Workshop on Electronic Texts: Proceedings, 9-10 June 1992

From the opening

The Workshop on Electronic Texts (1) drew together representatives of various projects and interest groups to compare ideas, beliefs, experiences, and, in particular, methods of placing and presenting historical textual materials in computerized form. Most attendees gained much in insight and outlook from the event. But the assembly did not form a new nation, or, to put it another way, the diversity of projects and interests was too great to draw the representatives into a cohesive, action-oriented body.(2)

Everyone attending the Workshop shared an interest in preserving and providing access to historical texts. But within this broad field the attendees represented a variety of formal, informal, figurative, and literal groups, with many individuals belonging to more than one. These groups may be defined roughly according to the following topics or activities:

* Imaging * Searchable coded texts * National and international computer networks * CD-ROM production and dissemination * Methods and technology for converting older paper materials into electronic form * Study of the use of digital materials by scholars and others

This summary is arranged thematically and does not follow the actual sequence of presentations.

NOTES: (1) In this document, the phrase electronic text is used to mean any computerized reproduction or version of a document, book, article, or manuscript (including images), and not merely a machine- readable or machine-searchable text.

(2) The Workshop was held at the Library of Congress on 9-10 June 1992, with funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The document that follows represents a summary of the presentations made at the Workshop and was compiled by James DALY. This introduction was written by DALY and Carl FLEISCHHAUER.

Preservation, as that term is used by archivists,(3) was most explicitly discussed in the context of imaging. Anne KENNEY and Lynne PERSONIUS explained how the concept of a faithful copy and the user-friendliness of the traditional book have guided their project at Cornell University.

A short sample. Read the whole book

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