Notes from the Technology Director - December 2009
Digitalized Documents and Scholarly Communities
I have been working for MAP since 2003, planning and building its IT infrastructure in Florence. This May I was appointed Technology Director. For the past six years, while working with the fellows, I have watched the database grow and seen how it can help scholars by speeding up their research. Today our online database serves over 29,000 visitors per year, and contains 13,623 document records, 249 volume records, 6,977 biographical records, as well as 3,921 places, all interlinked and freely searchable. http://documents.medici.org/
We are now ready to move forward and improve our database. With support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, I began work on a new web-based database that is totally innovative. “Innovative” is an over-used word, but in this case, it is appropriate as nothing comparable exists for the humanities on the Internet. Aside from basic structural changes to improve the system, this new database will provide unparalleled interactive possibilities. We are creating a link between our researchers and the outside world, developing a worldwide community of scholars of early modern history.
Let me give you an example. Imagine that you are a scholar living in Japan studying the history of whaling. You do an online search and find that MAP has a document concerning fishing rights near Greenland from the seven teenth century that interests you. You will be able to write to us asking for clarification, perhaps even communicating with the actual fellow who entered the document, leave a comment or a correction, as well as see an image of the actual document. By making the database accessible to the outside world and offering digitalized documents, we will be able to appoint distant fellows who can work on our documents without having to be in Florence.
Other new developments include the launch of our pilot Paleography online course on October 12th at http://courses.medici.org with the generous support from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
It has been a pleasure working along with the fellows and all the members of the Project team. I look forward to facing all the challenges that our new technology will bring in the future. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Joanne Riley, our former Technology Coordinator, for the support that she graciously offered during all the years that I have been at the Project
Lorenzo Allori, Technology Coordinator
