The EDEp Editor
Abstract
EDEp (Editing tools for digital epigraphy) is a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) until March 2026 and will continue as a collaborative project of JGU Mainz and HAdW (Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften). Its goal was to develop reusable editorial tools for epigraphic editions until March 2026 and update and adjust these tools in the years to the needs of the users or in case new developments in digital editing make it necessary.
The poster will present the editor whose front end is easy and intuitive to use even for users with little experience in digital editing. This user-friendliness is implemented in accordance with the FAIR principles, which is why both the generated data and the editing tools will be freely available for reuse after the end of the project. Based on the research expertise of the project team and our current research focus, we have tested and implemented digital editions (in the editorial languages English, German and Latin) of Latin and Greek inscriptions from the Roman Empire. The editor should be flexible enough to be used with little effort. This applies to the input and editing options in the front end itself, as well as the optional implementation of additional editing software from other projects and, ultimately, the output (databases, print publications, etc.). The comprehensively designed editor therefore includes not only input options for the inscription text itself – which can be converted into EpiDoc using a converter and then can be manually enriched with TEI-xml markup using a toolbar – but also for the materiality and external appearance of the inscription carrier, for the history of its discovery and research. Furthermore, it enables the referencing of places (geo-names; Pleiades ID), institutions (GND IDs), bibliographic works (Zotero library), and persons mentioned in the edition. In terms of complexity and flexibility, EDEp follows established standards and conventions of digital epigraphy, which are designed to enhance user-friendliness and promote networking and reuse. Some of the input options offer a combination of standardized or controlled vocabularies (drop down menus) and free input fields (“further remarks”). With a modular and web-based editor, which allows individual adaptations, we hope to meet the needs of epigraphers as well from other periods of research than the Greco-Roman past.
In Graz, Marietta will present the poster and the editor with all these features, and will hopefully have in her hands as well a first volume of print-on-demand/E-book (Ephemeris Epigraphica Electronica) as an example of the potential Output of such digital editions.