"Unlocking Archives with AI" will be held over two days, including an Iftar and post-Iftar activity both days. First, Tuesday will feature a research presentation discussing some of the ways that AI is being used in academic research with archives, most notably digitized archives of textual materials. In particular, we will focus on a state-of-the-art technology for automatically transcribing texts known as Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR). We will address challenges of HTR with both print and manuscript texts in a variety of languages and scripts, including some relevant to the Arab world and its historical past, as well as contemporary discussion about how automation has become part of a contemporary research workflow in the archives. Tuesday's presentation will give an overview of how two kinds of HTR operate and will explain the resources and effort required to carry out such work on your own.
Second, Thursday's session will be a hands-on workshop with one HTR platform, Transkribus, using some of the research materials from the OpenGulf research group about the 19th century Arabian Gulf region, selected materials from the digitized print collections of Arabic Collections Online as well as the Arabic correspondence in the Ahmad Zaki Abu Shadi collection in NYUAD Archives and Special Collections. It is not necessary to attend both days, although we strongly encourage anyone coming on Thursday to attend Tuesday's introductory session.
Convened by Suphan Kirmizialtin (NYUAD) & David Wrisley (NYUAD)
Tuesday, March 28 | 6:40 pm - 9:15 pm (Hybrid)
Suphan Kirmizialtin (NYUAD) and David Wrisley (NYUAD)
6:40-7:25pm Iftar on campus
7:30-8:30pm Research lecture and Q&A (on Zoom and in person)
8:30-9:15pm Introduction to Transribus and preparation for Thursday (only in person)
Thursday, March 30 | 6:40 pm - 9:45 pm (In-Person Only)
Suphan Kirmizialtin (NYUAD) and David Wrisley (NYUAD)
5-6pm Optional Visit to NYUAD Special Collections**
6:40-7:25pm Iftar on campus
7:30-9:45pm Hands on session (only in person)
**Registered participants will be contacted to attend this optional visit to see the collections we will work on virtually. There are a limited number of spots for this visit.
In-Person (NYUAD Campus) and Zoom (only March 28)
The workshop is open to the NYUAD community and by invitation. Registration has closed.