Fragments in Cyberspace: The Ohio State University’s Digital Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Fragments

Abstract

Making pre-modern European manuscript fragment collections accessible to students and researchers virtually is essential due to the nature of book-breaking and the for-profit manuscript fragments trade, which has led many fragments to traverse large distances. However, effectively conveying information on these context-dependent materials presents various challenges. This article chronicles efforts to digitize, describe, and structure materials in Ohio State University Libraries’ (OSUL) Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Fragments Collection to make the collection accessible to researchers virtually through OSUL’s Digital Collections platform and the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). Records in this collection use a customized set of Dublin Core metadata elements and have a parent-child record structure to illustrate relationships between fragment leaves. Primary challenges included establishing intellectual control of the materials, implementing consistent access points for contributors, and conveying approximate information, such as the date of production. Contributing to DPLA, limitations, and next steps are also discussed.