Philobiblon is a relational database for the cataloguing andstudy of the primary textual sources, manuscript and printed, for the study of medieval and early modern culture, along with the institutions and persons who created them. Here are some of the problems we encountered in fittingthe data into a relational dbms format (Advanced Revelation) as well as the solutions devised: (1) sorting manuscripts and texts in topographical order; (2) explicitly noting the contingent nature of the data as well as its source; (3) using a data type field to classify sets of associated multi-valued fields; (4) establishing views into two different tables from a single field; (5) devising mechanisms to allow dissemination in printed and networked form as well as on diskette or CD-ROM disk; (6) subject access. Unsolved problems include: (1) deciding how to define a 'text'; (2) establishing compatibility with previous standards; (3) normalized searching on unnormalized text; (4) defining reciprocal but asymmetrical relationships; (5) remote data entry; (6) balancing the need for complexity and completenessagainst interactive usability

A technical history of the PhiloBiblon database of the primary manuscript and printed sources for the study of the vernacular literatures of medieval Iberia (Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, and Galician) from its beginning as a mainframe flat file database through its evolution as a PC-based relation database (Advanced Revelation) to its current status as a hybrid database (PC for data input), web for display (http://vm136.lib.berkeley.edu/BANC/philobiblon/). The article ends with a discussion of the possibilities for conversion of PhiloBiblon to an entirely web-based project based on evolving semantic web standards.

An accont of the acquisition of The Bancroft Library by the University of California in 1905-1906, and a comparison of Bancroft then and in the year 2000

After a brief review of the technological changes in PhiloBiblon since 1987, there follows a description of the current project, “PhiloBiblon: From Siloed Databases to Linked Open Data via Wikibase: Proof of Concept”. The current rigid structure, with its ten relational tables and almost 1,300 data fields, is abandoned in favor of a much more f lexible structure of “triples,” records based on a series of statements of the type Entity + Property + Entity, using the system of Wikidata, in which two entities Q are linked by a property P, e.g., Santillana (Q2877) writes (P50) the “Comedieta de Ponza” (Q390408).

Description of a distance learning course on medieval Catalan language and literature given via teleconferencing between UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Irvine during fall semester, 1995

Descripción de un curso a distancia sobre literatura y lengua catalana antigua entre UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara y UC irvine. Trad. de “Distance Learning and Digital Libraries: Two Sides of a Single Coin.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science 47.11 (1996): 854-56

Una síntesis de los conocimientos actuales sobre las bibliotecas españolas medievales, desde la más antigua fechada, 796, hasta finales del s. XV

A description of the 1984 acquisition by The Bancroft Library (U. of California, Berkeley) of 225 manuscripts from the collection of the dukes of Fernán Núñez (Spain), dating from the 15th to the 18th centuries. They are now available at Bancroft with the call number BANC MS UCB 143 vols. 1-225

A cuantitative analysis of translations into medieval Catalan, Castilian, and Portuguese, taking into account the languages of origin, intermediary languages, and the distribution of subjects, based on information found in the PhiloBiblon database