Aesthetics of Digital Editions

Fundamental Values
+
Scholarly Review

fred gibbs / @fredgibbs

Background

What is Scholarship?

We know it when we see it.

What is Digital Scholarship?

???

How do we evaluate it?

??????

Digital
Critical
Editions

How to evaluate
Digital Critical Editions?

  1. digital means more than online
  2. evaluate fundamental goals of critical editions

Why Critical Editions?

  • Authoritative Reference
  • Visibility
  • Accessibility
  • Medium dictated form
    • can't print everything
    • see apparatus notation

What is role of an Editor?

  • document research
  • textual analysis
  • text + aparatus
  • facilitate interaction
  • Medium dictated expectations

Digital Differences

Two Primary Types
of Digital Editions

  • critical editions with digital enhancements
  • documentary / scholarsourced editions

Documentary vs Critical

  • shrinking distinction
  • shrinking need to choose
  • mediated by interface design
  • Cake + Eating + Baking

A New Kind of Edition?

broadening definitions of scholarship?

broadening definitions of editions?

Editions

Down arrow

Platforms

Textual Platform?

  • Authoritative Reference
  • Visibility
  • Accessibility

Reviewing Digital Critical Editions

Review Categories

  • critical edition with digital enhancements
  • documentary interfaces
  • research platform

Criteria

  • code
  • interface design
  • critical AND open
  • connectedness
  • exportable text
  • sustainability

Code

  • leverage existing code
  • infrastructure transparency
  • can others rebuild on your project?

Interface Design

  • accessibility
  • how to see the (juxtaposed) texts?
  • methodological transparency
  • who can understand the text(s)?
  • form / content distinction
    • content too rich

Critical AND Open

  • editorial guidance (what's the text?!)
  • what are the possibilities?
  • how can I contribute?
  • version control

Connectedness

  • visibility
  • how will people find out about it?
  • linked open data

Exportable Texts

  • circumvent the interface
  • both encoded and unencoded

Sustainability

what happens when funding ends?

New Digital Editorial Roles?

could be the same

BUT, with a digital medium,

should NOT be the same

Role of Digital Editor

  • reusable code
  • interface design
  • critical AND open
  • connectedness
  • exportable text
  • sustainability

Not editorial work!

... and it looks exactly like the criteria

exactly.

same goals

  • document research
  • textual analysis
  • text + aparatus
  • facilitate interaction

different media / means

  • reusable code
  • interface design
  • critical AND open
  • connectedness
  • exportable text

A digital
editor / edition
is DIFFERENT

Critical Digital Textual Platforms

NOT replacing exisiting editorial work;
creating digital editors

New (distributed) Reviewers

  • textual experts
  • potential users
  • librarians
  • coders
  • encoders
  • designers
  • learned socieites?

New Critical Discourse

  • where do we learn from other projects?
  • self-enforced peer review
    • guided by DIGITAL criteria
  • situate in scholarly ecosystem
  • open and public critiques

The End

Thank you