Ask the Experts: aka No such thing as a stupid question

(Chair Erin Freedman) 

Each team of 'experts' will sit at the front of the room and we have the opportunity  to ask dumb questions 

To kick things off they are asked to agree on their responses  to the following 3 questions 

• What is the biggest misunderstanding about, or challenge in,  the area  (choose one) 

• What is the cheapest / simplest thing we can do (lowest-hanging fruit) 

• What is the greatest opportunity(ies) in the next five years 

1. The potential of thinking about texts as spreadsheets/structured data and extracting information from accounting documents and other sources. The challenges in getting everyone to adopt common standards and data models.

2. The need to study imperfections, errors, and variations in manuscripts to understand craft practices and economic/environmental factors affecting production.

3. Building interdisciplinary collaborations and communities around shared data resources. Learning from initiatives like PAASTA in Proteomics,  that facilitate open data sharing among junior scholars.

4. Challenges in creating sustainable data infrastructures that persist beyond short project durations. The importance of common vocabularies, metadata standards and findable/accessible repositories.

5. Opportunities through research infrastructures like E-RIHS to access funding and services like imaging, material analysis across institutions. Coordinating these efforts for manuscript studies.

6. The critical mass of data required before new questions/analyses become possible in different fields. Identifying "irrational" patterns as cues for deeper investigation.

7. Balancing depth vs breadth when creating data catalogs/databases across large collections with limited resources. Incremental, non-threatening approaches to build resources.

Projects ideas from Yesterday (to help shape the discussion) 

1. Studying imperfections and variations in manuscript materials (parchment, inks, etc.) to understand geographical patterns, chronological changes, economic factors, and craft practices behind their production. This could integrate textual analysis with scientific analysis of materials.

2. Building an interdisciplinary project around animal husbandry, cattle management, and dairy production practices by combining textual sources, zooarchaeological evidence, isotopic analysis and environmental data across different regions and time periods like medieval Scandinavia, Iceland, and Greenland.

3. Investigating major climatic/environmental events like droughts, diseases etc. by correlating textual accounts, economic records and physical evidence across different regions to understand their wide-ranging impacts.

4. Coordinating efforts in material analysis of manuscripts through the E-RIHS research infrastructure, by partnering with institutions offering different analytical services (proteomics, imaging, microbiome etc.)

5. Building a centralized, sustainable catalogue/database for manuscript descriptions by incrementally starting with non-controversial samples and developing common standards and vocabularies.

6. Exploring how larger pools of structured data from texts enable new kinds of questions and analyses as "critical mass" is reached in different fields.

Notes of discussion

• Embracing Imperfections: There is an appreciation of imperfections in data and manuscripts as they can provide deep insights into the historical and material context of the artifacts.

• Sustainable Data Infrastructures: Mentioned briefly, indicating a need for future discussions on building sustainable frameworks for managing and preserving data.

• Critical Mass of Data: Discussions on the importance of having a significant amount of data to balance depth with breadth in research.

• Project Ideas Discussion: The group reviewed various project ideas, focusing on themes like geographical patterns, chronological changes, and the effects of imperfections in data and artifacts.

• Cultural Perspectives on Imperfection: Referencing the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, which values the beauty in imperfection, paralleling how imperfections in manuscripts can provide valuable insights.

• Interdisciplinary Analysis: The discussion highlights the intersection of various fields, emphasizing how gaps in data can be as telling as the data itself, offering unique insights into the material being studied.

• Reusing and Recycling of Manuscripts: Insights into how manuscripts are recycled and reused over time, reflecting economic and resource-driven decisions throughout history.

• Data Sampling and Preservation Techniques: Conversations about the challenges and ethics of sampling techniques, especially in preserving the integrity of manuscripts while allowing for scientific analysis.

• Future Project Collaborations: Potential collaborative projects were discussed, focusing on integrating different research methods and disciplines to enrich the understanding of historical manuscripts.

• Technological Integration: Proposals for utilizing advanced technologies like OCR and AI to explore imperfections in data and how these technologies can misinterpret data, offering new research avenues.

16:00 Book Science Virtual Meeting: 

From the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Western University

1. A Survey for Book Science
   (Joshua Calhoun and Caitlin Carlson)

2. Collaborating in Book Science
   (Deborah Meert-Williston and Andrew Nelson)

From the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC)

3. Artefact Profiling within the CSMC Labs
   (Sebastian Bosch)

4. The Analytical Portfolio of the CSMC Mobile Lab

(Grzegorz Nehring)

From CSMC and the Rochester Institute of Technology

5. MSI for Book Science
   (Kyle Huskin and Ivan Shevchuk)

6. Accessible Imaging Technology for Humanities Researchers using MISHA (Multispectral Imaging System for Historical Artifacts)

(Juilee Decker and Roger L. Easton Jr.)

From the Library of Congress

7. PRTD’s Multi-Analytical Approach to Book Science Research
   (Meghan Hill)

8. Technical Study of a 16th c. Devotional Manuscript
   (Cindy Connelly Ryan)

9. Technical Study of Paintings in the 1531 Huexocinco Codex
   (Mary Elizabeth Haude)

From EduceLab (University of Kentucky) and the University of Iowa

10. Virtual Unwrapping of Ancient Scrolls and Codices
    (Brent Seales)

11. Best Practices for Born-Digital Editions Using Enhanced Imaging
    (Paul Dilley)

Closing Thoughts and Questions (University of Toronto)

Discussons over coffee - so that we can leave early tomorrow!