A few years ago, scholars of Greek and Latin literature called for a “cyberinfrastructure” that would facilitate a new generation of digital collections - an infrastructure that uses linked open data approaches to organize the myriad of web resources related to classical studies. Already such frameworks are being built on the basis of existing claves, digital transcriptions of texts, and other tools that comprise standards in the fields of Greek and Latin.

1. TOWARD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE
FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE
MAPPING A TEXT CORPUS USING TEI AND RDF
Nathan P. Gibson
Vanderbilt University Syriaca.org
Funding for Syriaca.org was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH) and other institutions. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily
reflect those of Vanderbilt University, the NEH, or any other participating institutions.

2. SYRIAC LITERATURE ON PARCHMENT AND PAGE
ASSEMANI TO ZANETTI
Photo Credit: BNF Syr. 27, f. 92r from Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des Manuscrits, Syriaque 27 (719 CE)
Image in the public domain

3. AS MANUSCRIPT DISCOVERY
Photo: citydesert.wordpress.com

4. AS LITERATURE HISTORIES AND MANUSCRIPT CATALOGUES

5. AS PAGE SCANS AND DATABASES

6. CENTRAL QUESTION
How can a cyberinfrastructure help overcome problems of
access and accident in Syriac literature?

7. SYRIAC LITERATURE IN ANGLE BRACKETS
CYBERINFRASTRUCTURES
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8. DEFINITIONS
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?

9. DEFINITIONS
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
“The material systems whereby we exchange the objects of our
intellectual labor and ourselves internalize these objects”
(Crane, Seales, Terras 2009)

10. DEFINITIONS
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
“The material systems whereby we exchange the objects of our
intellectual labor and ourselves internalize these objects”
(Crane, Seales, Terras 2009)
tangible: network, storage, software, data)
+ intangible: expertise, best practices, standards, tools,
collections, collaborative environments)
(ACLS 2006 in Babeu 2011, 221)

11. DEFINITIONS
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
“The material systems whereby we exchange the objects of our
intellectual labor and ourselves internalize these objects”
(Crane, Seales, Terras 2009)
tangible: network, storage, software, data)
+ intangible: expertise, best practices, standards, tools,
collections, collaborative environments)
(ACLS 2006 in Babeu 2011, 221)
“Anything that is needed to connect more than one person,
project, or entity is infrastructure. Anything used exclusively by a
project is not.”
(Rockwell 2010 in Babeu 2011, 221)

12. DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
Greek & Latin
Inspired by Voss and Procter 2009 in Babeu 2011, 222

13. DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
Greek & Latin
Inspired by Voss and Procter 2009 in Babeu 2011, 222

14. DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
(COLLECTIONS)
Greek & Latin
Inspired by Voss and Procter 2009 in Babeu 2011, 222

15. DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
(COLLECTIONS)
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES (COLLECTIONS)
Greek & Latin
Inspired by Voss and Procter 2009 in Babeu 2011, 222

16. DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
(COLLECTIONS)
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES (COLLECTIONS)
CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE
Greek & Latin
Inspired by Voss and Procter 2009 in Babeu 2011, 222

17. DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
(COLLECTIONS)
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES (COLLECTIONS)
CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE
Greek & Latin Syriac
Inspired by Voss and Procter 2009 in Babeu 2011, 222

18. DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
(COLLECTIONS)
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES (COLLECTIONS)
CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
Greek & Latin Syriac
Inspired by Voss and Procter 2009 in Babeu 2011, 222

19. DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
(COLLECTIONS)
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES (COLLECTIONS)
CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
(COLLECTIONS)
Greek & Latin Syriac
Inspired by Voss and Procter 2009 in Babeu 2011, 222

20. DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
(COLLECTIONS)
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES (COLLECTIONS)
CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
(COLLECTIONS)
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES (COLLECTIONS)
Greek & Latin Syriac
Inspired by Voss and Procter 2009 in Babeu 2011, 222

21. DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
(COLLECTIONS)
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES (COLLECTIONS)
CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
(COMPUTING)
PHYSICAL RESOURCES
(COLLECTIONS)
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES (COLLECTIONS)
CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE
Greek & Latin Syriac
Inspired by Voss and Procter 2009 in Babeu 2011, 222

22. EXAMPLES
WHAT IS A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE?
Perseus + Perseus Catalogue + Perseids

23. PURPOSE & GOALS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?

24. PURPOSE & GOALS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
Needs:

25. PURPOSE & GOALS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
Needs:
• There is no clavis (catalogue/inventory) of Syriac works to date.

26. PURPOSE & GOALS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
Needs:
• There is no clavis (catalogue/inventory) of Syriac works to date.
• Therefore no uniform titles for library cataloguing, and …

27. PURPOSE & GOALS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
Needs:
• There is no clavis (catalogue/inventory) of Syriac works to date.
• Therefore no uniform titles for library cataloguing, and …
• No URIs for digital identification.

28. PURPOSE & GOALS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
Needs:
• There is no clavis (catalogue/inventory) of Syriac works to date.
• Therefore no uniform titles for library cataloguing, and …
• No URIs for digital identification.
The New Handbook of Syriac Literature aims to fill the need for a Syriac clavis
in a digital context, primarily through providing identifiers (URIs) for Syriac
works.

29. PURPOSE & GOALS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
Needs:
• There is no clavis (catalogue/inventory) of Syriac works to date.
• Therefore no uniform titles for library cataloguing, and …
• No URIs for digital identification.
The New Handbook of Syriac Literature aims to fill the need for a Syriac clavis
in a digital context, primarily through providing identifiers (URIs) for Syriac
works.

30. PURPOSE & GOALS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
Needs:
• There is no clavis (catalogue/inventory) of Syriac works to date.
• Therefore no uniform titles for library cataloguing, and …
• No URIs for digital identification.
The New Handbook of Syriac Literature aims to fill the need for a Syriac clavis
in a digital context, primarily through providing identifiers (URIs) for Syriac
works.
Goals:

31. PURPOSE & GOALS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
Needs:
• There is no clavis (catalogue/inventory) of Syriac works to date.
• Therefore no uniform titles for library cataloguing, and …
• No URIs for digital identification.
The New Handbook of Syriac Literature aims to fill the need for a Syriac clavis
in a digital context, primarily through providing identifiers (URIs) for Syriac
works.
Goals:
• Not an entire cyberinfrastructure but working toward core features of one

32. PURPOSE & GOALS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
Needs:
• There is no clavis (catalogue/inventory) of Syriac works to date.
• Therefore no uniform titles for library cataloguing, and …
• No URIs for digital identification.
The New Handbook of Syriac Literature aims to fill the need for a Syriac clavis
in a digital context, primarily through providing identifiers (URIs) for Syriac
works.
Goals:
• Not an entire cyberinfrastructure but working toward core features of one
• Serving multiple audiences: researchers, archivists, and heritage communities

33. METHODOLOGICAL DECISIONS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?

34. METHODOLOGICAL DECISIONS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Entities:

35. METHODOLOGICAL DECISIONS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Entities:
• authors/editors (http://syriaca.org/person/…)

36. METHODOLOGICAL DECISIONS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Entities:
• authors/editors (http://syriaca.org/person/…)
• works & literary traditions (http://syriaca.org/work/…)

37. METHODOLOGICAL DECISIONS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Entities:
• authors/editors (http://syriaca.org/person/…)
• works & literary traditions (http://syriaca.org/work/…)
• bibliographic items (http://syriaca.org/bibl/…)

38. METHODOLOGICAL DECISIONS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Entities:
• authors/editors (http://syriaca.org/person/…)
• works & literary traditions (http://syriaca.org/work/…)
• bibliographic items (http://syriaca.org/bibl/…)
• Formats:

39. METHODOLOGICAL DECISIONS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Entities:
• authors/editors (http://syriaca.org/person/…)
• works & literary traditions (http://syriaca.org/work/…)
• bibliographic items (http://syriaca.org/bibl/…)
• Formats:
• TEI —> HTML + RDF

40. METHODOLOGICAL DECISIONS
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Entities:
• authors/editors (http://syriaca.org/person/…)
• works & literary traditions (http://syriaca.org/work/…)
• bibliographic items (http://syriaca.org/bibl/…)
• Formats:
• TEI —> HTML + RDF
• TEI —> MADS/EAC?

41. DATA SOURCES
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?

42. DATA SOURCES
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Digital manuscript catalogues

43. DATA SOURCES
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Digital manuscript catalogues
• Wright, British Library

44. DATA SOURCES
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Digital manuscript catalogues
• Wright, British Library
• Hill Museum & Manuscript Library

45. DATA SOURCES
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Digital manuscript catalogues
• Wright, British Library
• Hill Museum & Manuscript Library
• etc.

46. DATA SOURCES
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Digital manuscript catalogues
• Wright, British Library
• Hill Museum & Manuscript Library
• etc.
• Existing print and digital inventories

47. DATA SOURCES
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Digital manuscript catalogues
• Wright, British Library
• Hill Museum & Manuscript Library
• etc.
• Existing print and digital inventories
• Comprehensive Bibliography of Syriac Christianity

48. DATA SOURCES
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Digital manuscript catalogues
• Wright, British Library
• Hill Museum & Manuscript Library
• etc.
• Existing print and digital inventories
• Comprehensive Bibliography of Syriac Christianity
• eKtobe

49. DATA SOURCES
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
• Digital manuscript catalogues
• Wright, British Library
• Hill Museum & Manuscript Library
• etc.
• Existing print and digital inventories
• Comprehensive Bibliography of Syriac Christianity
• eKtobe
• claves of subjects/authors

50. TEI + RDF MODEL
WHAT WOULD A CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR SYRIAC LITERATURE BE?
https://github.com/srophe/srophe-app-data/blob/dev/data/works/tei/nhsl/tei/2501.xml

51. SYRIAC LITERATURE IN FUTURE RESEARCH
1.Authorship
2.Chronological Trends & Geographical Trends
3.Significant Works
4.Test Case: Syriac Biblical Material

52. Experimental data. Not for citation.

53. Four Gospels (Peshitta)
Epistles of Paul
Catholic Epistles
Experimental data. Not for citation.

54. Experimental data. Not for citation.

55. Experimental data. Not for citation.