TRANSCRIBATHON THIS SATURDAY!
Innovation Night is a meeting of enthusiasts interested in modern technologies, but also of all those who would like to learn more about them. On 9 October, research and development centres, technology parks, universities and the most modern factories in Poland will once again open their doors to visitors. On this night, it will be possible to immerse oneself in virtual reality, make friends with robots and fall in love with the innovations that surround us. The University of Wrocław and the Worflow project team will also take part in the Innovation Night this year! We will present the Virtual Transcription Laboratory.
Innovation Night is a unique initiative on a global scale, which shows that Polish people are curious about new technologies and want to gain knowledge about them. It is a real opportunity for all those who want to see up close the most modern technologies and visit places where unique solutions reign. During this edition, it will be possible to see places where scientists make their ideas come true and entrepreneurs find solutions to their problems. The event will take place on 9 October 2021 as part of the third edition of the Digital Festival. The festival is the largest educational and technological initiative in Poland, whose main objective is to bring the knowledge of new technologies and digitisation to the society. Last year’s Innovation Night became truly nationwide – it was joined by 14 cities and over 30 partners who jointly organised almost 70 events and attractions. Participation in events organised as part of this unique initiative is free, and many of them will take place online.
As part of Innovation Night, we have prepared two events:
REMOTE TRANSCRIPTION OF MANUSCRIPTS – 9 October, 15.00
We invite to a presentation of the “Virtual Transcription Laboratory”! This is a new tool created as part of the “Workflow for digital publications at the University of Wrocław” project. It allows for remote transcription of all kinds of digitised materials, including manuscripts. We will focus on them during the upcoming ‘Innovation Night’. Manuscripts are usually the most valuable items in a library, especially if they date from the Middle Ages. To preserve them, access is restricted in the reading room, but thanks to new technologies they can now be made available online. Many manuscripts are available in digitised form in various digital libraries (e.g. www.bibliotekcyfrowa.pl) but to make full use of their content, it is useful to add a transcription, i.e. a text layer over the images. Only then is it possible, for example, to quickly search for a given phrase, which normally takes an incomparably longer time. In addition, handwriting is not always easy to read, so a less experienced person can read the content just as well as a specialist. Therefore, completing the digital form of a manuscript is a great convenience for all interested parties, both professionals and amateurs, and this can be done with the help of the “Virtual Transcription Laboratory”.
During our presentation we will discuss all its functions, and we will also show how to transcribe selected objects from the collection of the University Library in Wrocław. Finally, we will hold a competition in which participants will be able to transcribe a manuscript on their own.
TRANSCRIPTION FOR THE RESISTANT, or a few words on how to “correct” the rector – 9 October, 18.00
We invite you to an exceptional meeting with the Rector of the University of Wrocław, prof. dr. hab. Przemysław Wiszewski, and his publications as part of the Innovation Night!
Access to electronic documents already means advanced possibilities of text editing and analysis – and the University of Wrocław is meeting these expectations. Extremely valuable and interesting publications of Rector of UWr published for many years by the University of Wrocław Publishing House in the prestigious series Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis – Historia, will serve as an example of how a research university approaches the challenges of the contemporary scientific world.
During the Innovation Night we will present scanning of objects with the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technique on the one hand and. On the other hand, we will discuss the process of preliminary and advanced transcription of digitizations with the help of special IT tools – Virtual Laboratory of Transcription (WLT).
Programme:
- Introduction to WLT
- Presentation of selected publications with special participation of Rector UWr
- Discussion of the most important functionalities of the system
- Tasks for participants within WLT
- Discussion/questions to speakers (opportunities and threats in transcription)
- Evaluation of the tool/conclusions
All this to promote the best that the University of Wrocław has, which is knowledge and potential to share this knowledge with the environment with you!
