���Ҷ�ֱ��

Improving Accessibility

The most obvious reason for digitizing any manuscript is to allow for greater access to it. This is particularly valuable for manuscripts held in comparatively remote locations, such as the Canterbury Roll.

A key advantage of a digital edition is that it offers an accessible, open scholarly resource that promotes collaboration and ongoing peer review. It can be updated in response to feedback or changing requirements. Unlike a print edition, digital texts, such as the one provided via this platform, can be made available free-to-access to anyone with an internet connection.

Digitization & Format

Notes & Apparatus

Challenges

The digitizing of medieval manuscripts as a whole is a new and rapidly developing field. Manuscript description was only incorporated into the TEI () guidelines with the release of the current version, P5, in 2007, and most of the manuscript digitization work to date has been on codices.

The digitization of rolls presents challenges in adapting schema originally designed for the codex form. In the case of genealogical rolls these challenges include finding the best way to establish the relationship between genealogical trees and commentary texts in a digital framework.

Zones

The Canterbury Roll Digital Edition is divided into zones, each of which is defined by using a pixel-based location system. Zone numbers are searchable and can be used for academic referencing purposes. The  to the Digital Edition provides guidance on citation.

Zones are of two types: