Lynn Ransom, The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, University of Pennsylvania

The Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts Project: An update

The Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts (SDBM) is an internationally recognized resource for the study of manuscript transmission. It contains over 220,000 manuscript records, representing approximately 90,000 manuscripts produced before 1600. Our records are drawn from over 12,000 auction and sales catalogues, inventories, catalogues from institutional and private collections, and other sources that document sales and locations of manuscript produced before the age of print.

In July 2014, the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries began a project, funded by the United States' National Endowment for the Humanities, to transform the database into an online, user-driven, collaborative tool for tracking the history of manuscript transmission and create a universal finding aid for the world’s manuscripts. The outline for the project was first presented at the 14th Seminar on the Care and Conservation of Manuscripts in 2012, and its progressed was reported at the 15th seminar. The present paper will introduce the New SDBM and demonstrate its potential application not only for historical research in manuscript studies but also as a tool for preservation.