Spotting the difference in early printed books: a computer-aided collate-a-thon

Researchers at Oxford and Manchester are working on a research project combining computer vision and human perception to improve ‘optical collation’ – the spotting of differences in printed books. This collate-a-thon provides an opportunity to learn about typographical variance in books and why it matters to book historians, and to make a contribution to our knowledge of the phenomenon. Following a historical introduction, participants will discover how computers see differences in such books as the Gutenberg Bible and the works of Shakespeare, Dante, and others, and will have the opportunity to contribute to a training dataset of examples of difference. No prior knowledge of historical printing or computer vision is required, but an interest in spot-the-difference puzzles may be an advantage.

The collate-a-thon will take place on Wednesday May 13 from 2-4pm in the Taylor Institution Library Room 2. To book a place, please sign up here. For information about the project see here or contact Giles Bergel at giles.bergel@eng.ox.ac.uk

Find out more about the History of the Book team here: https://historyofthebook.mml.ox.ac.uk/