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Last paragraph, the discoverer is quoted: >> This is evidence of how digital technology and the opening up of libraries [could] transform our knowledge of this
by toss1 7y ago
Last paragraph, the discoverer is quoted:
>> This is evidence of how digital technology and the opening up of libraries [could] transform our knowledge of this period.
Indeed! Just bringing many more eyes (and perhaps AIs) to the works can vastly accelerate the growth of knowledge, and they're already doing further research based on this discovery.
Who knows how many more centuries this knowledge might have languished unrecognized, just sitting in the stacks? And how much more like it is still awaiting?
- benbreen 7y agoAgreed - and if anyone is interested in this specific sort of work ("meta-textual" analysis of things like marginalia and the material characteristics of a piece of writing) there is a wonderful resource in Rare Book School at the University of Virginia: https://rarebookschool.org https://rarebookschool.org. They offer summer classes and a fellowship program, and it isn't just about old books - when I was there I met people working on digital texts, and even things like the preservation and archiving of VHS tapes and other old analog formats. Nick Wilding's discovery of a forged Galileo manuscript is another fun example of this type of research: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/12/16/a-very-rare-book https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/12/16/a-very-rare-bo...
- eitally 7y ago+1! I studied under Terry Belanger there as an undergrad and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my time in university.