The focus will be practical and methodological, with the immediate aim of assisting participants in their teaching, research, and advising. The seminar will cover the demonstrable benefits of using electronic texts, typical problems and how to solve them, and how software fits or can be adapted to common methods of textual study. Participants will work on their own projects and will be given the opportunity to present them at the end of the Seminar. For the 1996 Seminar, there will be a maximum of sixty places. There will be plenary sessions throughout and five parallel tracks devoted to specific areas of humanities computing.
Participants attend all plenary sessions and select one parallel track for more detailed study.
Each track will allow for intensive works on participants' own projects, opportunities for both hands-on experience with current software and extensive discussion. Throughout the Seminar, the instructors will provide assistance with designing projects, locating sources for texts and software, and solving practical problems. Ample computing facilities will be available. A small library of essential articles and books in humanities computing will be on hand to supplement printed seminar materials, which include an extensive bibliography. Special lectures will describe current research in the field and address research topics as well as the role of the library in the use of electronic texts.