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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

ICYMI: In the DS Blog, Manuscript Data Curation Fellow Kelly Tuttle explores cross-cultural examples of rules, or layout features guiding scribes while writing on the page, across DS member collections: digital-scriptorium.org/about/blog/2... Image: Free Library of Philadelphia, Lewis O 171

A ruling board, a piece of pasteboard with strings tied onto it to make patterns for pressure line rules made by putting the ruling board under the sheet(s) to be written and pressing or rubbing to make an imprint of the lines. This one was used as a cover for Lewis O 171, a loose-leaf devotional manuscript housed at the Free Library of Philadelphia

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

At this year's annual meeting, we announced a significant milestone in the growth of the DS Catalog: over 28,000 manuscript records! We are proud to have a fully implemented catalog which has grown 23 times larger since the beta version launched two years ago: search.digital-scriptorium.org

search.digital-scriptorium.org

DS Catalog

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

DS seeks to appoint an early career library professional or postdoctoral researcher with a background in premodern manuscript studies for a full-time, NEH-funded, 22-month Manuscript Data Curation Fellowship. To apply, please follow this link: wd1.myworkdaysite.com/recruiting/u...

wd1.myworkdaysite.com

Manuscript Data Curation Fellow

University Overview The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school co...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Reminder: Next Tuesday, September 30 is our Annual Meeting of the DS Membership! Any and all are welcome to attend, either in person at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio or virtually over Zoom. To register, please follow this link: forms.gle/xXHkCyfJaUii...

forms.gle

2025 Digital Scriptorium Annual Meeting

Please fill out this form to register for the 2025 Digital Scriptorium Membership Meeting at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. Please register if you plan to...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

This month's blog explores how usage statistics for the DS Catalog tell us which manuscript records are most accessed by researchers, allowing DS member institutions to make more informed decisions about their collections. For more about how we do that: digital-scriptorium.org/about/blog/2...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

DS is co-organizing a session for the 2026 ICMS in Kalamazoo with the @peripheralmss.bsky.social team on "Medieval Manuscripts in North America, and How They Got Here." Got an idea for a paper? Submit here: icms.confex.com/icms/2026/pr...

icms.confex.com

Medieval Manuscripts in North America, and How They Got Here

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

For this month’s blog, DS Graduate Fellow @rosemccandless.bsky.social considers the Peripheral Manuscripts Project, the missions of PMP and DS, and the value of smaller and Midwestern collections: digital-scriptorium.org/about/blog/2...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

New to the DS blog: DS Graduate Fellow @rosemccandless.bsky.social follows a trail of connections between manuscripts and their formers owners made possible through the DS Catalog, with some expert insight from @laurajcleaver.bsky.social! Read here: digital-scriptorium.org/about/blog/2...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

New to the blog: WMU Professor and Librarian for Distinctive Collections @suembs.bsky.social discusses the significant benefits institutions with smaller manuscript collections receive as a result of their participation in DS: digital-scriptorium.org/about/blog/2...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

On this Friday the 13th, thanks to the quality metadata received from members, here are the records in the DS Catalog for manuscripts that have been described as being about superstitions, omens, and (ill?) fortune🔮: tinyurl.com/4w7bp7ks

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Rose A. McCandless @rosemccandless.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

@digitalscriptorium.bsky.social data work leading to some interesting connections… keep an eye out for our next blog post!!

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

New to the blog, DS Graduate Fellow @rosemccandless.bsky.social considers how DS can contribute to improving institutional data by providing an outside set of eyes: digital-scriptorium.org/about/blog/2...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

In light of new research on a Magna Carta manuscript held by Harvard Law School, DS Manuscript Data Curation Graduate Fellow @rosemccandless.bsky.social investigates early manuscripts containing Magna Carta that are discoverable in the DS Catalog. digital-scriptorium.org/magna-carta-...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

With recent new additions from Columbia University and University of Pennsylvania, the DS Catalog now boasts representation of just over 2,000 manuscripts with Hebrew language content. Take a look at these in our member collections through this link: search.digital-scriptorium.org?f%5Blanguage...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Perhaps you heard about the Large Hadron Collider experiment that (very briefly) turned lead into gold? www.home.cern/news/news/ph... What better way to explore this dream of medieval alchemists than looking for manuscripts in the DS Catalog about gold, lead, and alchemy⚗️! tinyurl.com/mubs6nk7

home.cern

ALICE detects the conversion of lead into gold at the LHC

In a paper published in Physical Review Journals, the ALICE collaboration reports measurements that quantify the transmutation of lead into gold in CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Transforming the...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

Yet another connection made by the DS Catalog at ICMS: A 16th century paterik (or compiliation of hagiographic texts) in Church Slavonic held at Harvard University (MS Slavic 27 / DS10364) of interest to a researcher at University of Michigan! search.digital-scriptorium.org/catalog/DS10...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Another connection made by DS: Researchers from Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities working on Coptic manuscripts were delighted to search the DS Catalog and learn about the existence of WMU MS 190 / DS 6477 while visiting our ICMS exhibit! search.digital-scriptorium.org/catalog/DS6477

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Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies @sims-mss.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

It's passed but the recording will be up on YouTube ASAP!

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Seems like a good time to highlight manuscript objects in the DS Catalog about various popes and the papacy⛪: tinyurl.com/784buaba This subject keyword highlight is thanks to expert descriptions from scholars and catalogers from our members institutions!

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Among the newest additions to the DS Catalog are the manuscript holdings of Williams College, who just joined DS in October 2024. Their collection is now searchable and browsable in the DS Catalog alongside other institutions: tinyurl.com/54m5bykx

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Folks: we've officially surpassed 25,000 records in the DS Catalog! 🎉🎉🎉 This is a momentous milestone in making manuscript objects in North American collections more discoverable and the data about them more powerful! Take a look at this treasure trove yourself: search.digital-scriptorium.org

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

In this month's blog post, DS Graduate Fellow @rosemccandless.bsky.social explores how we define what belongs (and what doesn’t) in the DS Catalog—and why it matters. Read about how Rose and the DS Advisory Council consider boundaries, identity, and mission: digital-scriptorium.org/about/blog/2...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

What kind of information about a manuscript can you see in a DS Catalog record? This handy chart shows the kinds of metadata we capture and aggregate about manuscripts as well as the vocabularies we align to for improved browsing and searching: digital-scriptorium.org/help/using-t...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

The DS Catalog has thousands of keywords to facilitate manuscript discovery. Thanks to expert catalogers and our data enrichment process, you can explore one of the two certainties in the world (according to Ben Franklin). Here are manuscript objects about taxes and taxation💸: tinyurl.com/3whwy8bu

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Answer: Otto Ege! Check out these posts from DS members about their research regarding manuscript objects once owned by Ege, including the fragments he was so (in)famous for. Rochester Institute of Technology: www.rit.edu/news/rit-stu... Ohio State University: news.osu.edu/rare-medieva...

rit.edu

RIT students discover hidden 15th-century text on medieval manuscripts

RIT students discovered lost text on 15th-century manuscript leaves using an imaging system they developed as freshmen. By using ultraviolet-fluorescence imaging, the students revealed that a manuscri...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

A DS SPARQL Viz Quiz! (aka "DS Jeopardy") Which former owner's previous holdings are represented by the subject and genre terms used to describe items in member institution collections depicted in this visualization? If you can decode a SPARQL query, this might help: tinyurl.com/25dqjf3e

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Did you know Digital Scriptorium will be an exhibitor at this year's International Congress on Medieval Studies held May 8-10, 2025 at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan? We are very excited to be joining a stellar list of exhibitors at the 60th Congress! wmich.edu/medievalcong...

wmich.edu

Exhibits Hall | International Congress on Medieval Studies | Western Michigan University

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

Save the date! The Annual DS Member Meeting will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025 at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. More details will be forthcoming, but anyone interested in learning more about DS is welcome to attend, either in person or virtually.

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Drawing on the expertise of Dr. Evyn Kropf from our DS Advisory Council, our Graduate Fellow @rosemccandless.bsky.social blogs about new descriptions of three Islamic manuscripts owned by the California State Library soon making their way into the DS Catalog. digital-scriptorium.org/20250327-csl...

California State Library, Sutro Collection, M000120. Image Courtesy of California State Library Sutro Collection

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Did you know one of the most significant manuscript witnesses to the Canterbury Tales is in the DS Catalog? search.digital-scriptorium.org/catalog/DS9601 The "Ellesmere Chaucer" is so precious that it does not circulate, making DS an easy digital access point to view this piece of history!

Canterbury Tales, f. 10r (Knight's Tale), ca. 1400-1410, mssEL 26 C 9, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Interested in seeing the correlation between linguistic tradition and manuscript material in the DS Catalog? This tree map visualization shows which languages can be found on particular writing surfaces in DS member collections. For the SPARQL query, follow this link: tinyurl.com/2cxmypq6

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

New to the blog: What is a DS ID and how are manuscripts represented in the DS Catalog? digital-scriptorium.org/20250318-ide... And check out our previous blog posts here: digital-scriptorium.org/about/blog/

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

With over 7,000 term headings across 4 vocabularies, the DS Catalog is a rich trove of subject and genre information provided by expert catalogers and scholars describing items in DS member collections. Here's an example gathering together items of and about genealogy 👴👵: tinyurl.com/yzrbsk2f

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Did you know that the DS Catalog is powered by Wikibase technology? This is the same Linked Open Data software that Wikidata, one of the world’s largest open knowledge bases, runs on. You can even explore the "backend" Wikibase of the DS Catalog infrastructure: catalog.digital-scriptorium.org

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Answer: Avicenna! To see more in the DS Catalog about these manuscript items with texts attributed to the famed physician and philosopher, click here: tinyurl.com/2emekkvt

tinyurl.com

Author: Avicenna - DS Catalog Search ResultsSearch

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Time for a DS SPARQL Viz Quiz! (or "DS Jeopardy" as @lransom.bsky.social likes to call it!) Here's a simple visualization from our DS Wikibase Query Service. Which author in our DS data would produce the solution shown here? Hint: if you can read SPARQL, the query is here: tinyurl.com/2ybjm9ge

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Newly added to the DS Catalog: over 1,000 manuscript records from DS members located in the Windy City! University of Chicago: tinyurl.com/yrk6swwk Newberry Library: tinyurl.com/57a47wfk And head to the DS Notes blog to see more about what we've been up to: digital-scriptorium.org/about/blog/2...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

On our blog: our DS Manuscript Data Curation Graduate Fellow, @rosemccandless.bsky.social, investigates a medieval binding fragment as part of her work providing descriptive metadata services to member institutions. digital-scriptorium.org/about/blog/2...

Williams College, Chapin Library, Inc M266 folio (back pastedown).

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

One of our most frequently viewed DS records is for Boston Public Library, MS f Med.101. This ms containing Christine de Pisan's Le livre des trois Vertus was copied in 1405, and is generally considered to be "the truest copy of the text, possibly created under the direction of the author herself."

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

The DS Catalog is constantly growing with new data and expanded holdings from global manuscript traditions. Check out this visualization of languages of manuscript texts in DS member collections. Although Latin predominates, many other linguistic traditions are represented.

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Curious about how DS member data becomes more powerful and more reusable in the DS Catalog? Check out this new blog post: digital-scriptorium.org/about/blog/2... Wondering how DS can help your institution's manuscript metadata work better? Sign up to learn more: forms.gle/YNB13tfYU1pt...

digital-scriptorium.org

DS Notes: Data Enrichment through Reconciliation and Annotation - Digital Scriptorium

Posted February 18, 2025 by L.P. Coladangelo, DS Catalog Project and Data Manager Gathering metadata records from multiple institutions using multiple standards and formats can be a daunting task. Col...

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

DS Catalog descriptions are sourced from original records created by scholars and catalogers across multiple institutions, which include a variety of subject terms to help people find manuscripts of interest. Here are examples of love poetry, perfect for this time of year 💘: tinyurl.com/4u2ekxmn

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Did you know that during redevelopment of the DS Catalog, we saved the data from the previous database? METS-encoded records, JPEG images, and PDFs of screenshots of the old database webpages can be found in a series of open Zenodo repositories: zenodo.org/communities/...

zenodo.org

Search Digital Scriptorium

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Answer: Manuscripts formerly owned by Thomas Phillipps by the owning DS member institution! To learn more about scholarship on tracing the enormous collection Phillipps amassed in his lifetime, check out this article in Speculum by Dr. Toby Burrows: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....

journals.uchicago.edu

The History and Provenance of Manuscripts in the Collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps: New Approaches to Digital Representation | Speculum: Vol 92, No S1

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Introducing a DS SPARQL Viz Quiz! Here's a visualization that comes directly from our DS Catalog data using a Wikibase Query Service. Can you guess what these results might be showing? Hint: Below is a link to the original SPARQL query you can run to help you figure it out! tinyurl.com/2xm4c6uz

A visualization of SPARQL query results from the DS Catalog

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Digital Scriptorium @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Check out these newly added records from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in the DS Catalog, now joining over 16,000 records and the holdings of 37 other institutions: search.digital-scriptorium.org?f%5Binstitut...

search.digital-scriptorium.org

Holding Institution: Jewish Theological Seminary of America - DS Catalog Search ResultsSearch

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Rose A. McCandless @rosemccandless.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Having fun describing binding fragments in some of Williams College's incunabula collection (for @digitalscriptorium.bsky.social!) and came across this absolute beauty!

An incunable is open to its back flyleaf, showing a manuscript pastedown. The pastedown is written in Caroline script.

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The Bibliographical Society @bibsoc.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

Happy New Year, all. For this month Council’s Choice, Stella Panayotova highlights Digital Scriptorium, ‘an increasingly indispensable portal into North American repositories of medieval and early modern manuscripts’: bibsoc.org.uk/councils-cho...

bibsoc.org.uk

Council’s Choice for January 2025 - Bibliographical Society

Digital Scriptorium As a new Council member, I’d like to highlight the Digital Scriptorium as an increasingly indispensable portal into North American repositories of medieval and early modern manuscr...

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