Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NOTA (Note-taking and Notebooks as Channels of Medieval Academic Dissemination across Europe)
Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2023-12-31
The NOTA project aims to study the notebooks and note-taking practices of medieval students (14th-15th centuries). It focuses on what these artifacts and the practices that lead to their creation can tell us about the history of the medieval university, while also trying to provide a deeper comprehension of the individual habits and preferences of students. This is achieved by asking and trying to answer question such as: How did students prepare for different academic events and exercises? What subjects were they most curious about? What influenced their preferences? Such an approach has not been undertaken as of yet in the field of medieval studies, the practice of note-taking having been quite neglected as a means of getting as close as possible to what happened in the actual classroom. In order to understand the scope of the NOTA project and what the study of note-taking practices can actually tell us about study practices, one must keep mind that medieval notes are of several types: notes taken during reading (these can be abbreviations, detailed tables of contents, copied paragraphs etc.), notes taken in class (probably the best known type of medieval notes, also known as 'reportationes'), notes taken from the texts provided by colleagues (in order for the note-taker to be able to argue with said colleagues during different exercises), etc. These types of notes are sometimes bound together in manuscripts that one can call 'notebooks' given the purpose that they serve. The methodology used to study these notes varies greatly, in accordance with their nature, and so does the type of information that can be extracted from their study. For instance, notes taken during reading tell the researcher what the note-taker was studying and allow them to make educated guesses regarding what the personal preferences of the notetaker were; the notes taken in class can give the researcher insight into what was being taught and how classes were organized; while the notes provided by colleagues indicate what the main subjects of discussion were.
Although not primarily a project meant to have great societal influence, the NOTA project does have some importance for society. It is essential, in an age of change such as ours, to know the origins of the university as well as of our own study habits, and the NOTA project does indeed serve this purpose. Furthermore, in a time of information overload, such as ours, where organization of information is almost fully automatized, knowing how notes were taken and organized in the past can help one have a better grasp of how information is organized nowadays. Understanding how notes were taken in the past can also be an aid in improving one's own note-taking skills.
NOTA proposes to reunite as many notebooks of medieval students and see what they can tell us about note-taking and study practices. This helps tell the story of the medieval university from a unique perspective, offered by the work of those who study. These notebooks will be registered into the NOTA database, allowing for different visualizations. Alongside this quantitative work, NOTA also endeavors in qualitative work, each member of the team focusing on a notebook or collection of notebooks that tell the story of the medieval university that they stem from. This in depth study allows for the progress of knowledge in the field of medieval studies, since each of these case studies is rich in authors and texts that are only now being discovered. Their study is also a stepping stone in the reconstruction of the history of medieval universities.
Although not primarily a project meant to have great societal influence, the NOTA project does have some importance for society. It is essential, in an age of change such as ours, to know the origins of the university as well as of our own study habits, and the NOTA project does indeed serve this purpose. Furthermore, in a time of information overload, such as ours, where organization of information is almost fully automatized, knowing how notes were taken and organized in the past can help one have a better grasp of how information is organized nowadays. Understanding how notes were taken in the past can also be an aid in improving one's own note-taking skills.
NOTA proposes to reunite as many notebooks of medieval students and see what they can tell us about note-taking and study practices. This helps tell the story of the medieval university from a unique perspective, offered by the work of those who study. These notebooks will be registered into the NOTA database, allowing for different visualizations. Alongside this quantitative work, NOTA also endeavors in qualitative work, each member of the team focusing on a notebook or collection of notebooks that tell the story of the medieval university that they stem from. This in depth study allows for the progress of knowledge in the field of medieval studies, since each of these case studies is rich in authors and texts that are only now being discovered. Their study is also a stepping stone in the reconstruction of the history of medieval universities.
Up to this point, which represents the half of the timeframe of the project, the NOTA team members have made list of notebooks, by reading through the catalogues of libraries and the secondary literature and selecting the manuscripts that they suspected reunite notes. These lists were then organized into the NOTA database, which comprises a number of over 150 notebooks. Then, the team has selected certain notebooks that should be studied more in depth. The work on these case studies has resulted in one submitted article and two studies accepted for publication. Also, the PI is coordinating with Prof. dr. Valentina Lepri a collection dedicated to medieval note-taking, "Note-taking and Notebooks across Medieval Europe" , at De Gruyter. The studies that result from the analysis of the chosen case studies will be published in three volumes in the mentioned collection. Two of the three volumes are about 70% completed and planned for publication in 2024, whereas the third one is planned for 2025 and is meant as a more comprehensive summary of the results of the NOTA project.
The NOTA project goes beyond the state of the art in several aspects. First, by defining what constitutes a notebook in the field of medieval studies. This is realized by combining criteria that stem from the study of numerous manuscripts that transmit notes with a priori criteria (for instance, the fact that a notebook should have served in studies or at least should qualify as a personal manuscript). Second, by acknowledging that there were multiple types of notes that students used to take, which leads not only to a typology of medieval notes, but also to a typology of notebooks. Third, by applying the methodology and terminology used to study Early Modern note-taking to medieval notebooks (and adapting it to the goals and object of study where necessary).
In addition to definitions and methodology, the case studies analyzed in depth by the NOTA project go beyond the state of the art by providing new perspectives on manuscripts that stem from the university milieu. When they are understood and studied as notebooks and collections of notes, the context in which these manuscripts were produced also becomes clearer. From this perspective, one can attempt to explain why certain texts were jotted down, why others were abbreviated and what role tables of contents actually played in their structure.
The expected results for the project are three volumes published in the "Note-taking and Notebooks across Medieval Europe", at De Gruyter, which are dedicated to the most interesting of the NOTA case studies. Alongside these three volumes, the NOTA project will also publish digital editions from these notebooks, on the NOTA database, alongside the lists of notebooks, which will also be completed by the end of the project.
In addition to definitions and methodology, the case studies analyzed in depth by the NOTA project go beyond the state of the art by providing new perspectives on manuscripts that stem from the university milieu. When they are understood and studied as notebooks and collections of notes, the context in which these manuscripts were produced also becomes clearer. From this perspective, one can attempt to explain why certain texts were jotted down, why others were abbreviated and what role tables of contents actually played in their structure.
The expected results for the project are three volumes published in the "Note-taking and Notebooks across Medieval Europe", at De Gruyter, which are dedicated to the most interesting of the NOTA case studies. Alongside these three volumes, the NOTA project will also publish digital editions from these notebooks, on the NOTA database, alongside the lists of notebooks, which will also be completed by the end of the project.