RIDE Award for Best Review

Thanks to a generous contribution of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Graz, RIDE is pleased to be able to announce an award for the best review published in RIDE, worth 250€.

Winners of the award

RIDE 11: Review of ediarum, by Andreas Mertgens

The prize committee – Anne Baillot (Le Mans Université), Ulrike Henny-Krahmer (Universität Würzburg), Frederike Neuber (Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften), and Gerlinde Schneider (Universität Graz)  – has decided to award the prize to Andreas Mertgens (Universität Köln) for his outstanding review ‘ediarum. A toolbox for editors and developers’, published in RIDE 11, an issue on tools and environments of digital scholarly editions.*

Jury statement:

The jury was particularly impressed by Mertgen’s review of ‘ediarum’ because it succeeds in combining a solid theoretical frame-setting that allows to embed technical aspects in a more general argument with concrete technical descriptions from the perspective of a software developer. In the review, the assessment of ‘ediarum’ is contextualized with a convincing overview of existing similar work environments and their position in the ongoing discussion about digital editions. The author has studied the software very thoroughly, as the detailed description of the installation process, the use and the functions of the software shows. It is also laudable that Mertgens seeks to evaluate the learning curve of the tool from both a developer and user perspective (even though the former perspective prevails throughout the review). Through its constructive criticism and evaluation of ‘ediarum’, it is expected that this review will become an important resource not only for the developers of the software, but also for edition projects that consider using ‘ediarum’.

* The review by Torsten Roeder was not included in the assessment as the author is a member of the IDE and in the editorial board of RIDE.

RIDE 10: Review of Alfred Escher-Briefedition, by Dominik Kasper

The prize committee – Thomas Stäcker (Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt), Roman Bleier (Universität Graz), Frederike Neuber and Markus Schnöpf (both Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften) – has decided to award the prize to Dominik Kasper (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz) for his review of  the „Alfred Escher-Briefedition“, published in RIDE 10, a special issue on digital scholarly editions of correspondence.*

Jury statement:

The excellent review by Dominik Kasper provides a detailed overview of the „Alfred Escher-Briefedition” (Alfred Escher edition of correspondence) by taking into account the context of its creation and the edited materials as well as its technical implementation and web presentation. The reviewer’s discussion of digital methods used in the edition illustrates their application by means of concrete examples, which makes his assessment of the edition very comprehensible for the reader. Even if the review is mostly positive, the reviewer also expresses necessary criticism, such as the deviation from the TEI standard and missing API and download options. By expressing suggestions for improvement at the same time, the review opens up a constructive discussion that is very valuable both for the „Alfred Escher-Briefedition” as well as for other digital editions of correspondence.

* The review by Ulrike Henny-Krahmer was not included in the assessment as the author is also a co-editor of RIDE.

RIDE 9: Review of Papyri.info, by Lucia Vannini

The prize committee – Claudia Resch (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften), Roman Bleier (Universität Graz), Stefan Dumont (Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften), and Martina Scholger (Universität Graz) – has decided to award the prize to Lucia Vannini (University of London) for her outstanding Review of Papyri.info, published in issue 9 of RIDE.

Jury statement:

In her outstanding review of the complex and historically grown platform Papyri.info, Lucia Vannini registers its strengths and weaknesses comprehensively and critically, showing her familiarity with the resource and the materials it comprises. The resource is contextualized in that scenarios for reuse and other projects making use of the materials are described. The jury especially highlighted that in the review article, not only the usage experiences of the reviewer herself are described but also the results of interviews conducted with other users. User expectations and potential misunderstandings are set out in a constructive way and sound suggestions for improvement are made by the reviewer.

RIDE 8: Rezension der Deutschsprachigen Wikisource, by Susanne Haaf

The prize committee – Peter Stadler (Universität Paderborn), Roman Bleier (Universität Graz), Franz Fischer (Universität zu Köln), and Philipp Steinkrüger (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) – has decided to award the prize to Susanne Haaf (Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften) for her outstanding review of the German section of Wikisource, published in issue 8 of RIDE.

Jury statement:

The committee was especially impressed by Haaf’s familiarity with the material, which is evidenced in her review by meticulous attention to detail. Haaf’s overview and description of the project condenses the complexity of the material and organizing system in an exemplary way and allows the reader to readily comprehend the underlying ideas. This general picture is enriched by a closer inspection of several key aspects, such as Wikisource’s way of handling metadata, or the benefits and snares of a community edition. Finally, the pertinent and concise criticism Haaf provides, and the suggestions for improvement that accompany these criticisms underline the review’s excellence. As such, the committee entertains the hope that Haaf’s text will help to communicate the importance of reviewing to the scientific community.

RIDE 7: The ‘Beta Dilemma’ – A Review of the Faust Edition, by Tessa Gengnagel

The prize committee – Dirk Van Hulle (University of Antwerps), Ulrike Henny-Krahmer (University of Würzburg), Martina Scholger (Graz University), and Georg Vogeler (Graz University) – has decided to award the prize to Tessa Gengnagel (a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities, Cologne) for her outstanding text “The ‘Beta Dilemma’ – A Review of the Faust Edition”, published in issue 7 of RIDE.

Jury statement:

In her detailed discussion of the Faust-Edition, Tessa Gengnagel surpasses the level of the local review and draws attention to a broader theme (the ‘beta dilemma’ between an editions’s updatability and its aspiration for authority) that is becoming a pressing issue in digital scholarly editing in general. Gengnagel’s thorough knowledge of the technical and the methodological aspects of digital editing coupled with her clear and focussed style make for an entertaining and instructive reading that should arouse not only the interest of the editors of the Faust-Edition, but of anyone grappling with the ‘beta dilemma’.

RIDE 6: Litteraturbanken, by Mats Dahlström and Wout Dillen

The prize committee – Evelyn Gius from Hamburg University, Malte Rehbein from Passau University, Philipp Steinkrüger from Ruhr-University Bochum, and Georg Vogeler from Graz University – has decided to award the prize to Mats Dahlström (University of Borås) and Wout Dillen (University of Antwerp) for their outstanding review of Litteraturbanken, the Swedish Literature bank.

Jury statement:

The review is an elegantly written text which not only provides all information required for the reader to familiarize themselves with the reviewed project, but which also engages in reflections on methodology, on the selection of texts, and on the question which type of text collection Litteraturbanken instantiates. The authors prove their expertise in the field, praising the project where it excels and criticising it where it falls short; it is to be expected that their suggestions of how to improve this already outstanding project will not fall on deaf ears.

About

For the following six issues (starting with RIDE 6), the best review of each issue will be awarded a prize of 250 Euro.

Criteria of selection include, but are not limited to:

The winner will be selected by the editorial board of RIDE in conjunction with one or more internationally recognised DH experts.