The Bibliography of Scottish Literature in Translation (BOSLIT): Creating Digital Futures & Networks
In May 2021, the University of Glasgow launched a two-year project to rescue the Bibliography of Scottish Literature in Translation. BOSLIT is a rich online database, created during the 1990s, and recording more than 32,000 Scottish literary works translated into over a hundred languages. Until 2018, the bibliography was hosted by the National Library of Scotland, but it had to go offline due to software issues. This is a serious loss for Scottish scholars and translators, and this is also why, at the University of Glasgow, the departments of Scottish Literature and Information Studies have joined forces to save BOSLIT and provide it with a new home. Our paper will introduce this ambitious project. After providing a short history of the bibliography, we will present key aspects of the new BOSLIT website currently under construction. This will be followed by an exploration of long-term plans to sustain BOSLIT’s digital future, including the creation of an international network of scholars, translators, and publishers to crowd-source translations of Scottish writing, while stimulating future adaptation of Scotland’s books. Certainly, it is hoped BOSLIT’s new network will build on IASSL and its global community of Scottish literary scholars. As such, Prague’s World Congress would provide an excellent setting to present our project and raise awareness about BOSLIT among our target audience.
Kirsteen McCue, University of Glasgow
Paul Malgrati, University of Glasgow