Workbench 3.2 was released in April 2022. The 3.2 release includes support for annotation of IIIF. The Workbench Image Annotation feature supports flexible annotation of both art historical features and inscriptions and the relationships between them. Any area of an image can be outlined, and semantic Tags applied from taxonomies in standards-based formats. Annotations can be elaborated with extensive notes and external links. An end-to-end workflow has been implemented to support art historians and philologists to collaborate on the analysis of inscribed items.
Updates
Workbench 3.1
Workbench 3.1 was released in July 2021. The 3.1 release includes support for integration of a digital edition with a 3D model of the inscribed item. The feature supports implementation of bi-directional synthesis at an akṣara level. When published via Workbench Reader Toolbar a researcher can select an individual syllable or entire word in the edition and the 3D viewer will respond by rotating the 3D model, adjusting the camera angle and display an annotation with the transliteration and translation. The integration works in reverse as well: the researcher might select an annotation on the 3D model and the edition and 2D image viewer will respond.
Workbench Collections 2.1
Workbench Collections 2.1 was released in December 2021. The 2.1 release includes a faceted search feature for text and inscription collections and introduces the concept of TextBase avatars. Digital renditions, with bespoke permutations of analysis strata, can be published within thematic collections. This enables websites to host their own research specific catalogue and publish digital renditions configured for their research objectives and audience. This architecture distributes publishing to institution or project specific sites and, consequently, the Collections 1.1 site has been deprecated.
Workbench 2.2
Workbench SaaS 2.2 was released in December 2020. The 2.2 release includes new features to support flexible publishing of digital editions. This entailed the development of the Workbench rendition module to support TextBase owners in configuring the resources and views of their digital edition, and the development of a Reader toolbar to support a rich and interactive experience for researchers accessing digital editions.
Workbench 2.1
Workbench SaaS 2.1 was released in December 2018. The 2.1 release includes a major redevelopment of the Workbench model and workflows to integrate collaboration, based on a strata model, with management, based on a TextBase model. This entailed;
Collections 1.1
The READ Workbench Collections (Collections) site ws released in November 2019 to support an international network of researchers and developers engaged in the study of manuscripts and inscriptions with the aim of developing digital scholarly editions. The site provides a free, open and collaborative framework for researchers to publish their research output themselves.