Celtic Knot Conference 2017/Programme/CK105

Title: The eDIL project and Online Engagement

Date: 5 July 2017

Time:2pm to 2.30pm.

Venue: University of Edinburgh Library, Rm 1.07, 30 George Square, Edinburgh.

Speakers:

• Dr Sharon Arbuthnot, Research Fellow, Queen's University, Belfast.

Overview of topic:
eDIL is the Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language based at Queen's University, Belfast, and at Cambridge Univeristy - a dictionary of the language up to about 1600 which draws on sources from both Ireland and Scotland. In 2014, aided by generous funding from the AHRC, the eDIL project entered a new phase. Begun in 2003, the project initially worked on digitisating the Dictionary of the Irish Language (first published in 23 fascicules between 1913 and 1976) and making it freely available online. A follow-up phase (2008-12) began the process of expanding and emending the dictionary contents. In the current, third phase, we continue to expand and correct, but there are other by-products also. We have produced an enriched, mobile-friendly website (www.dil.ie), for example, and we are pursuing various strategies aimed at engaging with individuals and groups outside the academic community to highlight the continued interest and relevance of the early language and the very real potential for invigorating Modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic with native terms that were lost in previous centuries. This paper reflects on the experience of the past three years, particularly on efforts to connect with a wider audience through social media. Issues of narrative, contextualisation and reception will be discussed and illustrated with actual examples of Tweets and Word of the Week features that have appeared recently on the project Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Supporting material:

Related sessions: