Virtual Manuscripts for an Enhanced Museum and Web Experience ‘Living Manuscripts’

Due to preservation and conservation issues, manuscripts are normally kept in research libraries far from public gaze. On rare occasions, visitors can see these priceless objects, typically separated from them by a sealed case, with only a fixed double page spread visible from a manuscript that may contain hundreds of folios. This restricts the amount of knowledge offered by these books. This paper proposes the creation of virtual manuscripts as exhibits in their own right in a museum context, and as part of a web-based virtual learning environment offering visitors the unique opportunity of engaging with the manuscripts, providing further possibilities for accessing the heritage and cultural information contained in them. A database supplying information about and from the manuscripts, held in a virtual environment, creates the illusion of their “real” presence and materiality. ‘Living Manuscripts’ aims to stimulate and encourage engagement with vulnerable materials via an innovative virtual experience.