Cataloging Medieval Manuscripts, from Cassiodorus to Dublin Core

Abstract

The purpose of this workshop is to introduce librarians and collection managers to medieval manuscripts and discuss issues relevant to cataloging them. Medieval manuscripts are hand-crafted books or documents made in the medieval tradition, that is, without mechanical forms of reproduction, dating from about VI-XVI centuries. As information objects they differ essentially from most modern manuscripts because although they are unique objects, they are usually not unique texts. That is, from a FRBR perspective, they represent expressions of greater works, such as St. Augustine’s The City of God, in all of its translations, recensions and redactions. We thus propose a three-part conceptual model of medieval manuscripts as manuscripts, artifacts, and books, one that considers not only their literary content, but also their physical characteristics and historical background. Thus any catalog for medieval manuscripts should reflect their nature as complex information objects: texts, cultural artifacts, and historical artifacts. We will discover that for any cataloging system, the best records will follow a faceted structure based on three components: 1) Content, 2) Carrier, and 3) Context. To establish a historical and conceptual framework, we introduce our topic not only through examining various types of medieval manuscripts, but also through exploring the traditions of medieval library cataloging. We then discuss several existing platforms for cataloging medieval manuscripts and weigh the advantages and disadvantages to each, including MARC, EAD, VRA-Core. We especially examine the standards available for digital catalogs, including Digital Scriptorium, an online union catalog specifically designed for medieval manuscripts, and ENRICH (European Networking Resources and Information Concerning Cultural Heritage), here introduced with a newly crafted application to Dublin Core, the standard used for many local online digital environments, such as CONTENTdm. Through hands-on exercises the workshop participants will learn how to take a prose description of a manuscript and selectively parse the appropriate information into controlled descriptive data for various applications. Creating catalog records for collections with medieval manuscripts is especially important because the records must serve as surrogates for historically significant and valuable objects that require restricted physical access. It is thus no small challenge to create effective descriptions for medieval manuscripts, especially in the ever changing circumstances of digital technologies and library cataloging standards. We hope this workshop will encourage enthusiasm for these rare and fascinating library materials while taking some of the mystery out of managing them as information objects.