DIGITAL TOOLS AND RESOURCES FOR TEXTUAL DATA

In its broader meaning, 'digital philology' comprises the ecdotic, as well as the hermeneutic process carried out through the digital medium. More specifically, it concerns the relationship between ICT systems and the critical analysis of documents/texts in the digital format. Therefore the module fits into that part of the programme in "Digital and Public Humanities" specifically concerned with digital text processing. The course will be entirely taught in English.

The major objectives of the course are to provide both a theoretica and a practical introduction to the wide realm of "digital scholarly editing" by focussing in particular - though not solely - on:
(1) XML-TEI markup language and visualisation software;
(2) computer-assisted stemmatology and collation tools;
(3) ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition) technologies.

No specific prerequisites. The necessary basic notions will be provided at the beginning of the course through dedicated material which will take into account the students' background.

The module will provide a critical overview of the most important and up-to-date scholarly issues about digital text processing, including the notions of 'scholarly editing' and 'digital scholarly editing'.
The most common tools used to encode, visualise, collate and compare texts will be introduced, as well as some comprehensive platforms for the automated recognition and transcription of handwritten documents (es. Transkribus, https://transkribus.eu/Transkribus/ ).
Practical exercises based on authentic material will be done (either in class or online in compliace with the regulations in force during the 1st semester a.y. 2020-2021).

A) Compulsory readings:
- Pierazzo, Elena 2015. Digital Scholarly Editing: Theories, Models and Methods. Farnham: Ashgate [capp. 2, 3, 5 e 6]
- Zaccarello, Michelangelo 2019. Teoria e forme del testo digitale. Roma: Carocci. [capp. 1, 2, 3, 7]
- Mancinelli, Tiziana & Elena Pierazzo 2020. Che cos’è un’edizione scientifica digitale. Roma: Carocci [tutto]

B) Text Encoding Initiative Guidelines:
TEI P5: Guidelines for Electronic Text Encoding and Interchange, http://www.tei-c.org/release/doc/tei-p5-doc/en/html/index.html

C) Further, optional readings:

1. On digital scholarly editing in general:
- D. Fiormonte, Il testo digitale: traduzione, codifica, modelli culturali, in P.R. Piras, A. Alessandro, D. Fiormonte (a cura di), Italianisti in Spagna, ispanisti in Italia: la traduzione. Atti del Convegno Internazionale (Roma, 30 - 31 ottobre 2007), Roma, Edizioni Q, pp. 271-284. Text also available at:
https://www.academia.edu/196940/Il_testo_digitale_traduzione_codifica_modelli_culturali
- P. Sahle, Into the Wide - Into the Deep: Manuscript Research in the Digital Age. (Introduction to) Kodikologie und Paläographie im digitalen Zeitalter 2 - Codicology and Palaeography in the Digital Age 2. Hg. von Franz Fischer, Christiane Fritze und Georg Vogeler. Schriften des Instituts für Dokumentologie und Editorik Bd. 3. Books on Demand (BoD), Norderstedt, 2010. S. XI-XVI. Online-Version at: http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/4338/
- D. Fiormonte, D. Schmidt, “La rappresentazione digitale della ‘varianza’ testuale”, in D. Fiormonte (a c. di), Canoni liquidi. Variazione e stabilità testuale dalla Bibbia a Internet, Napoli, ScriptaWeb, 2011, pp. 161-180. See also: http://www.digitalvariants.org/
- Kriterien für die Besprechung digitaler Editionen, Version 1.1, Patrick Sahle; unter Mitarbeit von Georg Vogeler und den Mitgliedern des IDE; Version 1.1, Juni 2014 (Version 1.0, September / Oktober 2012). English version at http://www.i-d-e.de/reviews/criteria-for-reviewing-scholarly-digital-editions-version-1-1
- D. Fiormonte, D. Schmidt, P. Monella and P. Sordi, “The Politics of code. How digital representations and languages shape culture”, ISIS Summit Vienna 2015—The Information Society at the Crossroads, Vienna University of Technology, June 3-7, 2015. Online version at: https://www.academia.edu/12789117/The_Politics_of_Code
- M. Driscoll, E. Pierazzo (eds), Digital Scholarly Editing: Theories and Practices, Cambridge, Open Book Publishers 2016. PDF available at: http://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/483/digital-scholarly-editing--theories-and-practices .

2. On computer-assisted stemmatology:
- Barbrook A.C., Howe C.J., Blake N., Robinson P. (1998), "The phylogeny of the Canterbury Tales." Nature 394, p. 839.
- Buzzoni M., and Eugenio, Burgio; Martina, Modena; Samuela, Simion (2016), "Open versus Closed Recensions (Pasquali): Pros and Cons of Some Methods for Computer-Assisted Stemmatology", in DIGITAL SCHOLARSHIP IN THE HUMANITIES, vol. 31, pp. 652-669.
- Howe CJ, Windram HF (2011), "Phylomemetics—Evolutionary Analysis beyond the Gene." PLoS Biology 9, pp. 1-5, <http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001069/> ; ; ;.
- Roos T., Heikkilä T. (2009), "Evaluating methods for computer-assisted stemmatology using artificial benchmark data sets." LLC 24, pp. 417- 433, <http://llc.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/4/417.full.pdf?keytype=ref&ijkey=sf11IHP4UokyTJU/> ; ; ;.
- Trovato P. (2014), "Highs and Lows of Computer-Assited Stemmatics". In: Id., Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Lachmann's Method ..., Padova: Libreriauniversitaria.it, pp. 179-223.

3. In press (expected September 2020): Handbook of Stemmatology (https://www.degruyter.com/view/product/548054 ).

The written exam consists of four (4) open questions, and lasts 90 minutes. Open questions allow to test critical thought, as well as the capacity of mastering the subject through specific skills (e.g. text encoding, use of one or more tools illustrated in the module).
More specifically:
- Knowledge and understanding: checked through content questions;
- Applying knowledge and understanding: checked through practical exercises, such as text encoding exercises;
- Making judgements: checked through methodological questions;
- Communication skills: checked through open questions (whether students communicate their conclusions clearly and unambiguously, as well as the knowledge and rationale underpinning these);
- Learning skills: evaluation of the students' autonomy of judgement.

Lectures by the teacher and practical exercises (either in class or online in compliace with the regulations in force during the 1st semester a.y. 2020-2021)

English

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development