scholarly journals VOLUMES OF WORTH—DELIMITING THE SAMPLE SIZE FOR RADIOCARBON DATING OF PARCHMENT

Radiocarbon ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Tuuli M Kasso ◽  
Markku J Oinonen ◽  
Kenichiro Mizohata ◽  
Jaakko K Tahkokallio ◽  
Tuomas M Heikkilä

ABSTRACT Medieval manuscripts are invaluable archives of the written history of our past. Manuscripts can be dated and localized paleographically, but this method has its limitations. The Fragmenta membranea manuscript collection at the National Library of Finland has proved difficult to date using paleographic methods. Radiocarbon dating has been applied to manuscripts of parchment before, but a systematic protocol for radiocarbon dating of parchment has not been established with a minimally destructive sampling strategy. In this work, we have established a radiocarbon dating procedure for parchments combining a clean-room based chemical pretreatment process, elemental analyzer combustion, automatic graphitization and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurements to reduce the AMS target size from a typical 1 mg of carbon. Prolonged acid treatment resulted in improved dating accuracy, since this is consistent with the manufacturing process of medieval parchment involving a lime bath. Two different combustion processes were compared. The traditional closed tube combustion (CTC) method provided a well-established though labor-intensive way to produce 1 mg AMS targets. The Elemental Analyzer-based process (EA-HASE, Elemental Analyzer Helsinki Adaptive Sample prEparation line), is designed for fast combustion and smaller sample sizes. The EA-HASE process was capable of reproducing the simulated radiocarbon ages of known-age samples with AMS graphite target sizes of 0.3 mg of carbon, corresponding to a 3 mm2 area of a typical medieval parchment. The full potential of the process to go down to as little as 50 μg will be further explored in the future in parallel to studies of sample-specific contamination issues.

Mot so razo ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Joan Ferrer Godoy

<p>Abstract: In 1917, Josep Masdeu, the monastery archivist of Sant Joan de les Abadesses, identified four songs written down in some blank spaces of a paper-based notarial book of the village. In 1935, Higini Anglès, a musicologist of recognized prestige, made them public and since then, they comprise the songbook of Sant Joan de les Abadesses, the unique troubadour catalogue in Catalonia including both the text of the songs and their equivalent musical notation to be performed. From that moment on, the manuscript has been studied in many occasions from a linguistic and musical point of view. The manuscript, currently preserved at the National Library of Catalonia, includes some other text passages of legal topics which we analyse in depth because they delimit the exact chronological period of the song writings. Our study, therefore, has been focused on three main purposes. In the first place, we revise the contributions made so far regarding the description of the document. Next, we build up the archivistic history of the manuscript, from the moment it was discovered until it was deposited in the library mentioned above. Finally, we frame the overall context of the songbook production based on the extraliterary and extramusical texts.</p><p><br />Keywords: Troubadour songs, Medieval manuscripts, Medieval songbook, Sant Joan de les Abadesses Archive, Court books, Notarial -<br />History.</p>


Author(s):  
William Marx

Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS Peniarth 12 is a predominantly Welsh-language miscellany that also contains texts in Middle English and Latin. On folio 79v is the inscription ‘Llyfr Hugh Evans yw hwn Anno 1583’, that is ‘This is Hugh Evans’s book, in the year 1583’. As a miscellany the manuscript is of interest as much for what it suggests about the process of compilation as for its contents, for while it is in one sense of the late 16th century, a number of significant parts are gatherings from medieval manuscripts, both Welsh and English. The evidence of the process of compilation that the manuscript yields has much to suggest about the interplay between Welsh-language and English-language culture over a broad historical perspective, and this raises questions about the linguistic and cultural history of medieval and early modern Wales.


Author(s):  
Frank T. Coulson

This chapter provides a brief survey of the history of punctuation of Latin texts, and functions as a guide to the use of punctuation marks in Latin manuscripts of the Middle Ages. Punctuation in medieval manuscripts is quite variable, some scripts, such as Beneventan, having their own unique punctuation systems. During the Carolingian period, a new system of punctuation (known as positurae) began to be developed; it was later supplemented by the work of Humanist scholars.


2021 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-58
Author(s):  
Orietta Da Rold

Abstract In this essay, I offer a brief history of manuscript cataloguing and some observations on the innovations this practice introduced especially in the digital form. This history reveals that as the cataloguing of medieval manuscripts developed over time, so did the research needs it served. What was often considered traditional cataloguing practices had to be mediated to accommodate new scholarly advance, posing interesting questions, for example, on what new technologies can bring to this discussion. In the digital age, in particular, how do digital catalogues interact with their analogue counterparts? What skills and training are required of scholars interacting with this new technology? To this end, I will consider the importance of the digital environment to enable a more flexible approach to cataloguing. I will also discuss new insights into digital projects, especially the experience accrued by the The Production and Use of English Manuscripts 1060 to 1220 Project, and then propose that in the future cataloguing should be adaptable and shareable, and make full use of the different approaches to manuscripts generated by collaboration between scholars and librarians or the work of postgraduate students and early career researchers.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Ann Laird ◽  
Vivien E. Coates ◽  
Assumpta A. Ryan ◽  
Mark O. McCarron ◽  
Diane Lyttle ◽  
...  

Glucose derangement is commonly observed among adults admitted to hospital with acute stroke. This paper presents the findings from a descriptive cohort study that investigated the glucose monitoring practices of nurses caring for adults admitted to hospital with stroke or transient ischaemic attack. We found that a history of diabetes mellitus was strongly associated with initiation of glucose monitoring and higher frequency of that monitoring. Glucose monitoring was continued for a significantly longer duration of days for adults with a history of diabetes mellitus, when compared to the remainder of the cohort. As glucose monitoring was not routine practice for adults with no history of diabetes mellitus, the detection and treatment of hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia events could be delayed. There was a significant positive association between the admission hospital that is most likely to offer stroke unit care and the opportunity for glucose monitoring. We concluded that adults with acute stroke, irrespective of their diabetes mellitus status prior to admission to hospital, are vulnerable to both hyperglycaemic and hypoglycaemic events. This study suggests that the full potential of nurses in the monitoring of glucose among hospitalised adults with stroke has yet to be realised.


Infolib ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 2-8
Author(s):  
Umida Teshabaeva ◽  

The article is devoted to the history of the Tashkent Public Library, at the origins of which were prominent scientists of that time, to the present day of the National Library of Uzbekistan. The library fund has more than 7.5 million items in 75 languages of the world. The National Library is the main methodological center of information and library institutions of the Republic. Creation of favorable conditions for readers is one of the priority tasks of the library, which is improved every year by the introduction of new technologies for obtaining information in an operational way. Thanks to membership in the International Consortium «eIFL», users have access to 38 foreign educational databases, 12 of which are licensed. Also, library readers get access to national and world educational collections in different languages of the world.


Author(s):  
Semen M. Iakerson

Hebrew incunabula amount to a rather modest, in terms of number, group of around 150 editions that were printed within the period from the late 60s of the 15th century to January 1, 1501 in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Turkey. Despite such a small number of Hebrew incunabula, the role they played in the history of the formation of European printing cannot be overlooked. Even less possible is to overestimate the importance of Hebrew incunabula for understanding Jewish spiritual life as it evolved in Europe during the Renaissance.Russian depositories house 43 editions of Hebrew incunabula, in 113 copies and fragments. The latter are distributed as following: the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences — 67 items stored; the Russian State Library — 38 items; the National Library of Russia — 7 items; the Jewish Religious Community of Saint Petersburg — 1 item. The majority of these books came in public depositories at the late 19th — first half of the 20th century from private collections of St. Petersburg collectors: Moses Friedland (1826—1899), Daniel Chwolson (1819—1911) and David Günzburg (1857—1910). This article looks into the circumstances of how exactly these incunabula were acquired by the depositories. For the first time there are analysed publications of Russian scholars that either include descriptions of Hebrew incunabula (inventories, catalogues, lists) or related to various aspects of Hebrew incunabula studies. The article presents the first annotated bibliography of all domestic publications that are in any way connected with Hebrew incunabula, covering the period from 1893 (the first publication) to the present. In private collections, there was paid special attention to the formation of incunabula collections. It was expressed in the allocation of incunabula as a separate group of books in printed catalogues and the publication of research works on incunabula studies, which belonged to the pen of collectors themselves and haven’t lost their scientific relevance today.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-25
Author(s):  
Damaji Ratmono

Preservation of library materials or library collections is an effort made so that library materials can be used by future generations. This paper describes the "Malaysian" binding method used by the Sub Division of Technical Binding Materials of the National Library of Indonesia in preserving the collection of periodicals such as tabloids and newspapers. Apart from that, this paper also describes some of the advantages and disadvantages seen in the use of the "Malaysian" method as well as the early history of using this method in preserving the collection of periodicals in the National Library of Indonesia. This writing aims to make readers, especially library managers, know and gain insight into the "Malaysian" binding method. This writing method is through descriptive research with a qualitative approach. Methods of data collection are carried out through the field research, interviews, and literature study. The results show that the National Library of Indonesia uses this method after studying it from Malaysia in May 1990. From observations it is also known that this method has several advantages, namely the binding result is stronger, the collection is more preserved, the binding can be assembled and has an aesthetic side. Meanwhile, the disadvantages of this binding method are that the process tends to be longer, more expensive, cannot be put on too many shelves because the collection will shift backwards, the pages tend to come off easily if the stitches are not strong enough, and can only be used in binding periodical collections.


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