Dear Medieval Academy Members,
It is my pleasure to report on the current status of the MAA’s Database of Medieval Digital Resources. Since taking on the role of coordinator in April, the backlog of projects waiting to be reviewed has been substantially reduced. In April 2026 there were thirty-seven projects waiting to be reviewed. Some of these had already been included in MDR, while others were not eligible for inclusion (or the site was no longer available). Quite a few were successfully reviewed, and currently of those thirty-seven projects only nine remain in the queue. Since May 2026 there are also four new submissions awaiting reviews, bringing the total to thirteen outstanding projects. Time to review has now decreased quite significantly, but is dependent on being able to find subject experts to review each project (on which more below).
MDR is host to a great number of digital projects and is an excellent “clearinghouse” for medieval digital projects. Over (roughly) the last year fifteen new projects were added. Some, such as the Monasterium Digital Archive or the Princeton Index of Medieval Art may be familiar, but there are many great projects to explore. For instance the Corpus Synodalium which is a database of extant local ecclesiastical legislation issued across Latin Christendom from ca. 1215-ca.1500. Two sites from the Germania Sacra online project provide databases of people and religious institutions. Several linguistic resources were also added, covering Middle English verse, medieval Spanish, and Byzantine Greek. If you have not yet explored the database, I strongly recommend that you do! Even if you have used it before, there are new projects to view and learn from.
The Standards for Web Publication have also been adapted to deal with AI-generated content and projects. The new policy can be found under Section One (“Scholarly Quality”) and reads: “Projects must unambiguously center human researchers who are accountable and responsible for all content. While AI or related technologies may be used as complementary tools—e.g., to assist transcription, pattern recognition, or data visualization—nominated projects must transparently document any AI-generated workflow or content to be included in MDR.” In short, an entirely AI generated website, without proper documentation and accessible human editors who can respond to issues, is not eligible. This policy is not a total ban on AI-generated workflows or processes, but ensures that AI is only to be incorporated in certain parts of the project and with clear documentation.
The successful continuation of MDR depends on new submissions and finding subject-expertise reviewers who are willing to evaluate those submissions. If you are interested in submitting a project, you can do so by going to: https://mdr-maa.org/about/suggest-a-resource. Please note, online journals or monographs are not eligible for inclusion.
Subject experts are critical to verifying the scholarly quality of these digital projects, and is a great service to the field and the MAA. These reviews are relatively simple to conduct and can be completed relatively quickly. If you are interested in being a reviewer for MDR please get in touch by filling out the MAA’s Service Nomination Form: https://www.medievalacademy.org/page/Committee_Service_Nomination_Form.
Anyone can reach out to me with questions or suggestions at jdellisola@themedievalacademy.org.
Sincerely,
Jon Dell Isola
Special Projects Assistant and Coordinator, Database of Medieval Digital Resources
