From Access to Integration seeks to build a network of communication for professionals at archives, libraries and museums to partner on future projects and expand on one another's existing work within the digital humanities. As the first formal meeting of information professionals to address these specific needs for the discipline of Jewish studies, the conference will highlight collective solutions to the challenges faced by many institutions in employing emerging technologies for the study of Jewish history, and move participating professionals and their institutions toward a framework of collaboration.
As the capability of the digital medium continues to grow, so too does the potential for collaborative projects. Convened by Dr. Stan Katz, Director of Princeton University's Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, and Dr. Arthur Kiron, Schottenstein-Jesselson Curator of Judaica Collections at the University of Pennsylvania, the invitation-only conference aims to foster "integration," defined in two ways: 1) to increase awareness of resources currently available and their changing uses throughout the field, and 2) to enhance the capacity to interface across databases and to conduct scholarship in the digital medium, thereby reconstituting the very nature of research and learning as an inherently digital act.
The format and purpose of the conference is to focus on essential challenges and questions facing all institutions seeking to expand their use of digital technology. By bringing together leading Jewish collecting institutions and professionals working on digital projects in North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, the conference seeks to open lines of communication so that local, regional, national, and international projects may better share information, impact decision-making, partner on outreach and development, consider the development of uniform standards and best practices, and learn about and engage new technological applications.
The conference enjoys generous support from the David Berg Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe, the Leon Levy Foundation and The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
For links to suggested Conference readings, click here.