Annotation Studio is a suite of collaborative web-based annotation tools currently under development at MIT.
Historical Background
As a cultural and social practice, annotations have a rich history
stretching back for millennia. The term marginalia, coined by Coleridge –
a notable annotator – refers to writing in the margins of a book.
Writing in books leaves traces of a reader’s progress, a reader’s
interpretation, a reader’s response. Marginalia can record the
collaborative efforts of many readers, as in this image of a page from
Venetus A, a tenth-century manuscript of the Iliad that preserves layers
of glosses, scholia, and critical marks. This annotated manuscript
immortalizes the critical discourse around a text, and makes it possible
to study it, a thousand years later. Readers also interact with their
books in ways other than writing in the margins. Today, post-its or
folded pages, for example, mark passages of interest. A common practice
is to color-code these passages of interest. Personal organization is an
alternative way of accessing the text, a more personal organization
than the pre-defined taxonomy of the table of contents.
Annotation Studio in the Digital Humanities
The most significant difference between Annotation Studio and other
digital annotation projects is its emphasis on student-centered design
and pedagogy. Most other annotation tools assume user familiarity with
TEI, and a well-developed understanding of the relationships between
literary sources, manuscripts, editions, and adaptations. Annotation
Studio makes sophisticated yet easy-to-use commenting tools immediately
accessible to students with no prior experience with close textual
analysis or TEI.
However, while we believe Annotation Studio provides many unique
affordances, we also see it as part of a larger conversation concerning
annotation in the digital humanities. Accordingly, we have listed
what we think are some of the most exciting projects occupying the
annotation space, which bear both similarities and differences to the
aims and formal qualities of our tool.
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