Presentation

Who we are

The CICweb.be network

CICweb.be, which is responsible for co-ordinating and realising this project, benefits from:

• financial support from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation ;


• logistical support from the Royal Library of Belgium (Brussels);


• the scientific backing of the Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes (Paris);


• the co-operation of the establishments that possess manuscripts (Wallonia-Brussels);


• the regular participation of specialists in mediaeval manuscripts.

The Support Committee

The Support Committee is presided over by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. Between 2005 and 2007, it ensured the project ran smoothly and respected the deadlines.
Its members included:

• Mr Patrice Dartevelle (Communauté française)


• Mme Annick Vilain (Communauté française)


• Mme Cécile Hubaut (Communauté française)


• Mr Jean-Paul Springael (Communauté française)


• Mr Pierre Cockshaw (CIC)


• Mme Christiane Pantens (CIC)


• Mr Baudouin Van den Abeele (CIC)


• Mme Sandrine Thieffry (CIC)

The Scientific Committee

The Scientific Committee is presided over by the Centre International de Codicologie (CIC) asbl. It is constituted of the heads from the establishments in possession of manuscripts, as well as members of the CIC. It supervises the technical and scientific aspects of the programme.
Between 2005 and 2007, its members were:

• Mr Pierre Cockshaw (CIC)


• Mme Annick Vilain (Communauté française)


• Mme Cécile Hubaut (Communauté française)


• Mme Carmélia Opsomer (Liège)


• Mme Christiane Pierard (Mons)


• Mme Anne Vandenbulcke (Bruxelles)


• Mr René Plisnier (Mons)


• Mr Jacques Pycke (Tournai)


• Mr Xavier Hermand (Namur)


• Mr Lucien Reynhout (Bruxelles)


• Mr Baudouin Van den Abeele (CIC)


• Mme Sandrine Thieffry (CIC)

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Nota bene

By definition, every project of this kind has its shortcomings, and CICweb.be is conscious of this. However, we do hope to have reduced them to a minimum in order to offer an online inventory of the manuscripts that is coherent, standardised and sufficiently precise. The contents of this inventory thus reflect our cultural heritage, a heritage that we first need to become well acquainted with if we are to promote it.

Our partners

www.scriptorium.be

As our main partner, the www.scriptorium.be website serves as the basis for this new project.
Created by the Centre International de Codicologie (CIC) ASBL, thanks to the financial support of the Wallonie-Brussels Federation, this website is dedicated to the Scriptorium review and the Bulletin codicologique.
It has an international index containing more than 230,000 manuscripts and a database of the works and articles reviewed in the Bulletin codicologique.
Thanks to the close links that unite the two Scriptorium.be and CICweb.be research programmes, useful data on the manuscripts held in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation have already been selected in the database of the first website.

Institutions in possession of manuscripts

The project concerns all the institutions based in Wallonia and Brussels who possess manuscripts. 37 establishments are currently listed in our database and they are accessible via our online directory.

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Scientific collaborators

CICweb.be would like to thank the numerous specialists in mediaeval manuscripts who have already collaborated and are continuing to collaborate on this project, particulary Dr Thomas FALMAGNE, who graciously sent us the fruit of his first-hand research which he had been working on for many years, and thanks to which our project benefits ab initio from a significant scientific substratum.

CICweb.be would also like to thank the members of the Manuscript Section at the Royal Library of Belgium - especially the curator Dr Bernard BOUSMANNE - for their support and their constant scientific contribution.
Furthermore, the CICweb.be project benefits from the participation of numerous people who are in charge of establishments in possession of manuscripts.

Why such a project?

Shortcomings

There are obviously a number of shortcomings. The state of our heritage in terms of manuscripts can be summarised in three points:
1. The manuscripts are often dispersed in sub-collections
2. The collections and manuscripts are partially inventoried
3. Knowledge is specialised and limited

Needs

The needs, which are equally prevalent, allow us to precisely determine the objectives of a project of this kind. They are:
1. To locate the manuscripts in order to better preserve them
2. Gather together and centralize the information to study it
3. Stimulate collaboration and the sharing of information
4. Promote our heritage in order to increase the institutions' means
5. Encourage visits to the institutions and access to our heritage

One objective: digitization
Thanks to the work carried out over the past two years, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation now has an exact idea of the number of mediaeval manuscripts it envisages digitizing, not only to preserve these vestiges of the past, but also to make them available beyond our borders.

Why a guide?

CICweb.be is proposing an online guide of mediaeval manuscripts. This inventory is intended to provide an overall picture of the state of the collections. Putting this guide online will allow us to:

• Tackle a voluminous subject in a rapid and reversible manner


• Facilitate the updating of data and adapt changes in real time


• Promote the heritage of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation

CICweb.be will also propose a regular publication concerning the work being carried out.

A wider access

The aim of the online manuscript guide is to be as accessible as possible to the greatest number of people:

• Its aim is to provide brief and precise information


• Its propose is not to offer an exhaustive description of the manuscripts but rather a starting point for research


• Its intention is to provide a link between the user and the place where the manuscripts are kept, a search tool that facilitates the work of the specialists

Project realisation

Webmaster
Mickaël Lefèvre

Project design, co-ordination and realisation (2005-2007)

Sandrine Thieffry, scientific director and co-ordinator for the CICweb.beproject

Designing a programming system and the site's graphics

Bernard Van den Eynde, Director of Séisme Numérique

Quality

The site was designed and constructed in line with the qualité de Bruxelles, a standard for quality in Europe.

Rights a funding

The CICweb.be network benefits from an exclusive subsidy from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation for a determined period of time.

The programming system

The computer system, which was developed thanks to the subsidies granted by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, is the property of the latter.

Scientific data

As the co-ordinator of the project, CICweb.be guarantees the intellectual property of the authors of the inventories.

Texts

The pages on the website as well as the instructions for the other downloadable files were and continue to be written by CICweb.be, who is the owner.

Photographs

All the images accessible on the site come from the establishments in question, who have the exclusive rights. Copies of the images are subject to the prior authorisation of the establishments who possess the manuscripts.