Our Vision for the Future
Enhancing our academic content
All Shakespeare's plays are being re-edited for the digital medium. Each play has been assigned to a scholar--or, in some cases, a team of scholars. The full process of editing a play takes many years, but we are adding materials regularly to those that are being edited, publishing sections as they are completed.
One of the great advantages of the digital medium is that published works can be kept up to date as new scholarship is published. Our editors and research assistants will work to ensure that our texts and bibliographies are kept up to date.
One of our most-visited areas is the section of the site on Shakespeare's life and times. We are introducing changes that will allow us to ensure that these pages are steadily improved: a wiki-like interface will allow invited scholars to update and expand these pages.
Enhancing multimedia
In our performance database we expect to be able to introduce an increasing number of videos to illustrate important moments in the plays. While copyright and the requirements of actors' unions limit the kinds of videos we can display, many companies have realized the real benefits of making video clips of their productions available; as a result we are working towards the creation of a library of recorded performances, both for historical interest and teaching purposes.
Enriching the pedagogical value of the site
By creating a new section of the site, a "Classroom," we will make the site accessible and useful both for teachers and students. Our editions are already being used extensively in the classrooms of teachers at the post-secondary levels; we plan to extend their usefulness for students and teachers at high school by providing hints (through pop-up windows) on ways of using pages in teaching. Eventually we will create in the Classroom an area where teachers can find quick ways of using the site, including lesson plans, "treasure hunts" for information, and more.
Reaching beyond Shakespeare
The ISE also supports two sites that make Early Modern plays by authors other than Shakespeare available: the Queen's Men Editions, and Digital Renaissance Editions. These sites will continue to expand, adding materials that can be cross-referenced with Shakespeare and each other. Together the ISE and its associated sites will provide a growing repository of Early Modern plays and associated scholarly materials for students and researchers.
Enhancing our use of technology
The Web is constantly changing and its technology developing; the ISE is committed to keeping the site current in technology and design as well as in content. In October of 2013 we launched a new design of the site, including a number of enhancements; this process will continue in the future. Here are some examples we plan to include as funding becomes available:
- In partnership with the Map of Early Modern London, we will feature a map function that will allow students to see the location of all places mentioned in the plays.
- A wiki-like interface that will allow a team of selected scholars to update and maintain the section of the site on Shakespeareʼs Life and Times.
- Improving our current version of the site designed for iPhone, iPad, and other mobile devices.
- Innovative ways of displaying texts like Hamlet or King Lear that were originally published in widely variant versions, such that textual complexities will be intuitively visualized.
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