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The Renaissance English Knowledgebase (REKn) contains a combination of
digital representations of primary literary and artistic works of the
Renaissance (some 13,000 works at present), plus secondary materials
reflecting our understanding of these earlier works (some 100,000). These
materials are accessed through a reading interface, PReE, supported by a
database system that facilitates their navigation and dynamic interaction,
also providing access to inquiry-oriented analytical tools beyond simple
search functions. The effect is that of providing an expert reading
environment for those in our field, one that encourages close,
comprehensive reading at the same time as it provides, conveniently, the
building blocks of broad-based research inquiry.
My talk will discuss REKn and PReE from both theoretical and
pragmatic perspectives, focusing on the way in which the reading environment
looks to, and plans to integrate, the products of groups such as the Public
Knowledge Project (PKP), the Text Analysis Portal for Research (TAPoR),
Synergies, and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN).