''
:::[http://collation.folger.edu/2013/11/emmo-early-modern-manuscripts-online/ EMMO: Early Modern Manuscripts Online]
:::[http://collation.folger.edu/2014/12/a-transcriba-what/ A transcriba… what?]
:::[http://collation.folger.edu/2015/03/emmo-advancing-and-expanding/ EMMO: advancing and expanding]
:::[http://collation.folger.edu/2015/05/a-spoonful-of-sugar-helps-the-medicine-go-down/ A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down]
:::[http://collation.folger.edu/2015/06/tagging-manuscripts-how-much-is-too-much/ Tagging manuscripts: how much is too much?]
:::[http://collation.folger.edu/2015/10/fall-round-up-emmo/ Fall Round-up for Early Modern Manuscripts Online]
:::[http://collation.folger.edu/2015/12/emmo-announces-shakespeares-world/ EMMO announces the launch of Shakespeare’s World]
:::[http://collation.folger.edu/2016/03/more-lasting-than-bronze/ A monument more lasting than bronze]
:::[http://collation.folger.edu/2016/05/early-modern-account-book/ Unlocking An Early Modern Account Book]
:::[http://collation.folger.edu/2016/08/honing-transcriptions-with-algorithms-and-acumen/ Honing transcriptions with algorithms and acumen]
:::[http://collation.folger.edu/2016/11/preview-new-emmo-website/ A Preview of What the New EMMO Website Will Offer] 
:::[http://collation.folger.edu/2017/01/announcing-emmos-beta-launch/ Announcing EMMO's Beta Launch]
:::[https://collation.folger.edu/2017/06/emmo-conference/ The EMMO Conference on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age]
::''Shakespeare and Beyond''
:::[https://shakespeareandbeyond.folger.edu/2017/12/12/mince-pies-mirth-recipes-17th-century Mince pies and mirth: Transcribed 17th-century recipes]
 
==Events and presentations==
==Events and presentations==


Various events are planned to promote EMMO and its various offerings over the next three years; all of these will encourage discussion of current and potential research projects in paleography and crowdsourcing. A cursory list is below.  Check back for updates and additions as the project progresses.
Various events have promoted EMMO and its various offerings over the three years; all of these encourage discussion of current and potential research projects in paleography and crowdsourcing. These events and presentation include:
   
   
*June 2014:  [http://www.folger.edu/Content/Folger-Institute/Scholarly-Programs/Program-Offerings/English-Paleography-A-Summer-2014-Summer-Institute-Sponsored-by-the-Andrew-W-Mellon-Foundation.cfm English Paleography: A Mellon Summer 2014 Institute] (at the [http://www.folger.edu/ Folger Shakespeare Library]), led by Dr. Heather Wolfe; participants from a number of universities attended this month-long intensive training program in order to learn and enhance their paleography skills.  Transcriptions made during the institute were contributed to the transcriptions, tags, and glosses that will ultimately appear in EMMO.
*June 2014:  [http://www.folger.edu/Content/Folger-Institute/Scholarly-Programs/Program-Offerings/English-Paleography-A-Summer-2014-Summer-Institute-Sponsored-by-the-Andrew-W-Mellon-Foundation.cfm English Paleography: A Mellon Summer 2014 Institute] (at the [http://www.folger.edu/ Folger Shakespeare Library]), led by Dr. Heather Wolfe; participants from a number of universities attended this month-long intensive training program in order to learn and enhance their paleography skills.  Transcriptions made during the institute were contributed to the transcriptions, tags, and glosses that will ultimately appear in EMMO.
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*March 30, 2016: [http://wwp.neu.edu/about/events.html#seminar_2016-03-30/ Early Modern Digital Pedagogies], a half-day workshop on digital humanities pedagogy, offered by EMMO in conjunction with the [http://www.wwp.northeastern.edu// Women Writers Project] at Northeastern University, Boston, MA. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Heather Wolfe and Paul Dingman.
*March 30, 2016: [http://wwp.neu.edu/about/events.html#seminar_2016-03-30/ Early Modern Digital Pedagogies], a half-day workshop on digital humanities pedagogy, offered by EMMO in conjunction with the [http://www.wwp.northeastern.edu// Women Writers Project] at Northeastern University, Boston, MA. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Heather Wolfe and Paul Dingman.
*April 6-8, 2016: Presentation in workshop sponsored by [http://medea.hypotheses.org// MEDEA] at Wheaton College, Norton, MA. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Paul Dingman.
*April 6-8, 2016: Presentation in workshop sponsored by [http://medea.hypotheses.org// MEDEA] at Wheaton College, Norton, MA. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Paul Dingman.
*April 14-15, 2016: Presentation in workshop on Transcription Projects and crowdsourcing with [https://www.shakespearesworld.org/#/ Shakespeare's World] at the Library of Congress, Washington DC, for [http://dp.la/info/get-involved/dplafest/april-2016/ DPLAfest]. In collaboration with the National Archives & the Smithsonian Transcription Center. Folger staff presenting: Sarah Powell.
*April 14-15, 2016: Presentation in workshop at the [https://www.loc.gov/ Library of Congress] for [http://dp.la/info/get-involved/dplafest/april-2016/ DPLAfest] on Transcription Projects and crowdsourcing with [https://www.shakespearesworld.org/#/ Shakespeare's World]. In collaboration with the [https://www.archives.gov/ National Archives] & the [https://transcription.si.edu/ Smithsonian Transcription Center]. Folger staff presenting: Sarah Powell.
*April 17, 2016: Transcribathon in conjunction with the [http://library.sc.edu/p/collections/Rare?/ Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections] at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Paul Dingman.
*April 17, 2016: Transcribathon in conjunction with the [http://library.sc.edu/p/collections/Rare?/ Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections] at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Paul Dingman.
*June 6-10, 2016.  Week-long workshop (at the [http://www.folger.edu/ Folger Shakespeare Library]) led by Dr Heather Wolfe; participants from a number of universities attended this week-long program in order to learn and enhance their paleography skills. The workshop was part of the Folger Institute Scholarly programs, supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
*June 6-10, 2016.  Week-long workshop (at the [http://www.folger.edu/ Folger Shakespeare Library]) led by Dr Heather Wolfe; participants from a number of universities attended this week-long program in order to learn and enhance their paleography skills. The workshop was part of the Folger Institute Scholarly programs, supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
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*October 3-4, 2016:  Presentation for the [https://www.ldc.upenn.edu/ Linguistic Data Consortium] (LDC) Workshop on Crowdsourcing and Novel Incentives in Language Resource Creation at the University of Pennsylvania. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Paul Dingman.
*October 3-4, 2016:  Presentation for the [https://www.ldc.upenn.edu/ Linguistic Data Consortium] (LDC) Workshop on Crowdsourcing and Novel Incentives in Language Resource Creation at the University of Pennsylvania. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Paul Dingman.
*October 2016 - April 2017:  [[Practical Paleography]], the fourth of an informal series of sessions meeting for one hour every other week to transcribe a manuscript page or two, open to readers and staff of the Folger Shakespeare Library.  Folger staff leading sessions: Heather Wolfe, Sarah Powell.
*October 2016 - April 2017:  [[Practical Paleography]], the fourth of an informal series of sessions meeting for one hour every other week to transcribe a manuscript page or two, open to readers and staff of the Folger Shakespeare Library.  Folger staff leading sessions: Heather Wolfe, Sarah Powell.
*November 9, 2016: Transcribathon in conjunction with the [http://emroc.hypotheses.org// Early Modern Recipes Online Collective (EMROC)] at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Sarah Powell.
*November 9, 2016: Transcribathon in conjunction with the [http://emroc.hypotheses.org// Early Modern Recipes Online Collective (EMROC)] at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Sarah Powell.
*December 5-9, 2016: [http://http://www.folger.edu/2016-2017-institute-scholarly-programs#Introduction-to-English-Paleography Introduction to English Paleography], a week-long advanced workshop on paleography in conjunction with the Folger Institute.
*December 5-9, 2016: [http://http://www.folger.edu/2016-2017-institute-scholarly-programs#Introduction-to-English-Paleography Introduction to English Paleography], a week-long advanced workshop on paleography in conjunction with the Folger Institute.
*December 6, 2016: "Brews and Brevigraphs" held at the Folger Library. This will be a joint event between  [http://www.folger.edu/2016-2017-institute-scholarly-programs#Introduction-to-English-Paleography Introduction to English Paleography] & the EMMO's Practical Paleography sessions. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Sarah Powell.
*December 6, 2016: "Brews and Brevigraphs" held at the Folger Library. This will be a joint event between  [http://www.folger.edu/2016-2017-institute-scholarly-programs#Introduction-to-English-Paleography Introduction to English Paleography] & the EMMO's Practical Paleography sessions. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Sarah Powell.
Line 52: Line 116:
*April 17, 2017: Second transcribathon, in association with The University of Connecticut Humanities Institute. From 4 pm – 7 pm in the Homer D. Babbidge Library, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Paul Dingman.
*April 17, 2017: Second transcribathon, in association with The University of Connecticut Humanities Institute. From 4 pm – 7 pm in the Homer D. Babbidge Library, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Paul Dingman.
*May 18-19, 2017 : EMMO conference hosted at the Folger by the [[Folger Institute]], the schedule for the conference is here: [[Early Modern Manuscripts Online: New Directions in Teaching and Research]].
*May 18-19, 2017 : EMMO conference hosted at the Folger by the [[Folger Institute]], the schedule for the conference is here: [[Early Modern Manuscripts Online: New Directions in Teaching and Research]].
*June, 2017: Fishbowl session "Transparent, Reliable, and Consistent: Editorial Practice in the Folgersphere,” Society of Textual Scholarship International Interdisciplinary Conference at The University of Maryland. Folger staff attending and presenting: Meaghan Brown, Mike Poston and Heather Wolfe.
*June 14, 2017:  Presentation/Demo for the [http://iiif.io/community/groups/manuscripts/ IIIF Manuscripts Community Group] Monthly Conference Call. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Paul Dingman.
*Oct, 2017: Presentation “Citizen Humanists in Shakespeare’s England: What the Folger has Learned from Developing our Crowd,” Creating Historical Knowledge Socially: New Approaches, Opportunities and Epistemological Implications of Undertaking Research with Citizen Scholars, German Historical Institute, Washington, DC. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Heather Wolfe.
*Oct, 2017: Presentation “Early Modern Manuscripts Online as a Community, Resource, and Service,” The Present and Future of Digital Manuscripts: Access, Pedagogy, Scholarship at UCLA/Clark Library. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Heather Wolfe.
*Nov, 2017: Presentation “A manuscript counterpart to EEBO-TCP? Crowdsourcing transcriptions and building a new corpus at the Folger Shakespeare Library,” ProQuest, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Heather Wolfe.
*Nov 7, 2017: Transcribathon at the Folger in support of the [http://emroc.hypotheses.org// Early Modern Recipes Online Collective (EMROC)] virtual transcribathon. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Sarah Powell, Heather Wolfe.
*April 24, 2018: Transcribathon in association with  SUNY University of Buffalo 's Experiential Learning Network; the Center of Excellence in Writing; Digital Composition Lab; Department of Theatre and Dance; Early Modern Research Workshop. From 10am – 3pm. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Sarah Powell.
*June 7, 2018: Transcribathon as part of the Mellon Summer Institute in English Paleography at the Folger Shakespeare Library taught by Heather Wolfe. From 10am – 5pm.
*November 9, 2018: Transcribathon in association with [http://www.library.vcu.edu// VCU Libraries] and the Superscripts, a student group within the [http://www.english.vcu.edu// VCU department of English] at the University of Virginia Commonwealth, Richmond, VA.


==Paleography and transcriptions==
[[Category:Paleography]][[Category:Digital Folger]] [[Category: Digital humanities]] [[Category:Collection]] [[Category:Manuscripts]] [[Category:Transcriptions]]
 
The majority of manuscripts written in English during the period stretching from 1500-1700 were written in what has come to be known as secretary hand, a mode of handwriting that most people today cannot read accurately without advanced training in paleography.  Since transcriptions customarily serve as the bridge between secretary hand and our present-day typefaces, EMMO will provide searchable transcriptions for ease of use. However, EMMO will also give users the opportunity to learn about paleography and make their own transcriptions.
As more scholars—or anyone interested in the early modern period—engage with the manuscripts directly, intriguing questions about and investigations into language, history, and culture will undoubtedly emerge. Software tools are under development by Folger staff to assist users in the learning process. 
 
Through a combination of methods that includes gathering existing edited and published transcriptions, producing transcriptions at the Folger, organizing special events such as transcribathons, and encouraging robust online crowdsourcing efforts, EMMO will create a body of transcriptions that are then vetted for accuracy and consistency, and published online for study. 
 
The viewable transcriptions in EMMO’s approved collection will follow established conventions of semi-diplomatic transcription i.e., minor alterations will be made in the transcribed text. These changes enhance clarity and facilitate reading for a twenty-first century audience, for example archaic letters such as a thorn (looks like "y") would be updated to ''th''. It is important to remember that the transcriptions in EMMO—as is the case with all transcriptions—are simply useful depictions of what appears on the actual, physical manuscripts. However, the high-quality images that accompany each semi-diplomatic transcription in EMMO will give users a good sense of the original, and comparing the two onscreen constitutes a learning experience of its own.
 
==Text encoding==
 
In addition to transcribing the text of manuscripts, EMMO will encode the transcriptions for proper digital representation online, using tags in [http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_whatis.asp XML] that adhere to [http://www.tei-c.org/release/doc/tei-p5-doc/en/html/ TEI P5 guidelines], thereby giving the digital transcriptions an appropriate and consistent look as well as streamlining them for quick computer searches and analysis.  More advanced encoding to add glosses on the text or highlight items for debate may be done in later stages of EMMO or as part of specific research or learning initiatives in the future.
 
==EMMO web site (beta)==
 
In early January, 2017, the EMMO project launched a beta web site with its first batch of encoded transcriptions: [http://emmo.folger.edu/ emmo.folger.edu]. The site has three versions of each transcription (diplomatic, semi-diplomatic, and regularized) along with associated metadata and high-resolution images of the manuscript pages offered via a [http://iiif.io/ IIIF] viewer. The full text of the transcriptions is available for searches. A limited number of manuscript letters comprise this first batch, though more will be added as the project moves forward as well as manuscripts from other genres.
 
==Staffing and structure==
 
Initial funding for EMMO comes from a three-year grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS); the project will run from 2014 through early 2017 in its early phases.  This broad venture will draw upon the expertise of staff members across several divisions at the Library, including personnel from Central Library, Digital Media and Publications, and Folger Institute. 
 
Key staff at Folger Shakespeare Library involved in EMMO:
:[[User:EricJohnson|Eric Johnson]], Director of Digital Access (Project Director)
:[[Heather Wolfe]], Curator of Manuscripts (Primary Investigator)
:Michael Poston, Data Architect 
:[[User:KathleenLynch|Kathleen Lynch]], Executive Director, Folger Institute
:[[User:OwenWilliams|Owen Williams]], Assistant Director for Scholarly Programs,  Folger Institute
:Elyse Martin, Program Assistant for Scholarly Programs, Folger Institute
:Julie Ainsworth, Head of Photography and Digital Imaging
:Melanie Leung, Image Request Coordinator
:Denny Henry, Photography and Digital Imaging Assistant
:Renate Mesmer, J. Franklin Mowery Head of Conservation
:[[User:ErinBlake|Erin Blake]], Head of Collection Information Services
:Emily Wahl, Metadata Specialist
 
IMLS grant-funded, dedicated staff hired by Folger:
:[[User:PaulDingman|Paul Dingman]], EMMO Project Manager
:Sarah Powell, EMMO Project Paleographer
 
EMMO also has a highly-respected external advisory group whose guidance and assistance will be of immense help in achieving the project’s goals:
:Julia Flanders, Northeastern University
:Neil Fraistat, University of Maryland
:[[Alan Galey]], University of Toronto
:James Ginther, Toronto School of Theology
:Ben Vershbow, Independent Digital Library Strategist
:[[Peter Stallybrass]], University of Pennsylvania
:[[Alan Stewart]], Columbia University
:Kathryn James, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
:Elizabeth O’Keefe, The Morgan Library and Museum (retired)
 
The online tools and scholarly programs of EMMO will serve as important resources for students, teachers, and researchers in a host of fields.  By expanding the study of paleography and manuscripts, our understanding of the early modern period will deepen.  Assumptions about the literary record will be challenged; new questions will be asked and new answers found.
 
==Further Readings==
:[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/ National Archives - Paleography: reading old handwriting]
:[http://scriptorium.english.cam.ac.uk/handwriting/history/intro/index.php Early Modern Handwriting: An Introduction by Elisabeth Leedham-Green]
:[https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/ Early English Handwriting: 1500-1700]
:[[Manuscripts (disambiguation)]]
:[[Manuscript transcription projects]]
:[[Transcribed_manuscripts]]
:[[Folger_Paleography_listserv|Folger Paleography listserv]]
:[http://scriptorium.english.cam.ac.uk/handwriting/materials/conventions/ Scriptorium: Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts Online]
:[[List of online resources for early modern English paleography]]
 
 
:[http://collation.folger.edu/2013/11/emmo-early-modern-manuscripts-online/ The Collation EMMO]
:[http://collation.folger.edu/2014/12/a-transcriba-what/ The Collation EMMO: transcribathon]
:[http://collation.folger.edu/2015/03/emmo-advancing-and-expanding/ The Collation EMMO: Advancing and Expanding]
:[http://collation.folger.edu/2015/05/a-spoonful-of-sugar-helps-the-medicine-go-down/ The Collation EMMO: A spoonful of Sugar]
:[http://collation.folger.edu/2015/06/tagging-manuscripts-how-much-is-too-much/ The Collation EMMO: Tagging manuscripts]
:[http://collation.folger.edu/2015/10/fall-round-up-emmo/ The Collation EMMO: Fall round up 2015]
:[http://collation.folger.edu/2015/12/emmo-announces-shakespeares-world/ The Collation EMMO: Announcing Shakespeare's World]
:[http://collation.folger.edu/2016/03/more-lasting-than-bronze/ The Collation EMMO: A monument more lasting than bronze]
:[http://collation.folger.edu/2016/05/early-modern-account-book/ The Collation EMMO: Unlocking An Early Modern Account Book]
:[http://collation.folger.edu/2016/08/honing-transcriptions-with-algorithms-and-acumen/ The Collation EMMO: Honing transcriptions with algorithms and acumen]
:[http://collation.folger.edu/2016/11/preview-new-emmo-website/ The Collation EMMO: A Preview of What the New EMMO Website Will Offer] 
:[http://collation.folger.edu/2017/01/announcing-emmos-beta-launch/ The Collation EMMO: Announcing EMMO's Beta Launch]  [[Category: Digital humanities]]
[[Category:Digital Folger]] [[Category:Collection]] [[Category:Manuscripts]] [[Category:Transcriptions]] [[Category:Paleography]]

Latest revision as of 14:21, 27 July 2019

Early Modern Manuscripts Online, or EMMO, is a multi-faceted project funded initially by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that provide scholars and the general public with convenient web access to transcriptions, images, and metadata for a substantial number of English manuscripts from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

FSL-EMMOLogo-vFinal-2ColorBlue.png

EMMO makes a variety of rare manuscripts from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s premier collection available to users for free via an easy, searchable web site with high-quality images and consistent transcriptions of letters, diaries, wills, coats of arms, literary pieces, recipe books, miscellanies, and more. This combination of resources will enhance research in many disciplines by removing barriers to the rich content of manuscripts, such as: location, early handwriting, and the current inability to search manuscript texts online. At the same time, EMMO promotes the learning of paleography (the study of pre-modern handwriting methods) through events such as conferences, classes, and online tutorials so users may attain the skills necessary to understand and appreciate these manuscripts in their original form.

The project is advancing in phases:

Phase 1: Create and prepare transcriptions
Phase 2: Develop an optimized, searchable database
Phase 3: Design online tutorials
Phase 4: Roll out shareable software

Paleography and transcriptions

The majority of manuscripts written in English during the period stretching from 1500-1700 were written in what has come to be known as secretary hand, a mode of handwriting that most people today cannot read accurately without advanced training in paleography. Since transcriptions customarily serve as the bridge between secretary hand and our present-day typefaces, EMMO provides searchable transcriptions for ease of use. However, EMMO also gives users the opportunity to learn about paleography and make their own transcriptions.

As more scholars—or anyone interested in the early modern period—engage with the manuscripts directly, intriguing questions about and investigations into language, history, and culture are emerging. Software tools are under development by Folger staff to assist users in the learning process.

Through a combination of methods that includes gathering existing edited and published transcriptions, producing transcriptions at the Folger, organizing special events such as transcribathons, and encouraging robust online crowdsourcing efforts, EMMO fosters an ever-growing a body of transcriptions that are vetted for accuracy and consistency, then published online for study.

The viewable transcriptions in EMMO’s approved collection follow established conventions of semi-diplomatic transcription i.e., minor alterations will be made in the transcribed text. These changes enhance clarity and facilitate reading for a twenty-first century audience, for example archaic letters such as a thorn (looks like "y") would be updated to th. It is important to remember that the transcriptions in EMMO—as is the case with all transcriptions—are simply useful depictions of what appears on the actual, physical manuscripts. However, the high-quality images that accompany each semi-diplomatic transcription in EMMO give users a good sense of the original, and comparing the two onscreen constitutes a learning experience of its own.

In order to make as much information as possible available as soon as possible, re-vetted transcriptions can be searched and read through the Folger Manuscript Transcriptions Collection in LUNA, the Folger's Digital Image Collection.

Text encoding

In addition to transcribing the text of manuscripts, EMMO encodes the transcriptions for proper digital representation online, using tags in XML that adhere to TEI P5 guidelines, thereby giving the digital transcriptions an appropriate and consistent look as well as streamlining them for quick computer searches and analysis. More advanced encoding to add glosses on the text or highlight items for debate may be done in later stages of EMMO or as part of specific research or learning initiatives in the future.

EMMO web site (beta)

In early January, 2017, the EMMO project launched a beta web site with a number of encoded transcriptions: emmo.folger.edu. The site has three versions of each transcription (diplomatic, semi-diplomatic, and regularized) along with associated metadata and high-resolution images of the manuscript pages offered via a IIIF viewer. The full text of the transcriptions is available for searches.

Staffing and structure

Initial funding for EMMO came from a three-year grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS); the project ran from 2014 through early 2017 in its early phases. This broad venture draws upon the expertise of staff members across several divisions at the Library, including personnel from the Collections Division, Digital Media and Publications, and Folger Institute, as well as dedicated EMMO staff members Paul Dingman and Sarah Powell.

EMMO also has a highly-respected external advisory group whose guidance and assistance was of immense help in achieving the project’s initial goals:

Julia Flanders, Northeastern University
Neil Fraistat, University of Maryland
Alan Galey, University of Toronto
James Ginther, Toronto School of Theology
Ben Vershbow, Independent Digital Library Strategist
Peter Stallybrass, University of Pennsylvania
Alan Stewart, Columbia University
Kathryn James, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University
Elizabeth O’Keefe, The Morgan Library and Museum (retired)

The online tools and scholarly programs of EMMO serve as important resources for students, teachers, and researchers in a host of fields. By expanding the study of paleography and manuscripts, our understanding of the early modern period will deepen. Assumptions about the literary record will be challenged; new questions will be asked and new answers found.

Further Readings and Resources

National Archives - Paleography: reading old handwriting
Early Modern Handwriting: An Introduction by Elisabeth Leedham-Green
Early English Handwriting: 1500-1700
Manuscripts (disambiguation)
Manuscript transcription projects
Transcribed_manuscripts
Folger Paleography listserv
Scriptorium: Medieval and Early Modern Manuscripts Online
List of online resources for early modern English paleography
Folger blog posts:
The Collation
EMMO: Early Modern Manuscripts Online
A transcriba… what?
EMMO: advancing and expanding
A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
Tagging manuscripts: how much is too much?
Fall Round-up for Early Modern Manuscripts Online
EMMO announces the launch of Shakespeare’s World
A monument more lasting than bronze
Unlocking An Early Modern Account Book
Honing transcriptions with algorithms and acumen
A Preview of What the New EMMO Website Will Offer
Announcing EMMO's Beta Launch
The EMMO Conference on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age
Shakespeare and Beyond
Mince pies and mirth: Transcribed 17th-century recipes

Events and presentations

Various events have promoted EMMO and its various offerings over the three years; all of these encourage discussion of current and potential research projects in paleography and crowdsourcing. These events and presentation include:

  • June 2014: English Paleography: A Mellon Summer 2014 Institute (at the Folger Shakespeare Library), led by Dr. Heather Wolfe; participants from a number of universities attended this month-long intensive training program in order to learn and enhance their paleography skills. Transcriptions made during the institute were contributed to the transcriptions, tags, and glosses that will ultimately appear in EMMO.
  • November 2014 - September 2015: Practical Paleography, the first of an informal series of sessions meeting for one hour every other week to learn paleography skills and transcribe a manuscript page or two, open to readers and staff of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Folger staff leading the sessions: Heather Wolfe, Paul Dingman, Sarah Powell.
  • December 4, 2014: Transcribe the Renaissance, a noon-to-midnight "transcribathon" in conjunction with the Kislak Center to be held at the University of Pennsylvania. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Paul Dingman, Michael Poston, Sarah Powell, Elizabeth Tobey.
  • December 8-12, 2014: Advanced Early Modern English Paleography, a week-long advanced workshop led by Dr. Heather Wolfe on paleography in conjunction with the Folger Institute and members of the EMMO team.
  • March 18, 2015: Transcribathon at UVa in conjunction with the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Paul Dingman, Michael Poston, Sarah Powell.
  • March 26, 2015: Roundtable discussion, Adventures in Crowdsourcing for the Humanities, Renaissance Society of America annual meeting, Berlin, Germany. Folger staff presenting: Heather Wolfe.
  • May 2015 - September 2015: Practical Paleography, the second of an informal series of sessions meeting for one hour every other week to transcribe a manuscript page or two, open to readers and staff of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Folger staff leading the sessions: Heather Wolfe, Paul Dingman, Sarah Powell.
  • May 19, 2015: Transcription Night, 5:30-8:30 PM, at the Big Board on H Street. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Paul Dingman, Sarah Powell.
  • May 18-22 2015. Week-long workshop (at the Folger Shakespeare Library) led by Dr Heather Wolfe; participants from a number of universities attended this week-long program in order to learn and enhance their paleography skills. The workshop was part of the Folger Institute Scholarly programs, supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
  • July 2, 2015: Panel presentation, "Crowdsourcing the Text: Contemporary Approaches to Participatory Resource Creation," Global Digital Humanities annual conference, Sydney, Australia. Folger staff presenting: Heather Wolfe.
  • July 24, 2015: Presentation in Showcase of Digital Projects, Early Modern Manuscripts Online, Keystone Digital Humanities Conference, Kislak Center for Special Collections, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Folger staff presenting: Paul Dingman.
  • October 7, 2015: Transcribathon in conjunction with the Early Modern Recipes Online Collective (EMROC) at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Paul Dingman, Michael Poston, Sarah Powell, Elizabeth Tobey.
  • October 2015 - March 2016: Practical Paleography, the third of an informal series of sessions meeting for one hour every other week to transcribe a manuscript page or two, open to readers and staff of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Folger staff leading sessions: Paul Dingman, Sarah Powell.
  • October 24, 2015: Transcribathon in conjunction with the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Paul Dingman.
  • November 13, 2015: Transcribathon in conjunction with the Humanities Center, VCU Libraries and VCU department of English at the University of Virginia Commonwealth, Richmond, VA. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Paul Dingman, Michael Poston, Sarah Powell.
  • December 10: Launch of Shakespeare's World, a collaboration between the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and Zooniverse.
  • December 14-18, 2015: Advanced Early Modern English Paleography, a week-long advanced workshop on paleography led by Dr. Heather Wolfe in conjunction with the Folger Institute and the EMMO team.
  • December 15, 2015: Transcription Night, 5:30-7:30 PM, at the Big Board on H Street. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Paul Dingman, Sarah Powell.
  • Spring 2016: presentations at various academic annual conferences (e.g., Renaissance Society of America, Modern Language Association, Shakespeare Association of America). Folger staff attending to present at these conferences: Heather Wolfe, Paul Dingman, Michael Poston.
  • March 30, 2016: Early Modern Digital Pedagogies, a half-day workshop on digital humanities pedagogy, offered by EMMO in conjunction with the Women Writers Project at Northeastern University, Boston, MA. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Heather Wolfe and Paul Dingman.
  • April 6-8, 2016: Presentation in workshop sponsored by MEDEA at Wheaton College, Norton, MA. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Paul Dingman.
  • April 14-15, 2016: Presentation in workshop at the Library of Congress for DPLAfest on Transcription Projects and crowdsourcing with Shakespeare's World. In collaboration with the National Archives & the Smithsonian Transcription Center. Folger staff presenting: Sarah Powell.
  • April 17, 2016: Transcribathon in conjunction with the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Paul Dingman.
  • June 6-10, 2016. Week-long workshop (at the Folger Shakespeare Library) led by Dr Heather Wolfe; participants from a number of universities attended this week-long program in order to learn and enhance their paleography skills. The workshop was part of the Folger Institute Scholarly programs, supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
  • June 7, 2016: Transcription Night, 5:30-7:30 PM, at the Big Board on H Street. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Sarah Powell.
  • July 2016: English Paleography: Summer Institute (at The Huntington Library), led by Dr. Heather Wolfe; participants from a number of universities will attend this month-long intensive training program in order to learn and enhance their paleography skills.
  • September 14, 2016: Transcribathon, in association with The University of Connecticut Humanities Institute. From 10 am – 4 pm in the Great Hall of the Alumni Center, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Paul Dingman.
  • October 3-4, 2016: Presentation for the Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC) Workshop on Crowdsourcing and Novel Incentives in Language Resource Creation at the University of Pennsylvania. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Paul Dingman.
  • October 2016 - April 2017: Practical Paleography, the fourth of an informal series of sessions meeting for one hour every other week to transcribe a manuscript page or two, open to readers and staff of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Folger staff leading sessions: Heather Wolfe, Sarah Powell.
  • November 9, 2016: Transcribathon in conjunction with the Early Modern Recipes Online Collective (EMROC) at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Sarah Powell.
  • December 5-9, 2016: Introduction to English Paleography, a week-long advanced workshop on paleography in conjunction with the Folger Institute.
  • December 6, 2016: "Brews and Brevigraphs" held at the Folger Library. This will be a joint event between Introduction to English Paleography & the EMMO's Practical Paleography sessions. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Sarah Powell.
  • January 9, 2017: Beta launch of EMMO, a web site for the Early Modern Manuscripts Online project that provides free access to transcriptions, metadata, and images of manuscripts. Users may browse the corpus and/or search the full text of the transcriptions. Resources such as the EMMO tag set, editorial conventions, and a blog are also included on the site.
  • March 8, 2017: Transcribathon in association with Wellesley College, Massachusetts. From 12.30pm - 5.30pm in the Pendleton Knapp Atrium. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Paul Dingman.
  • April 7, 2017: Second transcribathon held in conjunction with the Humanities Center, VCU Libraries and VCU department of English at the University of Virginia Commonwealth, Richmond, VA. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Heather Wolfe, Sarah Powell, and Helen Newsome.
  • April 17, 2017: Second transcribathon, in association with The University of Connecticut Humanities Institute. From 4 pm – 7 pm in the Homer D. Babbidge Library, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Paul Dingman.
  • May 18-19, 2017 : EMMO conference hosted at the Folger by the Folger Institute, the schedule for the conference is here: Early Modern Manuscripts Online: New Directions in Teaching and Research.
  • June, 2017: Fishbowl session "Transparent, Reliable, and Consistent: Editorial Practice in the Folgersphere,” Society of Textual Scholarship International Interdisciplinary Conference at The University of Maryland. Folger staff attending and presenting: Meaghan Brown, Mike Poston and Heather Wolfe.
  • June 14, 2017: Presentation/Demo for the IIIF Manuscripts Community Group Monthly Conference Call. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Paul Dingman.
  • Oct, 2017: Presentation “Citizen Humanists in Shakespeare’s England: What the Folger has Learned from Developing our Crowd,” Creating Historical Knowledge Socially: New Approaches, Opportunities and Epistemological Implications of Undertaking Research with Citizen Scholars, German Historical Institute, Washington, DC. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Heather Wolfe.
  • Oct, 2017: Presentation “Early Modern Manuscripts Online as a Community, Resource, and Service,” The Present and Future of Digital Manuscripts: Access, Pedagogy, Scholarship at UCLA/Clark Library. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Heather Wolfe.
  • Nov, 2017: Presentation “A manuscript counterpart to EEBO-TCP? Crowdsourcing transcriptions and building a new corpus at the Folger Shakespeare Library,” ProQuest, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Folger staff attending to present at the workshop: Heather Wolfe.
  • Nov 7, 2017: Transcribathon at the Folger in support of the Early Modern Recipes Online Collective (EMROC) virtual transcribathon. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Sarah Powell, Heather Wolfe.
  • April 24, 2018: Transcribathon in association with SUNY University of Buffalo 's Experiential Learning Network; the Center of Excellence in Writing; Digital Composition Lab; Department of Theatre and Dance; Early Modern Research Workshop. From 10am – 3pm. Folger staff attending to lead and support the transcribathon: Sarah Powell.
  • June 7, 2018: Transcribathon as part of the Mellon Summer Institute in English Paleography at the Folger Shakespeare Library taught by Heather Wolfe. From 10am – 5pm.
  • November 9, 2018: Transcribathon in association with VCU Libraries and the Superscripts, a student group within the VCU department of English at the University of Virginia Commonwealth, Richmond, VA.