Workshop on Electronic Texts: Proceedings, 9-10 June 1992

In this collection you’ll hear the early conversations that helped shape the digital humanities. Scholars, archivists, and technologists gathered in Washington in 1992 to compare how they were turning fragile manuscripts, rare books, and historic records into electronic forms. The sessions trace the excitement and challenges of imaging, optical character recognition, and the first attempts to make texts searchable online.

The proceedings reveal a wide‑ranging dialogue—from the Perseus Project’s classical databases to the American Memory initiative’s massive digitized archives. Participants discuss practical hurdles such as preserving image quality, establishing standards for text conversion, and navigating copyright concerns. The book captures the optimism and cautious debate of a pivotal moment when the promise of digital access began to intersect with the realities of preservation.