Thomas Luxon:The Milton Reading Room A Web-based Edition of Milton's Poetry and Prose In a Virtual Library Environment

Abstract

The core idea for The Milton Reading Room is really quite simple: a scholarly teaching edition of John Milton's poetry and prose freed from most of the constraints imposed by print technology and generously linked to the growing resources of the world-wide web as if surrounded by a virtual library. Annotations appear in a scrolling field so that they can be as detailed and as frequent as the editor likes without unduly interrupting the text. Users who wish may even close the scrolling field altogether and enjoy the poetry without annotations. Wherever possible, annotations that cite other authors, texts, and research resources supply direct links to those resources, opening a new window alongside the text. Resources outside of the site include library catalogs, the OED online, web-based indexes, encyclopedias, full-text editions, image databases, and bibliographies. Because the edition "lives" on the world wide web, the text and annotations can be surrounded, as it were, by a virtual library. The bibliography and annotations offer links to other valuable web resources. The edition connects easily and conveniently to course syllabi and other course materials. A complex search engine soon will enable scholars to search the entire edition, or its constituent parts quickly and easily. A threaded discussion center soon will offer scholars and students around the world a chance to discuss Milton's work, their teaching, their projects. They can also contribute to the site's information, annotations, and links. The Milton Reading Room is pioneering the use of web-based editions for scholars and teachers. It is the only such edition of any writer that makes use of the web as a virtual library for study and basic literary research. I would like to demonstrate the site at Computing Arts 2001 conference and then stimulate discussion about its use in teaching and collaborative scholarship, as well as ideas for future development. Please review the site at www.dartmouth.edu/~milton