Located in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, the Vitale Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities welcomes scholars of all levels who are working on projects at the intersection of BH+DH, providing space for collaboration and learning, for experimentation and creation. We host two sets of open hours every week, and many workshops that are available to everyone. A collaboration of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies and the Price Lab for Digital Humanities.
The Vitale Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities is located at:
623 Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, 6th floor
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Learn more about book history, try out the tools of digital humanities practitioners, and speak with BH+DH partners during our weekly office hours. Well schedule office hours again starting in September 2026, if you have questions please contact Dot Porter.
Our Text Technologies Petting Zoo includes historical equipment for making text (e.g., typewriters, computers). Visit during Tuesday's office hours to learn more about it with Emily F. Brooks, Associate Director of the Price Lab for Digital Humanities.
While research visits with special collections should happen in the Kislak Center Reading Room, Vitale II offers support for group and virtual viewing, and personal imaging options. With the help of our staff and equipment, you can display objects in the room, on the large screen with the document camera, on the two side monitors with the ceiling camera, and to virtual audiences via video conferencing. We also provide support for video recordings. Starting in 2026, we will be offering access to a Multispectral Imaging System for Historical Artifacts (MISHA) for experimental use.
To view special collections in the Vitale Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities, email Dot Porter. Once you have scheduled a time, you can request the item using your Aeon research account.
The Vitale Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities welcomes partnerships with organizations and individuals working at the intersection of BH and DH. Groups can also reserve the space for events and workshops on related topics.
To discuss collaboration or reserve the space, email Dot Porter.
Learn about our ongoing events, activities, and working groups that celebrate and explore work at the intersection of libraries, book history, and digital humanities.
An informal lunch or coffee time to meet virtually with Kislak curators and talk about one of the manuscripts from Penn's collections. Each week we'll feature a different manuscript and the expertise of one of our curators.
The Manuscript Studies Interest Group (MSIG) is a regular meeting for people who want to get up close and personal with a variety of handwritten objects.
A team from the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS), Cultural Heritage Computing, and Research Data and Digital Scholarship (RDDS) is working to facilitate Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) to transcribe research materials from Penn Libraries’ digitized manuscript collections using AI technologies.
Reimagining Illumination was a series of workshops held in 2025-2026, designed to interrogate and expand the concept of illumination (i.e., the use of light) in books and manuscripts.
Bringing manuscript culture, modern technology and people together.
Upcoming events hosted by the Vitale Lab for Book History and Digital Humanities. Events for 2026-2027 will be posted in August 2026. See all Penn Libraries events.