Modeling semantically Enriched Digital Edition of Accounts (MEDEA)

FAIN: HG-229349-15

Wheaton College (Norton, MA 02766-2322)
Kathryn M. Tomasek (Project Director: September 2014 to March 2017)

A series of meetings by scholars from the United States and Europe to produce test cases to allow for the development of standards for transcription, markup, and analysis of historical accounting records for use in scholarly editions. The University of Regensburg, is requesting 37,435€ from DFG.

Wheaton College (Massachusetts) and the University of Regensburg will bring together economic historians, scholarly editors, and technical experts to discuss and test emerging methods for semantic markup of account books. This bilateral project focused on Modeling semantically Enriched Digital Edition of Accounts (MEDEA) and includes three stages: At the summer 2015 meeting at the University of Regensburg, Project Directors will present models of semantic markup of accounts for discussion, critique, and suggestions from the invited experts. Subsequently, participants will produce examples as models for further testing and development of broad standards and cost-effective best practices for transcription, markup, and analysis of accounting records. During the March 2016 meeting at Wheaton College, principals will present results of digitization testing and discuss next steps for expanding the communities of practice employing these models in a wide range of historical financial records.

Associated Products

MEDEA- Modeling Semantically Enriched Digital Editions of Accounts (Web Resource)
Title: MEDEA- Modeling Semantically Enriched Digital Editions of Accounts
Author: Kathryn M. Tomasek
Author: Georg Vogeler
Abstract: Project website for the MEDEA (Modeling semantically Enhanced Digital Edition of Accounts) Project, supported within the NEH-DFG Bilateral Digital Humanities Program.
Year: 2015
Primary URL: https://medea.hypotheses.org/

Facilitating Global Historical Research on the Semantic Web: MEDEA (Modeling Semantically Enhanced Digital Edition of Accounts) (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Facilitating Global Historical Research on the Semantic Web: MEDEA (Modeling Semantically Enhanced Digital Edition of Accounts)
Author: Kathryn M. Tomasek
Abstract: Creating digital scholarly editions of accounts and including references to a shared ontology in the markup can enable comparison of these historical sources using the affordances of the Semantic Web. Tomasek and Vogeler have been working separately for several years, exploring ways to use the Guidelines of the Text Encoding Initiative as a first step in developing models for interoperable digital scholarly editions of accounts. “Transactionography,” an XML serialization of information found in accounts that Tomasek and her co-author Bauman proposed in 2013 is the model that grounds the markup for transactions from ancient Japan discussed by Kokaze, Goto, and Nagasaki in their presentation. Orlowska describes factors in choosing a model for producing editions of a large number of documents from widely dispersed archives that will contribute not only to a current project focus on reconstructing networks of annual fairs in late medieval and early modern Poland but also to future projects. And Vogeler demonstrates the value of recommendations for using a common bookkeeping ontology to facilitate interoperability of digital scholarly editions of accounts through the technologies of the semantic web.Presenters on this panel participated in MEDEA activities funded through a Bilateral Digital Humanities award from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the German Research Foundation in 2015-2016.
Date: 1/4/2018
Primary URL: https://medea.hypotheses.org/workshops/aha-washington-d-c-4-1-2018
Secondary URL: https://aha.confex.com/aha/2018/webprogram/Session16543.html
Conference Name: 2018 American Historical Association Annual Meeting

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