Scanning the past: A modern approach to ancient culture

The University of Michigan owns one of the largest collections of ancient papyri. In 1991 a project was initiated to explore image capture of papyri in the Michigan collection with the use of electronic media (scanners), and to create a detailed online catalog with information relevant for all those involved in the study and research of the ancient Mediterranean world. In the summer of 1994, the Michigan papyrus collection underwent an extensive period of testing alternative media for image capture, as well as better, faster, and more efficient hardware and software. The collection created its own home page on the World Wide Web and made available sample images as a means of soliciting comments from the experts in the field of papyrology. The papyrus collection at Duke University has also launched a project similar to that envisioned by Michigan in 1991; and that project is now approaching completion. Further developments in the past two years have brought together the five largest papyrus collections in the United States to form a consortium known as the Advanced Papyrological Information System (APIS), which operates under the guidance of the American Society of Papyrologists (ASP).