ELEMENTS OF DIGITAL PUBLISHING

In its broader meaning, 'digital philology' comprises the ecdotic, as well as the hermeneutic process carried out through the digital medium. More specifically, it concerns the relationship between ICT systems and the critical analysis of documents/texts in the digital format. The course will present the theoretical frameworks and the methodologies underlying Digital Philology and the tools for the creation of Digital Scholarly Editions. Moreover, through the examination of linguistic corpora and the tools for their creation, students will gain knowledge about the methods and techniques for the creation of linguistic resources that are relevant for the scientific study of languages and their textual traditions. Digital text processing in a broader sense contributes in fact to add further value to linguistic and literary heritage. The course will be entirely taught in English.

The major objectives of the course are to provide both a theoretical and a practical introduction to the wide realm of "digital scholarly editing" and “corpus linguistics” by focussing in particular - though not solely - on:
(1) XML-TEI markup language;
(2) Visualisation softwares (e.g. EVT);
(3) Tools for the automatic transcription of medieval scripts (e.g. eScriptorium);
(4) Linguistic corpora and the tools for their creation.

No specific prerequisites. The necessary basic notions will be provided at the beginning of the course through dedicated materials, which will take into account the students' background.

The module will provide a critical review of the most important and current scholarly issues related to digital text processing, including the notions of 'scholarly edition' and 'digital scholarly edition.' Language corpora querying methods and different annotation standards will also be examined.
It will also examine the most popular tools in the scholarly community regarding:
- Text encoding procedures and their visualization;
- The different annotation systems of linguistic corpora and how to visualize them;
Practical exercises based on authentic materials will be carried out in class.

A) Compulsory reading:
Pierazzo, Elena 2015. Digital Scholarly Editing: Theories, Models and Methods. Farnham: Ashgate [Chapters 2, 3, 5 and 6]
Selected readings from Driscoll, Matthew James and Elena Pierazzo. 2016. Digital Scholarly Editing, Theories and Practices. Digital Humanities Series, Vol. 4, doi, https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0095
B) Look-up materials for the hands-on sessions:
Text Encoding Initiative Guidelines:
TEI P5: Guidelines for Electronic Text Encoding and Interchange, http://www.tei-c.org/release/doc/tei-p5-doc/en/html/index.html
At the beginning of the course you will receive indications regarding programmes and softwares necessary for the hands-on sessions.

Students who are not able to attend classes are kindly asked to contact the lecturer in order to receive further indications about supplementary materials.

The written exam consists of four (4) open questions, and lasts 90 minutes. Open questions allow to test critical thought, as well as the capacity of mastering the subject through specific skills (e.g. text encoding, use of one or more tools illustrated in the module).
More specifically:
- Knowledge and understanding: checked through content questions;
- Applying knowledge and understanding: checked through practical exercises, such as text encoding exercises;
- Making judgements: checked through methodological questions;
- Communication skills: checked through open questions (whether students communicate their conclusions clearly and unambiguously, as well as the knowledge and rationale underpinning these);
- Learning skills: evaluation of the students' autonomy of judgement.

written

A. scores between 18 and 22 will be awarded in the presence of sufficient knowledge of the theoretical frameworks and the methodologies of encoding and digital text processing and sufficient ability to apply the notions addressed in the course;
B. scores between 23 and 26 will be awarded in the presence of fair knowledge of the theoretical frameworks and the methodologies of encoding and digital processing of texts and fair ability to apply the notions addressed in the course;
C. scores between 27 and 30 will be awarded in the presence of good or excellent knowledge of the theoretical frameworks and the methodologies of encoding and digital text processing and good or excellent ability to apply the notions addressed in the course;
D. honors will be awarded in the presence of excellent knowledge of the theoretical frameworks and the methodologies of encoding and digital text processing and excellent application of the notions addressed in the course.

Lectures, lecturer-led discussions and hands-on sessions.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development