From Manuscript to Digital: Digitization Strategies for the Marcanova Codex

At the heart of this project is a strong interest in a Digital Humanities service provided by the Estense Library of Modena. The institution has not only made a significant portion of its documentary heritage available in open access through the MLOL portal (Estense Digital Library) but has also enhanced its value by adopting an innovative technology known as IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework). This system enables the visualization, search, annotation, sharing, and manipulation of ultra-high-definition images.

One particularly valuable feature of the platform is the "stories" tool, a digital storytelling function based on the IIIF standard, which allows users to create narrative journeys using the available digital resources. This service played a key role in the development of this project: leveraging the digitization of manuscript α.L.05.15 (the so-called Marcanova Codex), a digital narrative was created. The data collected from the epigraphic transcriptions in the urban section of the work were transformed into metadata and carefully linked to selected images from the manuscript.