Dear Colleagues, Please find below a call for book chapters, on critical approaches to ATR. I would appreciate if you could share with your networks, and do please ask if you have any questions! Thanks, Melissa (and Paul, Joe and Sarah). Call for Chapter Submissions: Critical Approaches to Automated Text Recognition Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit to a collection of essays tentatively entitled Critical Approaches to Automated Text Recognition, to be edited by Melissa Terras, Paul Gooding, Sarah Ames and Joe Nockels. Automated Text Recognition (ATR) (a process that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to extract text from a scanned image or document, including Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR)), has significantly evolved recently. ATR is impacting the accessibility of historical texts, the institutions that steward them, and the broader field of digital humanities. As the technology shifts from developmental stages to practical applications, it is crucial to scrutinize its impacts, potentials, and the ethical dimensions it intersects with. This edited collection aims to gather diverse perspectives on the complexities of ATR, emphasizing critical analyses to guide future developments, while urging a reflection on how this technology is reshaping our engagement with digital and historical texts, the institutions that host them, and the use and users of such resources. Proposals on any critical topic relating to automated and advanced text recognition (including OCR, HTR, etc) are welcome, but the editors are particularly interested in essays which engage with future possibilities in this space and consider how automated text recognition can have an impact beyond academia. A preliminary foray into this topic “The implications of handwritten text recognition for accessing the past at scale”, by Nockels, J., Gooding, P. and Terras, M. (2024), published in the Journal of Documentation (https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-09-2023-0183) suggested a number of relevant areas in need of further discussion, including: 1. Access to Multiple Voices, underrepresented groups and endangered languages – How ATR can highlight diverse perspectives and contribute to a more inclusive historical record. 2. Integrating the Results of ATR into Collection Systems and Processes – Examining the ramifications of integrating ATR results into digital collection infrastructures 3. Integration with Advanced AI Processes – Potential and issues of combining ATR with advanced AI techniques to enhance functionalities and improve analysis. 4. ATR and Legal Frameworks - Navigating legal challenges such as copyright and data privacy in the use of ATR. 5. Data Ethics and Bias - Addressing biases and ethical considerations in ATR processes and data to ensure responsibility and transparency 6. Environmental Costs of ATR - Considering the environmental impacts of computationally intensive ATR models and advocating for sustainable practices. 7. Establishing Data Sharing and Data Consent Principles - Adhering to FAIR and CARE principles for ethical data handling in ATR projects. 8. Near Future Issues for the Use of ATR with Historical Documents - Anticipating technological and ethical challenges in using ATR for historical documents. 9. Speculating ATR Design - Using speculative design methods to envision and plan future impacts of ATR on historical research and public engagement. 10. ATR Limitations - Addressing the challenges and shortcomings of ATR technology, including incomplete capture or interpretation of texts. Proposals based on these, or any other critical topic, are welcome. Chapter proposals of ~500 words plus brief biography will be accepted until March 31st, 2025. Submissions will undergo a peer-review process to ensure the relevance and quality of the contributions. Acceptances will be sent out May 2025. Feedback and revision suggestions will be provided for accepted proposals. Final chapters, which can range from 5000-7000 words in length, will be due in December 2025. Please send your chapter proposal (~500 words), including chapter title, and a brief biography (~100 words per author) by March 31st 2025 to all the editors: * Melissa Terras: [email protected] * Paul Gooding: [email protected] * Sarah Ames: [email protected] * Joe Nockels: [email protected] If you have any questions, please contact the editors. We are in advanced discussions with Facet Publishing (https://www.facetpublishing.co.uk/), a leading publisher of books for library, information and heritage professionals. We have successfully worked with them before on various book projects. We do not have funding for open access, however authors are allowed to publish their accepted versions of chapters on their institutional repository, which will we draw together as we did for our previous publication, see https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/elegaldeposit/the-book-electronic-legal-deposit/. ———— Professor Melissa Terras MBE FREng Design Informatics, Edinburgh College of Art University of Edinburgh @melissaterras The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.