From Manuscript to Metadata: experiments on Handwritten Text Recognition, Tagging and Importation for the Memoriali series (1265-1452)
Published 2025-05-15
Keywords
- HTR,
- Transkribus,
- Memoriali,
- xDams,
- Bologna.
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2025 Edward Loss, Fabiana Guernaccini, Manuel Carassai

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
The paper describes the experiment of creating a tailored tagging system for the Memoriali – a series of notarial records produced in Bologna almost uninterruptedly between the second half of the 13th and first half of the 15th century – using the Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) software Transkribus. Product of the conjoint effort of the MemoBo project and Regesta.exe, the aim of this system is to facilitate the export of a specific set of information from these documents directly to a customised database on xDams. This tagging system explores a secondary feature of Transkribus, highlighting its potential and its limits for establishing a coherent workflow, which initiates with the application of ad hoc models for creating semi-automatic transcriptions of these late medieval notarial records and concludes with the exportation and proper placement of their data inside our xDams database.
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References
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