Forwarded from the NINCH list.
>>> NINCH-ANNOUNCE <[log in to unmask]> 01/16/01 11:23AM >>>
NINCH ANNOUNCEMENT
News on Networking Cultural Heritage Resources from across the Community
January 16, 2000
WILLIAM BLAKE ARCHIVE ANNOUNCES NEW INTERFACE: WBA 2.0
<http://www.iath.virginia.edu/blake/>
<http://www.blakearchive.org>
The William Blake Archive at the University of Virginia announces a
new, more flexible and feature-rich interface at the above URLs. At
present the Archive contains "41 copies of 18 of Blake's 19
illuminated books (all with newly edited SGML-encoded texts and
images scanned and color-corrected from first-generation 4 x 5 inch
transparencies), plus a fully SGML-encoded electronic edition of
David. V. Erdman's _Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake_.
Responses to the new interface are invited.
David Green
===========
>Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 09:45:05 -0500
>Sender: Image-Based Humanities Computing <[log in to unmask]>
>From: Matt Kirschenbaum <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: LOOKSEE: blake archive update
>To: [log in to unmask]
16 January 2001
The editors and staff of the William Blake Archive are very pleased to
announce the public release of our next generation site design, dubbed
"WBA 2.0." Over a year in development, this is the first major
revision of the Archive's interface since the project's debut in 1996.
While all of the Archive's core features remain intact -- including
the color-corrected images, high-resolution enlargements, scrupulous
diplomatic transcriptions, extensive image and text search functions,
and the advanced Inote and ImageSizer applets -- we have streamlined
the site's organization and added major new features that we believe
will significantly enhance the way the Archive is used for both
scholarly research and teaching. These include:
-- a Comparison feature which allows users viewing any one illuminated
print to instantly compare it with other impressions in the Archive
printed from the same copper plate;
-- a Navigator feature which allows users to move rapidly across the
Archive's collections, with a single click taking them from any work,
copy, and plate, to any other work, copy, and plate;
-- a Work Title search which allows users to access materials in the
Archive simply by entering a title, or a known fragment of a title
(e.g., "The Lamb" or "Albion"); also a search function for the
extensive illustration descriptions written by the editors;
-- a revised transcription layout, including: easier access to textual
notes; a new line numbering system that accounts for such items as
catchwords and plate numbers, in keeping with the Archive's
documentary principles; and the ability to "page" through the
transcriptions in sequence, thereby allowing a work to be more easily
read in its entirety;
-- numerous functional and cosmetic adjustments to the site
design and interface, many of them in direct response to user
feedback;
-- updated help documentation detailing all of the above features;
-- and finally, a behind-the-scenes upgrade to a faster server and a
newer version of the Archive's underlying DynaWeb software.
We welcome feedback and comments on any aspect of WBA 2.0. While the Archive continues to remain available at its current address
<http://www.iath.virginia.edu/blake/>, we are also pleased to announce
the registration of its domain at <http://www.blakearchive.org>. WBA
2.0 is accessible at either of these URLs.
As always, the William Blake Archive is a free site, imposing no
access restrictions and charging no subscription fees. The site is
made possible through the continuing support of the Institute for
Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia,
by a major new grant from the Preservation and Access Division of the
National Endowment for the Humanities, and by the cooperation of the
international array of libraries and museums that have generously
given us permission to represent works from their collections in the
Archive.
We would also like to take this opportunity to publicly thank those
members of the Archive's staff who were instrumental in the
production of WBA 2.0: Andrea Laue (Project Manager), Kirk
Hastings (Lead Programmer/Analyst), David Cosca (former Lead
Programmer/Analyst), and Christopher Jackson and Kari Kraus (Project
Assistants).
At present the Archive contains 41 copies of 18 of Blake's 19
illuminated books (all with newly edited SGML-encoded texts and images scanned and color-corrected from first-generation 4 x 5 inch
transparencies), plus a fully SGML-encoded electronic edition of
David. V. Erdman's _Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake_.
In the very near future we expect to release a much-anticipated
electronic edition of _Jerusalem_, copy E; the publication of Blake's
longest (and perhaps most spectacular) work will render the Archive's
illuminated collection complete, with at least one copy of every work
and multiple copies of most.
At that point, in addition to continuing to publish additional copies
of the works in illuminated printing, we will begin to incorporate
Blake's accomplishments in other media (paintings, drawings,
commercial and original engravings, and manuscripts).
By summer we also plan to have added search functions
for the Archive's general and specialized bibliographies of Blake
scholarship (currently listing over 500 entries), and to publish
collection handlists for each of the Archive's contributing
institutions. Future supplementary materials include a biography,
timeline, and in-depth study guide for teachers and students.
Morris Eaves, Robert N. Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, Editors
Matthew Kirschenbaum, Technical Editor
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The LOOKSEE Web pages are located at: <http://www.rch.uky.edu/~mgk/looksee/>.
LOOKSEE is hosted by the collaboratory for Research in Computing for Humanities (RCH, or "arch") at the University of Kentucky: <http://www.rch.uky.edu/>.
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