Digital facsimiles and the modern viewer: Medieval manuscripts and archival practice in the age of new media.

摘要

This thesis is largely focused on assessing the state of archival practice as well as recent solutions to problems of access in relation to medieval manuscripts. New technologies are making manuscripts more widely available through high-quality facsimile, and are therefore diminishing previous limitations on viewing these works. As technology continues to progress, digital imaging has been crucial to the creation of highly accessible digital facsimiles of medieval manuscripts. In the past, the only way to study these objects was in person, which was difficult due to institutional limitations, or through photographed slides, which pose restrictions due to the potential problems with their quality. We are still in the process of discovering how to use new digital resources to their full advantage, and the effect of this exploration is the inevitable encounter with problems that accompany digital display and preservation. The digitization of manuscripts and the creation of digital collections aid research but at the same time provide a new manner of viewing, altering the mode of engagement with manuscripts from visceral to virtual.