TEXTUAL HERITAGE AND DIGITAL PRESERVATION

The course introduces students to the main theoretical, methodological, and practical issues involved in the preservation of digital textual heritage. It addresses two complementary areas: on the one hand, digitized heritage, with attention to digital libraries, metadata, formats, rights, OCR, and the design of online collections; on the other hand, born-digital heritage, with particular focus on born-digital literary archives, the obsolescence of carriers and formats, the materiality of digital objects, and the use of digital forensics methods in cultural heritage contexts. Special attention is devoted to the relationship between preservation, access, sustainability, ethical responsibility, and cultural memory.

The course contributes to the MA programme in Digital and Public Humanities by providing tools to understand how texts, documents, and archives can be described, transmitted, made accessible, and preserved over time. The theoretical dimension is integrated with laboratory activities: through Omeka Classic, students design a small digital collection; through BitCurator, they experiment with procedures for analysing, documenting, and preserving born-digital materials.

The course is connected to the Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities (VeDPH) of the Department of Humanities and is placed in dialogue with the research context of the project BLADE – Born-digital Literary Archives DNA Exploration, devoted to the preservation, analysis, and interpretation of born-digital literary archives. Some of the topics addressed in the course (the materiality of digital objects, digital forensics, born-digital literary archives, traceability, emulation, and ethical responsibility in data management) are consistent with the methodological questions developed by the project.

By the end of the course, students will have acquired the fundamental principles and techniques for the management and preservation of textual heritage.

1. Knowledge and understanding:
- Understand the key concepts of digital preservation of textual heritage, across both digitized and born-digital materials.
- Be familiar with the technologies, standards and reference models involved in the transmission and preservation of digital texts (metadata schemas, the OAIS model, forensic and web-archiving formats).

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
- Apply digital preservation methods to various types of textual heritage, including manuscripts, books, and born-digital documents.
- Apply methodologies for digitization, metadata creation and archiving, and build a digital collection (Omeka Classic).
- Produce and document a forensic disk image of a born-digital carrier (BitCurator).

3. Ability to elaborate autonomously what has been learned:
- Develop a critical understanding of the legal, technical and ethical aspects of digital preservation, including the handling of residual and personal data.
- Reflect critically on what a 'document' becomes in the digital condition and on the implications for research and access.

4. Communication skills:
- Effectively communicate the challenges and strategies of preserving textual heritage in the digital age.
- Present the results of a digitization or forensic project clearly to an interdisciplinary audience.

There are no pre-requirements. No prior technical or programming background is required.

The course explores textual cultural heritage and its preservation implications. It focuses on the principles, methodologies, and techniques used for the management and preservation of textual documents, combining theoretical foundations with laboratory work. The following topics will be addressed in particular:

- introduction to textual heritage and memory institutions (GLAM);
- digital libraries, information retrieval, and reference models;
- standards and metadata for textual heritage; rights and licences;
- digitization tools, preservation formats, and quality;
- born-digital literary archives: obsolescence, the materiality of digital objects, and preservation strategies;
- digital forensics for cultural heritage: forensic imaging of carriers, fixity, file-format identification, and the ethics of residual data;
*- preservation models and systems, including the OAIS reference model;
- preservation of digital texts in web environments.

Two practical laboratories accompany the lectures: Omeka Classic (construction of a digital collection and exhibition) and BitCurator (forensic processing of born-digital carriers).

Required text:
Matthew G. Kirschenbaum, Bitstreams: The Future of Digital Literary Heritage, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021.

Recommended further readings and resources:
- M. G. Kirschenbaum, R. Ovenden, G. Redwine, Digital Forensics and Born-Digital Content in Cultural Heritage Collections, CLIR, 2010.
- M. G. Kirschenbaum, 'The .txtual Condition', Digital Humanities Quarterly, 7(1), 2013.
- R. Erway, Defining 'Born Digital', OCLC Research, 2010.
- BitCurator Documentation (Forensics and Reporting Guides), bitcurator.github.io.
- Leontien Talboom, Future Nostalgia: Safeguarding the Knowledge of Floppy Disks': https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/future-nostalgia

Other texts and learning materials will be made available on Moodle.

Evaluation will be based on the following components:
1) Final oral exam, mainly focused on the project work and the topics of the course
2) Participation in discussions and activities
3) In-class presentation

The oral exam (approx. 30 minutes) may take two forms:
a) Project-based exam: presentation of the project work (15 min), feedback and discussion (5 min), and 1-2 general questions on the overall course content (10 min);
b) Traditional oral exam: questions on the course bibliography (Kirschenbaum, Bitstreams, and the bibliography available on Moodle) and the course materials.

Attending and non-attending students follow the same syllabus.

oral

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

In order to obtain a mark between 27 and 30 cum laude, students are expected to analyse in depth the topics of the course following the methodological guidelines acquired; to possess and communicate an organic understanding of the topics addressed in class and/or studied in the manual and texts in the bibliography and on the course Moodle; to demonstrate an excellent capacity for expression and argumentation; and to use the technical language of the discipline competently.
An overall mark between 23 and 26 will be awarded to those who demonstrate a good knowledge of the course program; the ability to analyse the topics in a methodologically correct way, even if marked by some imperfections; and a good command of language, although with occasional uncertainties in exposition and/or minor imprecision.
An acceptable but limited knowledge of the course program, a superficial understanding of the topics addressed, a restricted analytical ability, and expression that is not always appropriate will lead to sufficient marks (18-22).
Poor knowledge of the course topics, inadequate analytical skills, and incorrect or inappropriate expression will result in an insufficient assessment.

Interactive classes combining lectures and discussion, with two hands-on laboratories (Omeka Classic and BitCurator) carried out in class. When possible, a guest lecture brings current research into the classroom. Students develop a project work and some assignments, which they discuss in the final exam. Teaching materials are made available through the Moodle e-learning platform.

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion.
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments:
Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.