 NEUMES 2006
Oxford Conference on Computerised Transcription of Medieval Chant Manuscripts  Held at St Anne's College, Oxford27 - 28 June 2006Reference URL =
http://purl.oclc.org/SCRIBE/NEUMES/conference2006/See, photo scrapbook of this conference. See also, the conference proceedings. |
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Sponsored by:
 The Eduserv Foundation
[see:
Foundation homepage] The NEUMES Project
[see:
Project website] St Anne's College, Oxford
[see:
photos of St Anne's College;
and College homepage]
The Software Engineering Centre, University of Oxford
[see:
information page]
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Contents
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Dear Colleagues, I would like to welcome each of our guests to St Anne's College, the University of Oxford, and the UK (for those who are travelling from overseas) for "NEUMES 2006". I am very grateful for your willingness to contribute your time and expertise to this meeting, and I am sure it will be a very useful and stimulating event. I would like to thank St Anne's College for providing us with an excellent venue in their newly constructed conference facilities (see, Views of St Anne's College, Oxford, 290kB). I would also like to thank the Eduserv Foundation for funding the Neumes Project and this conference. Interdisciplinary contacts between computer scientists and scholars in the humanities offer tremendous creative opportunities, both in developing novel uses of technology, and in exploring new ways to understand and appreciate historical documents and processes. I very much hope that this meeting will allow us all to explore some of these new possibilities, as well as playing an important part in shaping the development of the Neumes Project itself. I look forward to our discussions, from which I expect to learn much. I hope your stay in Oxford is comfortable and enjoyable, and I encourage you to contact Louis Barton or myself regarding any special needs you might have. With best wishes, Peter Jeavons |
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List of Participants |
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 his conference
brings together a small group of leading international scholars from various disciplines to discuss the requirements
and best strategies for digital-encoding of the neumatic and textual content of medieval chant manuscripts, both
Eastern and Western, and the development of digital libraries.1. Background of the NEUMES Project This work origated more than ten years ago in a project done by Louis Barton at Yale University under the direction of Jim Grier and Peter Kindlmann. The early work focused on designing a computer font and adapting a music-editing program for on-screen display and printing of Aquitanian and square neume notations. Jim introduced Louis to Leo Treitler: Leo's ideas, expressed in papers on neume notation, significantly influenced the semantic design of the NEUMES data representation. Louis later went to Harvard University, where he worked on a general data representation for Western neume notations under the direction of Tom Cheatham and Ugo O. Gagliardi. With the collaboration of Tom Kelly, the NEUMES Project came into being. Phase One of the NEUMES Project was centred at Harvard University under the direction of Thomas Forrest Kelly, and was funded by a research grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This initiative developed a symbol taxonomy for digital transcription of Western (Latin) chant manuscripts, a Unicode-compatible data representation for this symbol set, and a preliminary XML file format for describing sources and for containing transcription data. In the ensuing two years Louis Barton, with help from Annalisa Doneda and Constantine Terzopoulos, expanded the taxonomy and data representation to encompass Eastern (especially Byzantine) chant sources. He also did preliminary work on a visualization script (viz., XML Transformation to HTML), so that users can see a stylized, visual representaiton of NEUMES transcription data. Phase Two of the NEUMES Project is being funded by a research grant from the Eduserv Foundation; it is being administered by the University of Oxford under the general direction of Peter Jeavons. The main goals of this initiative are to solidify the prior accomplishments of this Project, to improve the existing software for visualization and data-entry, and to explore the idea of a 'distributed digital library' for chant transcriptions. As of the date of this conference, we are just past the one-year mark of the funding period, and just over a year is remains. In this first year, considerable work has gone into making the NEUMES website more robust and consistent across various Web-browser platforms. Another major effort has been toward solving some difficult problems in visualization in order to make transcription views look 'more like music'. Several new transcriptions have been created for testing the software, some of which are now available online. The NeumesXML Schema (which defines the XML file format) has been substantially corrected to resolve some technical problems, principally about XML namespaces. Although the benefits of these improvements are largely not apparent to end-users, these solutions will help ensure the viability of NeumesXML over the long term. Small refinements to the NEUMES taxonomy, data representation, and regular grammar have also continued in response to transcription testing. In the facet of our software architecture that concerns a 'distributed digital library', we are working on an implementation of this concept for digital images of manuscripts: there already exists a fairly large number of high-quality images of neumed manuscripts on the Web. This provides an opportunity for demonstrating the 'distributed digital library' concept by concrete examples, and we can do this before a large number of NEUMES/NeumesXML transacriptions are available online. In the remaining year of the funding period, our main goal is to realize a user-friendly, adaptable, and robust program for data-entry and maintenance of NEUMES/NeumesXML transcriptions. Users will run this program via the WorldwideWeb, and it will be computer platform-neutral. Transcriptions will, however, be saved to the user's local disk only: we expect that users will post their NEUMES/NeumesXML transcriptions on the Web, and thus we will have a 'distributed digital library' of transcriptions as we do for images. 2. Purpose of this Conference For this conference we have assembled an interesting group of scholars from various backgrounds and fields of specialization. Our hope is to stimulate thought and discussion that is best done in face-to-face meetings with minimal distractions. Although we hope to come away with new insights, knowledge, and ideas that we can apply to the NEUMES Project, we do not intend to limit the discussions just to this Project. We are asking each attendee to deliver an informal talk on a topic that relates to this Project. Some talks could be quite broad in scope, while others could be narrow in their focus. We shall present an overview of the goals, progress, and future directions of this Project, and demonstrate how to use some of the Project's software. We would encourage all attendees to familiarize themselves with the Project's software, design, and documentation as much as feasible before to the conference. Of course, the conference will include meals and other informal occasions for discussions. Near the end of the conference, a regular meeting of the Project's Advisory Board will be held for discussion of how best to fulfill the mandate of this Project under the current research grant, and how we could attract funding to sustain this work in the future. |
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Monday, 26 June Arrivals Check-in at St Anne's College for out-of-town guests.
Please stop at the Porter's Lodge within the front gate: you are expected, and so give the Porter your name.
You will receive a conference packet, directions to your room, and other information.
Guests may get into their rooms after 12 p.m. (noon) on the arrival date (Monday).
The Porter's Lodge in the main gate of St Anne's is open 24 hours per day.
7.30 p.m. Dinner: Seminar Room 3 (48 Woodstock Road)
Reception by Tim Gardam, Principal of St Anne's College, Oxford.
Drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic); informal buffet dinner.
Tuesday, 27 June Breakfast: ad libitum. Breakfast in the St Anne's College Dining Hall until 9 a.m.
(full English breakfast is included with rooms).
9.30 a.m. Meeting Seminar Room 1 (48 Woodstock Road).
Agenda: [tentative]
12.00 p.m. Lunch Buffet in the St Anne's College Dining Hall.
1.00 p.m. Meeting Seminar Room 1 (48 Woodstock Rd.; seats 60).
Agenda: [tentative]
5.00 p.m. Break 7.00 p.m. Dinner in Oxford city centre We shall congregate at the Porter's Lodge, St Anne's College, 7.00 p.m.
Dinner at a restaurant on High Street.
Wednesday, 28 June Breakfast: ad libitum. Breakfast in the St Anne's College Dining Hall until 9 a.m.
(full English breakfast is included with rooms).
9.15 a.m. Meeting Seminar Room 1 (48 Woodstock Road).
Agenda: [tentative]
12.00 p.m. Lunch Buffet in the St Anne's College Dining Hall.
1.00 p.m. Advisory Board Meeting Seminar Room 1 (48 Woodstock Road).
Closed session. Members of the NEUMES Project Advisory Board are expected to attend.
Others are urged to spend the afternoon visiting attractions in Oxford
(see, § 'Other Activities in Oxford').
Agenda: [tentative]
6.30 p.m. Closing Banquet 6.30 p.m.: Drinks reception, Upper Common Room, St Anne's College.
7.00 p.m.: Formal 'plate' dinner, Upper Common Room, St Anne's College; wine served.
→ NOTE: Please inform us well in advance regarding any special dietary requirements.
Thursday, 29 June Departures Checkout time: after breakfast, which is until 9.00 a.m.
Luggage can be stored at the reception area of the Porter's Lodge (at the front gate to the College).
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Participants travelling from out-of-town will be accommodated in the newly-constructed residential facility at St Anne's College. Reservations have been made for the nights of Monday, 26 June, through Wednesday, 28 June (three nights). Each guest will have a private room with shower and toilet. We regret that (due to demand by other groups) we cannot offer accommodations in St Anne's College outside the dates reserved for our conference. If you wish to stay in Oxford for additional nights, you might consult the listing of bed-and-breakfast establishments 'up to £60', at: http://www.oxfordcity.co.uk/oxford/home_accommodation_guest_houses_b_b_band_c_up_to_60.html Hotels in Oxford city centre are more convenient but considerably more expensive. (Check the listings on the above website, under other categories in the left-hand menu.) In any case, due to high demand in this season, you should make such arrangements well in advance. |
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1. A general map of Oxford City is provided here. It shows most of the University colleges, principal streets, and various other University buildings. Circled in brown are: St Anne's College; the Gloucester Green bus terminal; the Ashmolean Museum; and Cornmarket Street (which is Oxford's main commercial street). The layout of streets in Oxford might be best characterised as 'medieval'; it is quite easy to get lost, and so one does well to carry a map when exploring the city. 2. London has two main airports: Heathrow and Gatwick. Heathrow is substantially closer to Oxford and is usually the best point of entry. Gatwick has different flight schedules that, in some cases, may be more convenient; flights to Gatwick also can be substantially less expensive than those to Heathrow. 3. From either airport, you will want to take the 'Airline' bus to Oxford. We give directions here assuming arrival at Heathrow, but directions from Gatwick are largely the same; any differences can be found on the Oxford Bus website at http://www.oxfordbus.co.uk/heathrow.html.  The most difficult part is finding
the correct bus terminal. Likely, you should first find someone who can give
you information, and ask her/him where to get on the bus to Oxford. Service to Oxford runs approximately every 30 minutes
(less frequently late at night), and the trip lasts approximately an hour and twenty minutes.When you get on the bus, tell the driver you want a period return ticket to Gloucester Green. This should cost GBP 19, and the driver can give change. This ticket is much less expensive than buying two one-way tickets. 4. Gloucester Green is the last stop (the bus parks there before taking on passengers for the trip back to London), and so it is safe to sleep during the bus ride. You'll likely want to take a taxi from the Gloucester Green terminal to St Anne's College. It is a bit tricky finding the taxi stand, and so it's best to ask directions from someone knowledgeable. Once at St Anne's College, stop at the Porter's Lodge within the front gate. You are expected, and so give the Porter your name. Everythinig else from that point should be easy! |
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◊ Internet access: For e-mail, etc., codes will be issued to our participants for Internet use on laptops in their rooms (plug-in) Those who do not have laptop computers with them may use College's computer room. (A separate access code is needed for using the College's computers; please ask the Porter for this if you need it.) ◊ Taxis in Oxford: Hackney Cabs are licensed and limited in numbers by the city council. They are reputed to have a generally better local knowledge than drivers of hire cars (or minicabs). Fares: A minimum of £2.00, then about £1 per mile. Where to get one: You can pick one up at a taxi rank at St.Giles, Gloucester Green, or the railway station. You can also hail Hackney cabs in the street. By contrast, hire cabs are not licensed individually (rather on a per company basis), they are normally not specialised vehicles, and they, are they not allowed to pick up passengers who hail them on the street. ◊ City busses in Oxford: City bus service in Oxford is quite good. Routes and schedules are posted on signs at the many bus stops. Drivers can make change for fares, and they are generally friendly and easy to understand: they will tell you where to get down for a particular stop, or give you general directions on how to get to your destination. The prosect of riding the bus in a strange city can be intimidating, but you will find it is really quite easy in Oxford after you have made your first test run. ◊ Telephones in the UK: Generally, you can call any number within the University using a University telephone, such as the St Anne's College Porter's Lodge. Public telephones require that you have a 20p (twenty pence) coin; it's a good idea to keep a couple of these coins in reserve, because the public telephones do not accept other coins. |
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Other Activities in Oxford
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