Early Manuscripts Electronic Library (EMEL)

UCLA College of Letters and Science, Social Sciences Division

Primary contact
Claudia Rapp   
Professor
History
(310) 825-3060
claudiar@history.ucla.edu

Additional project researchers

Michael Phelps, the Early Manuscript Electronic Library

Project description

UCLA and the Early Manuscripts Electronic Library (EMEL) have initiated a strategic alliance to: (1) develop standards and technologies for digital libraries of ancient and medieval manuscripts; and (2) enrich the historical record by digitally imaging manuscripts in the UCLA Special Collections and other libraries, especially libraries of the eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.  These regions are home to outstanding manuscript libraries that would like to create surrogate images of their collections for preservation and research but lack the resources to do so.  Hence, many repositories of our global heritage remain poorly understood and difficult to access. 

An alliance between UCLA and EMEL presents a strategic opportunity.  From the UCLA side, its faculty includes a unique combination of scholars with expertise in the languages and literatures of Eastern and Oriental Christianity and Judaism, its Department of Special Collections holds an internationally acclaimed collection of manuscripts, and its participation in the California Digital Library provides the best-case scenario for preserving, and providing access to, digital libraries of manuscripts.  EMEL brings to the alliance its work in cutting-edge technologies for digitizing fragile manuscripts and its relationships with overseas libraries in regions of interest.