William Blake Archive update

From: Kari Kraus (KKraus27@AOL.COM)
Date: Tue Jan 16 2001 - 07:53:38 CST

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Message-Id: <200101161357.GAA26606@dns.ccit.arizona.edu>
Date:         Tue, 16 Jan 2001 08:53:38 EST
From: Kari Kraus <mailto:KKraus27@AOL.COM>
Subject:      William Blake Archive update
To: mailto:IMAGELIB@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU

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15 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-- and finally, a behind-the-scenes upgrade to a faster server and a newer version of the Archive's underlying DynaWeb software.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.=A0 Erdman's _Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake_.=A0 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=A0 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

--part1_37.f6f930d.2795ac62_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<HTML>15 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 anno= unce
 the registration of its domain at <http://www.blakearchive.org>;. W= BA
 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.=A0 Erdman's _Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake_.=A0 I= n
 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=A0 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
 
 </HTML>

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