The Melville Electronic Library (MEL): A Digital Critical Edition

FAIN: RQ-50597-11

Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY 11549-1000)
John L. Bryant (Project Director: November 2010 to May 2015)

Continued development of the Melville Electronic Library (MEL), including transcription, editing, and publication of three major Melville works for inclusion on the website. (36 months)

The proposed three-year project is designed to continue the development of the Melville Electronic Library, a born-digital, open source "critical archive" (and We The People project), which will provide access to reliable interlinked digital versions of all of Melville's manuscript and print texts. MEL will also provide tools and workspaces enabling users to link Melville texts to other materials related to Melville's life, his art collection and library, sources and adaptations of his works, and secondary criticism. From November 1, 2011 to October 31, 2014, MEL will develop three innovative software programs (TextLab, Juxta, and Melville Remix) that will enable editors to edit multiple versions and link images, texts, sources, and adaptations to create fluid text editions of Moby-Dick, Battle-Pieces, and Billy Budd. If funded, MEL will become the primary online resource for Melville studies and a model for other critical archives seeking to promote collaborative research.

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