“…of things which they were not in quest of”: digital serendipity and digital design
In the simplest terms, the Bodleian Libraries’ Electronic Enlightenment Project digitizes letters, largely of the 18th century. More intriguingly, it uses what we call “scholarly technology” to reconstruct what may be the world’s first global, social network – stretching from the early 17th to the early 19th centuries! And in that process, rediscovers conversations and correspondents previously lost, or only available to the most erudite researcher. In this presentation, we will introduce our concept and application of “scholarly technology”, and consider how the design and development of this kind of digital resource can result in a system so culturally dense as to positively encourage serendipitous discoveries.
SPEAKERS: Dr Robert V. McNamee, Director
Mark Rogerson, Technical Editor
Electronic Enlightenment Project, Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
DATE: 5 May, 2011. 5.15-6.30pm. Helmore 201, East Road, Anglia Ruskin University