Object Artefact Script Porter
From ESIWiki
Object Artefact Script (October 8-9, 2009)
Dot Porter (Digital Humanities Observatory, Dublin)
Object, text and image: concepts and technology
In recent years humanities scholars have become more interested in the materiality of objects (for example manuscripts, printed books, and stone tablets) as they relate to the text inscribed upon them and contained within them. This interest has shown itself in the digital humanities as well, as scholars explore how computers might be made to express the physical in the digital. This may take many forms, including 2D images, 3D images or scans, or textual descriptions of objects. Particular difficulties arise with the digital editing of damaged materials, with many technical approaches available to "bring out" or "uncover" damaged text from an object. Within the context of editing, how are such “restored” texts to be treated, and how related to the physical objects from which they have been taken?
This paper will provide a critical examination of the ways in which advanced digital imaging technologies and digital editing procedures represent the physicality of manuscripts, books, etc., and will describe the TILE project (Text-Image Linking Environment), a software system currently under development that will support the linking of text and image within the context of digital editing, and TILE’s place in the discussion. It will conclude with a proposal of methods for addressing materiality more comprehensively, especially within the context of digital editing.
