DigiStylus: A Socio-Technical Approach to Teaching and Research in Paleography

Abstract

After a short overview of the results obtained by the use of information systems for teaching and research in paleography, the problem of the students’ access to information on the web is discussed. The difficulty students have in finding the “right” documents, among the ones freely available in the site of the “Materials for Latin paleography”, can be considered a particular branch of the broader problem of finding information in the web. As a result it is first analyzed the use of semantic web to solve students’ problems, soon after the socio-technical approach in the planning and carrying out of a new information system for the management of teachinglearning materials is reported. The latter hypothesis, on the basis of the constructivist initial results, seems the best to meet the students’ needs. To implement this solution a new online information system has been planned; in it students are involved both in the collection and the creation of information. This approach transforms the search for information in the creation of new information to be included in a meta-structure for information retrieval; the main hypothesis is that it helps students in developing meta-cognitive skills while collaborating among themselves and working with professors and experts.