User:Simon/Workshop plan
https://pad.xpub.nl/p/IFL_Simon_plan
WORKING TITLE: "do you read me?" / "a notation system"
QUESTIONS
What happens when an action (e.g. writing, drawing) becomes a thing (e.g. a signature, a direction), or when a thing (e.g. a word/annotation) becomes an action (e.g. a performance)?
Can accumulated traces of readership allow users of pirate libraries to be visible but maintain anonymity, therefore consolidating the argument for legitimacy?
PRACTICAL IDEAS
1. analog (printed) texts
a) transcribing
- identify and examine various systems of notation (music manuscripts, stage directions from a play/film, choreographic score for dance)
- transcribe these between different media (e.g. stage directions for a PDF, choreographic score for a printout of an essay)
b) translating
- identify various analog methods of annotating texts (using pens etc.), and name them
- use one (or more) systems to annotate a text
c) performing
- collective performance of texts with annotations; how do readers read/perform these annotations?
2. digital texts
a) digitising
- choose an annotated page from a book (if at Leeszaal), scan it and use Tesseract to OCR the page
- change the hocr file to html and structure the pdf
- what happens to annotations?
b) retaining
- using provided, annotated PDFs (e.g. Borges - Garden of Forking Paths, Le Guin - Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction) - see how annotations can be retained, accumulated
TOOLS OCR (Tesseract), pens, paper, computers, scanner(s), printers
AIM? to establish lexicon(s) of graphic annotation, ways to identify and define these, and translation of (e.g. from analogue to digital, from writer to reader)
NEW KNOWLEDGE? (possibly) using tools (such as OCR) to establish collective interpretations of graphic annotations, ways to retain these traces when texts are digitised
ROLE OF ANNOTATION? to discover what is common or diverse in our experience of reading, and also to examine the sociability around these texts - annotation as a way of comprehending not just texts but also those who read them
WHAT DOES ANNOTATION DO?
a) what purpose does annotation serve (in your case)?
Annotations in the form of accumulative traces of reader's interactions with texts underline the sociability of libraries - not just collections of knowledge but discourse around them; [How?] dispels notions of the singular, authority and property in favour of collectivity and plurality and highlights the social construction of knowledge
b) what does it do for the reader (in your case)? Annotation affirms the idea that a text is part of a discourse - not in isolation from other texts/writers - and that knowledge is socially constructed. Annotation is a way for a reader to become visible to others and part of this discourse. It avoids authorship, and singular notions of knowledge production.
c) what does it do for the annotators (in your case)? In my case, the annotators are the readers. Annotation exists as an action in response to the text, or to existing annotations. It can be idiosyncratic, and readable only to the annotator, therefore revealing (some) elements of how that particular person interprets the text. But, more often there are unspoken conventions to the types of annotations typically used, e.g. underlining, highlighting, circling, asterisks, dots etc. These can be defined by the technical limitations of the technology used, or linguistic (and typographic) conventions. This commonality begins to create a shared vocabulary through which readers read each other's responses to texts (here "read" can mean interpret, or access, like a file).
YOUR PROJECT
a) define your aim [see above]
b) what needs to be done?
c) make a timetable
d) what needs to be developed further?
e) who can help you? and how?
f) consider how you can organise your upcoming methods sessions (5 & 19 June) so they can help you realise your aim.
PLANNING 6) a) (as individuals) take 30min to make a sketch of what you plan to do (also define today's outcome for you). Use above as notes.
What is the interface to your part the project? How do you invite people in to your project?