24 May 2006
The William Blake Archive <www.blakearchive.org> is pleased to announce
the launch of WBA 2006,
our first XML-based Archive. The conversion is a significant one because
it involves essential upgrades in technology, an important shift to open
source software, and a conceptual shift in our organization of Blake's
works. We have been careful in WBA 2006 to reproduce all the
functionalities of WBA 2.0, and users should notice little change in their
day-to-day use of the Archive.
WBA 2006 introduces a significant conceptual shift in our categorization
of Blake's works. In this new release, the Archive no longer relies on
"non-illuminated works" as an overarching category to describe works other
than illuminated books. Though originally intended as a temporary
placeholder, the non-illuminated works category has persisted, in part
because the category ossified in filesystem architectures and computer
code that disseminated the Archive. Our recent shift in attention to
engravings, color prints, and water color series and our planned
publications of manuscripts made apparent the ineptness of the rubric.
Illuminated books have a special status in Blake criticism, but the
Archive chooses to give other genres and artistic media equal weight.
WBA 2006 contains 73 works (copies of books and series of prints and water
colors) for a total of 1441 images, displayed true size whenever possible
(and always available at true size via our Java applet Imagesizer) and all
accompanied by detailed enlargements. Each work is encoded in XML and
stored in a native XML database powered by eXist. A complex set of XSLT
stylesheets transforms these XML documents into the HTML that is then
accessed by users. As before, some JavaScript and a few Java applets
support advanced tools such as the ImageSizer and Navigator. The database
of documents, the associated transforms, and the available tools are tied
together and delivered by the Apache Cocoon web development framework.
This combination of XML, eXist, and Apache Cocoon replaces the SGML and
DynaWeb-based architecture that had disseminated the Archive for several
years. The William Blake Archive continues to be served by a UNIX-based
server maintained by the Institute for Advanced Technology in the
Humanities. More details about the infrastructure are available in our
technical summary in the About the Archive section of the site.
During testing of WBA 2006, we encountered some interoperability problems
with the Inote image annotation tool and certain combinations of browsers
and operating systems. (See our help documentation for a full
description.) Currently we recommend users try another browser if Inote
fails to function properly. We hope to resolve all interoperability
problems with Inote in the near future.
Unfortunately, the conversion to XML will require a temporary suspension
of service from the UK mirror. The conversion required significant changes
to the systems at IATH, and we are working with our UK host, the Oxford
Text Archive, to implement these same changes on the mirror. We apologize
for any inconvenience in these matters.
Along with these technical and conceptual changes come a few to our staff:
Andrea Laue and Wesley N. Raabe, our technical editors, who have helped to
make the XML conversion possible, will be leaving their positions on the
Archive, as will our project manager, Justin Van Kleeck, who will continue
to work with us on special projects. Our new project manager, William
Shaw, will also take on the responsibilities of technical editor.
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 Library of Congress, the Institute
for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia,
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and by the cooperation of
the international array of libraries and museums that have generously
given us permission to reproduce works from their collections in the
Archive.
Morris Eaves, Robert N. Essick, and Joseph Viscomi, editors
The William Blake Archive
_______________________________________________
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