(Re)written Text? : A Study on Textual Critics' Information Needs, Conjectures, and Editions in a Digital Context

Introduction Digital databases and libraries have for the last 20 years become ubiquitous tools in the philological study of ancient texts. While these databases provide easy access to texts, critical information is often lacking. One example of that is information regarding conjectures and conjectural emendations in the texts. A number of projects in recent years have aimed to collect conjectures in a digital format and present them online, but none have so far been aimed at Ancient Greek philology. To further develop this area of research it is the aim of this thesis to illustrate how conjectures on Ancient Greek literature can be collected and presented in a digital context to fulfil the information needs of philologists. Method Semi structured interviews were conducted with philologists at Uppsala University, University of Oslo and Oxford University. The interviews were tape recorded and the transcripts of the interviews formed the data for analysis. Analysis Qualitative analyses were carried out on the data. To analyse the information needs of the philologists, theoretical approaches found in hermeneutics and information scientific research on the interaction of library professionals and philologists were used. Results It was found that the information needs of philologists varied depending on their professional orientations, e.g. if they were focused on textual criticism, reception studies, ancient or medieval philology. In the interviews it became clear that the use of digital tools varied somewhat between the philologists. The interviews also showed that there are a number of active projects aimed at producing digital critical editions. University and other research libraries are generally where information on proposed conjectures can be found. Conclusion Generally the philologists expressed a need for easier access to the reasonings behind conjectures. Searching for such information is time consuming because it has not been recorded with the same scholarly rigor as other kinds of information. The establishment and online publication of bibliographic records is a first step to amend this need. Current open-source projects aimed at producing digital critical editions can form the basis for further developments in the field. Since research libraries are where information on conjectures can be found, they play an important role in making this information accessible. Further interaction between philology scholars and library professionals is encouraged in order to identify where information can be found and how it can be digitized and made accessible. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science