User's Instruction
The Terminology can be searched in multiple ways. Using the starting point TERMINOLOGY in the side menu, you will enter the database structure in which the terms are organised logically, devided in categories.
The images can also be explored by themselves: you can BROWSE the photographs in search of an image that matches the feature you are looking for.
If you know exactly what term you are looking for, yet you do not know in what catergory you must look for it, you can use the INDEX , in which the terms are alphabetically ordered.
The hyperlinking functionality within the definitions provides an extra option. Using these hyperlinked terms, you can jump between terms, following a thread of cross-referencing definitions.
Notes for Users
Although the initial effort has been in English, the long-term intent is to translate the list into major Islamic languages, such as Arabic, Persian and Turkish which would further extend its reach and utility. However, when no term is available in English - as sometimes is the case for characteristics that do not occur in western manuscripts - and an appropriate one exists in another language, that term is given in place of some awkward or inaccurate translation. This acknowledges and validates the uniqueness of the distinctive Islamic manuscript tradition and its origins.
By the same token, when no term exists for a concept in any language, one is proposed. In other instances, several terms are in use, athough some may be less favourable; you will find the prefered term listed first, then the other options underneath which direct you with a "see: ..." to the definition..
In some cases, additional information is given with a certain term - concerning a parallel in western bookbinding, other background information or the notification of an exceptional exception - which can be found underneath the accompanying image, so as not to interfere with the general definition.
AUTHORS: PAUL HEPWORTH AND KARIN SCHEPER
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.