4e. Reading tools and contexts
Our aim is to build and test reading tools that are designed to support and extend readers' use of databases and texts. These tools would do so by aiding specialized analytical approaches to the resources, and by connecting those resources to related materials both within and outside of academic circles. The reading tools would be used to facilitate the link between the text or document at hand and its related materials, some examples being primary sources, historical contexts, related scholarly literature, glossaries, and educational materials. The tools would utilize the documents' metadata to automatically bring precision and focus to the search of related materials, some of which may be restricted to members of research libraries, others open for public use.
Addition of tools to a new reading environment for electronic texts, with the option for readers to utilize or remove these tools, is an aspect of such an environment's design. New reading environments will need to incorporate educative functions for less experienced readers (e.g., students, interested public) in the specific domains of the resources developed. These environments must include opportunities to engage with texts through the tools, and to reach out from the texts to larger realms of learning. They must also provide a way to contribute back to the texts and to other readers through a process of critical engagement, with readers controlling what they encounter and configuring the nature of their reading environment, always with the possiblity of going farther than expected.
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