JALit (short for Jewish-Arabic Literature) is a digital handbook of Jewish authors writing in Arabic, comprising approximately 2000 records. Our project curates and organizes data on manuscripts, people (especially authors), works, places, and the relationships between them.
The current version of JALit is an outcome of the ERC-funded MAJLIS project, focusing on texts produced and studied at the Qaraite academy in 11th-century Jerusalem. Our project team has dedicated themselves to documenting and describing manuscripts and codicological records, while the profiles of individuals and their relationships draw from our original research.
JALit uses the TEI-XML format to systematically capture detailed data about manuscripts, people, places, works, and relationships, ensuring a standardized approach to documenting the intricate details of Jewish-Arabic literature. Data entry is facilitated by a customized exist-DB tool called manuForma, which is based on XForms. manuForma is a powerful tool that allows our team to generate TEI-XML compliant records through a user-friendly web interface, simplifying the data input process while ensuring high standards of accuracy and consistency.
The JALit application builds on the exist-DB platform Srophé and adapted to meet our project's needs. Srophé manages Jewish-Arabic literary data, including manuscript records, author relationships, and metadata. Both manuForma and Srophé run on an exist-DB server, ensuring reliable performance and data integrity. They are available under an open-source license on GitHub, encouraging transparency and collaboration.
