As co-PI for Archive 2.0: Imagining The Michigan State University Israelite Samaritan Scroll Collection as the Foundation for a Thriving Social Network, I initiated a project with William Hart-Davidson to digitize three 15th century Israelite Samaritan Pentateuch scrolls, which were removed by a missionary-collector visiting Palestine in 1906. By 1950 the scrolls were stored under the MSU football stadium, where they remained in damp cardboard boxes until 1968. When I found out about the Michigan State scrolls, I wanted to see what could be done, and I e-mailed Benyamim Tsedaka, an elder of the Samaritan community in Holon, Israel. From these conversations with Tsedaka an archive 2.0 project took shape.
Archive 2.0 Project: Big 10 Network, January 19, 2009
To this end, we are designing the digital archive with both the living Samaritan community and biblical scholars in mind. Our goal is to foster interactions, scholarship, and discussions inspired by the scrolls and their unique language. To further the development of our community centered and participatory approach to design, I traveled with my colleague Mike McLeod to Israel and the West Bank in June 2009 to do our community-centered design work. Our findings will be available in a forthcoming NEH whitepaper, and we also plan to publish at least one peer-reviewed article about experiences during this trip.