{"id":13479,"date":"2015-01-14T11:22:17","date_gmt":"2015-01-14T16:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mith.umd.edu\/?p=13479"},"modified":"2020-10-08T16:00:22","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T20:00:22","slug":"invitation-beta-test-infinite-ulysses-digital-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mith.umd.edu\/invitation-beta-test-infinite-ulysses-digital-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"An Invitation to Beta-Test the Infinite Ulysses Digital Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my previous post on this blog<\/a>, I introduced my dissertational Infinite <\/em>Ulysses<\/a> project: a participatory digital edition that I’ve designed and coded for my uniquely shaped literature dissertation. I’ve now finished most of the work of building of the site. I’ve also finalized decisions around the online community experience such as writing statements on accessibility, inclusivity, and users’ rights;\u00a0explaining the\u00a0research project that wraps the site; and clearly indicating how IP and copyright function for users of the site. I’ve now opened the digital edition\u00a0to the very first beta-testers, and I’m inviting interested readers to sign up at InfiniteUlysses.com<\/a> to join these first site users in a new conversation around Ulysses<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot

The current front page of InfiniteUlysses.com.<\/p><\/div>\n

The site will eventually be open to everyone (with a planned public 1.0 release on the upcoming Ulysses<\/em> holiday Bloomsday\u2014June 16, 2015).\u00a0Though during the final phase of my dissertational project this spring, I’m keeping a list of interested readers and slowly adding new users to the site from that list over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

This slow beginning\u00a0will\u00a0let me fix any really grievous\u00a0bugs before there are too many users on the site. Adding testers slowly also lets me work more directly with each user as they join the site, gathering their feedback and discussing their user experience. I’m particularly interested in testing\u00a0the site with people reading in groups, such as book clubs or teachers and their students; some additional site features coming at the end of this month will support group reading and help me test how the edition can support offline groups, and I’ll be adding groups of users to the site at that time. As\u00a0new users explore the site, I’ve been reading on it myself, seeding the text with more annotations aimed at first-time readers (these build off 215 annotations on the first two episodes I authored for a previous incarnation of this\u00a0edition).<\/p>\n

This project involves both new code<\/a> (CSS, HTML, PHP, and JS\/jQuery as components of a dissertation) and a demonstration of building a new tool through\u00a0combining and customizing, rather than reinventing, existing digital humanities\u00a0wheels. As such, my project is indebted to the various open-source code libraries and scholarly projects I’ve built off. A full credits page will appear on the digital edition and on the provenance section of the code repository<\/a>, but for now I’d like to particularly thank<\/p>\n