The fourth annual Luminar. Internet and Humanism conference entitled Luminar 4 - Online sources and resources - method in historical and humanistic science took place on 4 and 5 February 2005 at the Querini Stampalia Foundation in Venice. The purpose of these study days was to discuss several theories in relation to on-line resources for humanistic studies, such as: the value of systematic archiving of sources and documentation on the web with specific reference to new technologies; identifying evaluation criteria for the reliability of on-line sources, and exploring the various kinds of resources available on the net for humanistic studies including digital libraries and iconographic repertories.

The many images and references that studded the conference included the fantasy of Ray Bradbury's man-books in Farenheit 451, now a classic film by Francois Truffaut, in which men and women inhabit a flexible and highly elastic and articulated organisation, delivering memorized texts on demand like true living libraries; and research motors that clusterise information on a prospective semantic web site.

In addition, as part of the Luminar 4 program, the Aranea project which aims to analyse sources (texts, images, documents and their interrelationships) systematically and typologically, for Humanistic disciplines, was introduced. This new section, inaugurated in issue 43 of "La Rivista di engramma", aims to give concrete form to the development of the themes treated during the conference.

Luminar 4
On-line sources and resources. Method in historical and humanistic sciences
Venice, Querini Stampalia Foundation, 4-5 February 2005

Friday 4 February, 3.00 p.m.

Opening

Monica Centanni
IUAV University of Venice
The 'Subtle Hunt' of Martin Venator: the historian, the philologist and the web

Chiara Rabitti
Director of the Querini Stampalia Foundation
Managing the sources: the reality and importance of a library work

Steering report

Stefano Vitali
State Archive, Florence
On-lilne sources and resources: theoretical considerations and research methods

On method

Laura Corti
IUAV University, Venice
In the strands of the web

Gianfranco Crupi
"La Sapienza" University, Rome
The architectures and models of digital libraries: the Italian Library (BibIt)

Paolo Mastandrea
Ca' Foscari University, Venice
Archives of literary texts and programmes for digital query: what changes by transferring to the Internet?

François Quiviger
Warburg Institute, London
The art of memory and electronic instruments

Antonella Sbrilli
"La Sapienza" University, Rome
Immaginary archives: Straying between literary fantasy and the shared knowledge of the work community

Exempla

Sara Agnoletto
Engramma, Galleries Manager
A Gallery of the Calumnies di Apelles: textual and iconographic sources (1408 - 1875)

Giorgio Busetto
Director of Venice Biennale Foundation
Asac on-line: the web site in the organisation of the Historical Archive of the Contemporary Arts of the Venice Biennale.

Nicolette Mandarano
"La Sapienza" University, Rome
Iconographical sources and resources on the web: the "Iconos" site

Saturday 5 February, 10.00 a.m.

Discussion