So far on this blog, we've discussed some general issues relating to digital editing, as well as presenting some of the texts with which we'll be working. However, we're also going to be recording the progress of our JISC-funded project to improve the usability/learnability of the ReScript editing platform. ReScript has been in development for about eight months, and we've reached the stage where we have something we can test with researchers. It's a complex resource, with a back end that will support a variety of structured editorial workflows and a 'sandbox' area that will give historians the opportunity to experiment with draft texts without disrupting the editorial process.
ReScript is designed to be of value to a range of users, from different disciplines and with different levels of exposure to formal editing. Individuals will engage with it in a variety of ways, from those who wish to make use of the full set of editorial tools to those who would simply like to suggest a correction as part of a crowdsourcing initiative. Consequently, it needs to be immediately easy to use but also offer a learnable pathway for those who want to undertake more complicated tasks and even customise what's on offer. It has to support users who 'dip in' irregularly as well as those working on longer, concentrated projects.
The IHR has a remit to facilitate and promote research at the national level, and the requirements of the history community are at the heart of what we do. We've already undertaken research to establish demand for a centralised editorial service like ReScript, and identified some of the features that historians would like to see, but now we need to make it usable!
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