The idea of creating the Working Group VIDIT emerged during the Lorentz Workshop ‘Seeing the Difference: Visualizing Textual Variance’ (14-17 April 2025).

What we do

The objectives of the Working Group VIDIT are two-fold:

  1. To work on a shared vocabulary to describe textual variation. Textual scholarship is a diverse field, both in terms of research objectives and research material. This makes it difficult to find agreement about the terms we use to describe textual variation. For instance, a scholar who studies ancient papyri scrolls might have a different understanding of a “revision” than a scholar who works with born-digital text. This lack of standardization in our vocabulary is a core problem for the development of tools and visualisations of textual change, as it prevents interoperability, replicability, and evaluation of results across textual traditions. At the same time, most scholars not only appreciate but even require a level of flexibility in describing the kind of variation they come across. So how to balance the two? The WG focuses on defining concepts with precise meanings that capture the wide range of textual phenomena. We deal with the question of describing the relationships between these concepts in a way that supports machine-readable interpretations of these concepts, while preserving human-understandable definitions.

  2. To create a best practices guide for developers of tools dedicated to visualization of textual variation. The output of this subgroup will be at least:

    • A state of the art of current tools for examining and visualizing variation in text;
    • A set of guidelines or functional recommentations for collation and visualization tools;
    • A Minimal Viable Product: a core application that implements these functional recommentations.

These objectives are realised in two VIDIT-subgroups:

  1. Shared Vocabulary of Textual Variation;
  2. Best Practices for Analysing and Visualizing Textulal Variation.

Why you should join

We are building a global community of scholars, developers, and designers that share an interest for studying and visualizing variation in historical and literary texts –– and we need you to join us!

Whether you’re a seasoned textual scholar, a curious graduate student, a software developer intrigued by digital humanities, or a designer passionate about making complex scholarly tools accessible, there’s a place for you in VIDIT. Our members come from diverse backgrounds (i.a., literary studies, book history, software development, UI/UX design) and every perspective strengthens our collective work.

Since its beginnings, textual scholarship has happened at the intersection of disciplines. VIDIT needs:

  • Scholars who understand the nuances of texts and manuscripts;
  • Developers who can build and refine collation and text analysis tools with a focus on interoperability;
  • Designers who make complex interfaces intuitive and beautiful;
  • Enthusiasts who like to work together with an international group of likeminded people.

Your level of expertise doesn’t matter — your enthusiasm and fresh perspective do.

How you can contribute

  • Join a subgroup. Being part of either (or both) VIDIT-subgroups means that you’ll collaborate with scholars across disciplines and international boundaries on the objectives. Each subgroup has a co-ordinator who organizes regular meetings, online and Face2Face. You’ll write papers, design surveys, study tools and literature – but most importantly: you’ll share your invaluable perspective.
  • Become a general member. We understand that you’re busy and that it’s sometimes just not possible to commit (much) time to a cause that interests you. As a regular VIDIT-member, you’ll be kept in the loop about our work and you can decide to join or contribute whenever and whatever you feel like. You’ll receive regular mailing list updates, discuss stuff on the Discord channel, and attend WG-meetings if they take place near you.

How to get in touch