Registration deadline August 20th 2004

Manuscript & Electronic Text Academy - META04
13 - 17 September 2004
Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature
Koningstraat 18 - Gent (Belgium)

Read the complete announcement on <http://www.kantl.be/ctb/META/meta04.htm>

The first Manuscript & Electronic Text Academy (META) introduces the 
field of digitization of text and images and text encoding to both 
students and professionals of the textual, cultural, and heritage 
sectors. The internationally renowned staff share a wide experience in 
Humanities Computing and consist of Melissa Terras (School of Library, 
Archive, and Information Studies, University College London, UK), Edward 
Vanhoutte and Ron Van den Branden (Centre for Scholarly Editing and 
Document Studies-CTB).


Overview:
The Manuscript and Electronic Text Academy presents, in its inaugural 
year, a five-day workshop introducing the theory and practice of text 
encoding and the digitization of text and images for those working in 
manuscript and text studies, and the cultural and heritage sectors. The 
week-long workshop consists of four modules; any of which can be booked 
separately. Three taught modules focus on XML, Digital Images, and DALF 
respectively. The META workshop week closes with a half-day colloquium 
featuring demonstrations and reports from active digitization and 
research projects utilizing these technologies. Participants int the 
workshop gain a greater understanding of the latest techniques, tools 
and standards in text encoding and digitization in the wonderful 
historic setting of the building of the Royal Academy.

Instructors and Speakers:
The Academy is led by experts of international renown consisting of 
Melissa Terras (School of Library, Archive and Information Studies, 
University College London, UK), Ron Van den Branden, and Edward 
Vanhoutte (both Centre for Scholarly Editing and Document Studies, Royal 
Academy of Dutch Language and Literature, Belgium). The Academy will 
invite additional speakers to the programme, including Dirk Van Hulle 
(University of Antwerp), Vincent Neyt (University of Antwerp) and other 
eminent scholars in the field.

Target Audience: 	
* Academics and graduate students in the humanities who are engaged in 
book, text and manuscript studies.
* Heritage professionals.
* Librarians and archivists.
* Project managers embarking on a digital adventure.
* Graduate students and academics trained in computer science wishing to 
acquire a knowledge of humanities computing problems: either to 
facilitate their collaboration with colleagues in the humanities, or to 
learn more about the discipline.

Limit:
A limited amount of 20 attendees are accepted for the META workshop. The 
half-day colloquim welcomes up to 60 delegates.

Language:
Apart from the digital images module, which will be taught in English, 
the workshop modules will be taught in Dutch or English, depending on 
the nationalities of the delegates.

Format:
Five workshop days each consisting of two morning sessions (9:00-10:30 & 
11:00-12:30) and two afternoon sessions (13:30-15:00 & 15:30-17:00) of 
90 minutes each.

     * The module XML runs on Monday and Tuesday
     * The module Digital Images runs on Wednesday
     * The module DALF runs on Thursday and Friday morning
     * The half-day colloquium runs on Friday afternoon

Pre-required knowledge:
Elementary computer literacy is required (participants should know how 
to work with multiple windows, work with the mouse, create folders and 
files, and download files from the Internet). The workshop will be 
taught in Dutch or English.

Preparation:
All participants should bring:

     * Empty disks
     * Their favourite poem on a disk (module 1)
     * Photographs, pictures, and textual resources relevant to their 
work (module 3)

All participants will be provided with all necessary documentation, 
tools, and software.

Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops.

Wireless Internet Access will be available within the workshop venue.


Registration:
Modules can be booked separately at full price, or in combination at a 
discount price. The following prices include teaching, syllabi, XML-XSLT 
& Digitization Tools and Resources CD-ROM, and refreshments. Attendees 
will be responsible for their own travel, meal, and lodging costs. 
Details on travel and loding can be found here.

Full price:
* Module 1 XML Workshop [Monday 13 & Tuesday 14]                250 EUR
* Module 2 Digital Images Workshop [Wednesday 15]               130 EUR
* Module 3 DALF Workshop [Thursday 16 & Friday morning 17]      250 EUR
* Module 4 Half-day colloquium [Friday afternoon 17]            10 EUR (Students 
free)

Combined prices:
The registration fee for the full META programme (modules 1, 2, 3 and 4) 
is 500 EUR.

Modules can be selected and combined at will:

     * Modules 1 and 2: 300 EUR
     * Modules 1 and 3: 400 EUR
     * Modules 1 and 4: 255 EUR
     * Modules 2 and 3: 400 EUR
     * Modules 2 and 4: 135 EUR
     * Modules 3 and 4: 255 EUR

All those wishing to participate, or confirming their participation, 
please contact Edward Vanhoutte <[log in to unmask]> by 20 August 
2004.

For information about transport and accommodation, consult 
<http://www.kantl.be/ctb/general/travel.htm>.

Student bursary scheme
As part of its commitment to advance the knowledge of young scholars, 
the Royal Academy awards up to three student bursaries which will cover 
the registration costs of META 04. Successful applicants will be 
accepted to the META workshop free of charge. Applications, including a 
short CV, full contact details, date of birth, proof of studentship and 
a one page statement why attending META04 is important for the 
candidate, should be sent no later than August 20th to 
<[log in to unmask]>. Successful applicants will be notified by 
August 25th.


Workshop Modules

Module 1: XML [Monday 13 & Tuesday 14 September 2004]
Instructors: Edward Vanhoutte & Ron Van den Branden
Limit: 20 people
Description:
The eXtensible Markup Language or XML plays an essential part in 
creating digital textual objects for publication, conservation, 
transformation, and research. XML is a metalanguage by which one can 
create separate markup languages for seperate purposes. It is published 
as a W3C recommendation, it has rapidly become the standard on the 
internet, and it is the most widely used standard for markup and 
exchange of information. As a platform-, software-, and 
system-independent language, no one 'owns' XML, and it empowers the 
content provider and facilitates data integration, exchange, maintenance 
and extraction.

This workshop module will intruduce the attendees to the problems with 
electronic texts and suggest XML as a possible solution to these 
problems. In eight sessions the participants will learn to analyse 
documents, find suitable markup solutions for their projects, make 
extensive use of the TEI Guidelines and resources, create valid XML, 
publish XML on the web, and work with open source tools and resources. 
Course topics include:

     * Overview of text encoding
     * Overview of markup languages
     * Document analysis
     * The Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)
     * XML, well formed and valid
     * Document Type Definitions (DTD)
     * XML Schema
     * TEIxLite
     * XML for research
     * Publishing XML on the web and in print
     * Tools & Resources

	

Module 2: Digital Images Workshop [Wednesday 15 September]
Instructor: Melissa Terras
Limit: 20 people
Description: 	
Digitization has become a buzz word in libraries, archives, museums, 
universities, and other institutes from the academic, cultural, and 
heritage sector. Accessibility, management, and preservation are the 
three most frequently mentioned advantages of and arguments for the 
digitization of collections. This one-day workshop addresses the 
strenghts and pittfalls of the digitization of images and introduces the 
attendees to standards, tools, techniques, guidelines, and examples of 
best practice. This module contains both theoretical and hands-on 
sessions. The workshop closes with the screening of Terry Sanders' award 
winning documentary film Into the Future, On the Preservation of 
Knowledge in the Electronic Age.

Course topics include:

     * What is digitization?
     * Why digitize?
     * What to digitize?
     * Collection assessment
     * The digital image
     * OCR and imaging
     * Resolution & formats
     * Image processing & enhancement
     * Devices
     * Software
     * Metadata
     * Copyrights
     * Tools & Resources


Module 3: DALF [Thursday 16 & Friday 17 – morning]
Instructors: Ron Van den Branden & Edward Vanhoutte
Limit: 20 people
Description: 	
DALF is an acronym for "Digital Archive of Letters in Flanders". 
Technically speaking DALF is a fully documented XML DTD designed as an 
extension to and a modification of the TEI with the specific purpose to 
enable the (diplomatic) transcription, annotation, and edition of modern 
correspondence material. At the same time it is the general name for a 
long-term project which is envisioned as a growing textbase of 
correspondence material which can generate different products for both 
academia and a wider audience, and thus provide a tool for diverse 
research disciplines ranging from literary criticism to historical, 
diachronic, synchronic, and sociolinguistic research. The DALF DTD and 
the DALF project were created at the Centre for Scholalrly Editing and 
Document Studies, the research centre of the Royal Academy of Dutch 
Language and Literature. Both the DALF DTD and the DALF project have 
stimulated new electronic edition projects, as well as the international 
debate on electronic editions of modern manuscript materials.

Visit the DALF website and consult the DALF guidelines for the 
description and encoding of modern correspondence material 
<http://www.kantl.be/ctb/project/dalf/>

This module will introduce workshop attendees to the DALF DTD for 
digital transcription and annotation of modern correspondence materials. 
After a short introduction to the basics of TEI (Text Encoding 
Initiative) and text encoding, the focus will be put on the means DALF 
provides to capture the specific nature and characteristics of letters. 
This theoretical foundation will be complemented by actual encoding of 
letters. Course topics include:

     * What is a letter? What is correspondence?
     * Document analysis
     * The DALF DTD
     * The DALF Guidelines
     * DALF semantics and structure
     * DALF encoding
     * Publishing DALF documents on the web
     * Publishing DALF documents in print
     * The DALF textbase
     * Tools & Resources

Pre-required knowledge: Module 1 or a working knowledge of XML & TEI


Module 4: Manuscript & Electronic Text – A Half Day Colloquium [Friday 
17 – afternoon – 2 p.m.]
Limit: 60 people
Description:	
This half-day colloquium will feature demonstrations and reports from 
active digitization and research projects utilizing cutting edge 
technologies. The list of speakers will include experts from all over 
Belgium and the Netherlands, including Dirk Van Hulle and Vincent Neyt 
(University of Antwerp).


Questions specifically concerning registration procedures and 
information should be directed to Edward Vanhoutte at 
<[log in to unmask]>

-- 

================
Edward Vanhoutte
Co-ordinator
Centrum voor Teksteditie en Bronnenstudie - CTB (KANTL)
Centre for Scholarly Editing and Document Studies
Reviews Editor, Literary and Linguistic Computing
Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde
Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature
Koningstraat 18 / b-9000 Gent / Belgium
tel: +32 9 265 93 51 / fax: +32 9 265 93 49
[log in to unmask]
http://www.kantl.be/ctb/
http://www.kantl.be/ctb/vanhoutte/
http://www.kantl.be/ctb/staff/edward.htm