Digitization of Syriac Books and Other Holdings at The Catholic University of America
Monica J.
Blanchard
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute
George A. Kiraz
James E. Walters
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Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute
2005
Vol. 8, No. 1
For this publication, a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
license has been granted by the author(s), who retain full
copyright.
https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/article/hv8n1prblanchard
Monica J. Blanchard
Digitization of Syriac Books and Other Holdings at The Catholic University of America
https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/pdf/vol8/HV8N1PRBlanchard.pdf
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies
Beth Mardutho: The Syriac Institute,
vol 8
issue 1
Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies is an electronic journal dedicated to the study
of the Syriac tradition, published semi-annually (in January and July) by Beth
Mardutho: The Syriac Institute. Published since 1998, Hugoye seeks to offer the
best scholarship available in the field of Syriac studies.
Syriac Studies
eBethArke
digitization
ECRL
BYU
CUA
ISPART
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[1] This
past year The Catholic University of America Libraries, in
cooperation with Beth Mardutho/The Syriac Institute and Brigham
Young University's Institute for the Study and Preservation of
Ancient Religious Texts (ISPART), digitized some of the Syriac
materials (books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, and other
documents) at CUA. This was part of Beth Mardutho's larger
venture to establish an Internet digital library of e-books for
Syriac studies: eBeth Arké: the Syriac Digital Library.
It also was part of a related venture for a Web-based Eastern
Christian Reference Library by Brigham Young University.
[2] Between
March and August 2004 the CUA team scanned 669 Syriac
materials, for a total of 85,389 images, including 53,745 tiff
images in black & white, greyscale, and color, as well as
31,644 color jpeg images. Scanned materials include 17th-early
20th century liturgical, theological, historical, and
hagiographical works, as well as grammars and dictionaries.
[3] The
groundwork for the CUA Syriac digital project began in June 20,
2001 when representatives of CUA, BYU, and Beth Mardutho met to
discuss digital library initiatives. I was asked to serve as
the local CUA project manager. There were two initial stumbling
blocks. The university's Syriac collections are extensive, but
they are largely uncataloged and not easily accessible. Also,
Mullen Library, which houses the Syriac collections, was
scheduled for a major building renovation. Project office space
was not available.
[4] The
first task of the CUA Syriac Digital Project was to make a
bibliographic survey of the Syriac collections. Fr. Matthew
Streett, a doctoral candidate in Biblical Studies at CUA, was
appointed Project Bibliographer. He compiled a 400 page online
bibliography of Syriac materials in the Semitics/ICOR library
(035 Mullen), the main repository for CUA's Syriac holdings.
This bibliography became an important selection tool and
finding aid.
[5] In
January 2004 space suddenly became available in Mullen Library.
Beth Mardutho and BYU rearranged their scanning priorities to
take advantage of a five month window of opportunity
(March-August, 2004) for the Syriac Digital Project. The first
Beth Mardutho imaging workstation began operation at CUA on
March 6, followed on March 22 by the BYU imaging workstation,
and on April 24 by a second Beth Mardutho imaging workstation.
The Project shut down on August 15, when renovation work
resumed in the building.
[6] Beth
Mardutho and BYU provided the equipment, the initial training,
and the funds for staff hired at CUA. CUA provided local
project management, office space, and the Syriac resources.
[7] A staff
of 15 technicians was assembled from the CUA Libraries, the
School of Library and Information Science, and from graduate
academic departments and programs with an interest in Syriac
(Semitics, Early Christian Studies, Biblical Studies, Medieval
and Byzantine Studies. Volunteers from the Syriac Church
communities also helped. Technicians with Syriac and Arabic
language skills entered metadata information in Arabic and
Syriac into the Beth Mardutho metadata database; they also
dealt with pagination and bibliographic issues in these
languages. Technicians with library skills worked with fragile
and valuable materials requiring special handling. All the
student technicians had good computer skills and an eye for
detail—these proved to be the most important job assets.
Two of the technicians, Jonathan Loopstra (for Beth Mardutho)
and Diana Jill Kirby (for BYU), served as quality assurance
heads. Both had previous quality assurance experience. The CUA
team established work flow patterns and scanning procedures for
the project. The team also prepared basic operations manuals
which may be helpful for other institutions participating in
eBeth Arké.