Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Blockchain Technology for Participatory Publication of Archival Documents. Marco Polo’s Diplomatic Codex as a Showcase

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Culture and Computing (HCII 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14035))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 798 Accesses

Abstract

To commemorate the 700 years since Marco Polo’s death (1324–2024), the State Archive of Venice, the National Library of Saint Mark, and the Veneto Institute of Sciences, Humanities and Arts (IVSLA) are curating and editing a diplomatic codex (CDP) of documents relevant to the study of the historical figure of Marco Polo (1254–1324). IVSLA will publish the CDP as a prestigious and traditional book, and the Engineering Historical Memory initiative will publish it online. This paper presents and discusses how the CDP is exploring the use of blockchain technology among parties who might not necessarily trust each other (i.e., authors and readers) to 1) launch ongoing participatory editing by entrusting multiple users with the task of promoting substantiated modifications to critical editions of archival documents and 2) share the digital asset’s history while duplicating and reusing archival documents’ digital reproductions. Thus, the online CDP can be construed as a practice-led research project exploring the disruption of making a critical edition of archival documents using highly participatory research powered by blockchain and distributed ledger technology.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aghili, S.: The Auditor’s Guide to Blockchain Technology: Architecture Use Cases Security and Assurance. CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton (2023)

    Google Scholar 

  • Benussi, P., Erboso, A., Nanetti, A.: Codice Diplomatico Poliano/Marco Polo’s Diplomatic Codex / 马可波罗古文书整理. Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Venice, Forthcoming (2024)

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolognari, M., Simion, S.: Una famiglia veneziana di mercanti tra Due e Trecento: i Polo e Marco. In: Burgio, E., Simion, S. (Eds.). Il «Devisement dou monde»: Storia e mito dell’incontro fra Marco Polo e l’Asia. Carocci Editore, Rome, forthcoming (2023)

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgio, E., Simion, S. (eds.): Il «Devisement dou monde»: Storia e mito dell’incontro fra Marco Polo e l’Asia. Carocci Editore, Rome, Forthcoming (2023)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cárcel Ortí, M.M. (ed.): Vocabulaire international de la diplomatique. [Commission internationale de diplomatique. Comité international des sciences historiques.] Universitat de València, Valencia (19972). http://www.cei.lmu.de/VID. Accessed 09 Feb 2023

  • Cargo, M., Mercer, S.L.: The value and challenges of participatory research: Strengthening its practice. Annu. Rev. Public Health 29(1), 325–350 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cornwall, A., Jewkes, R.: What is participatory research? Soc. Sci. Med. 41(12), 1667–1676 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cosci, M.: Verità e comparazione in Aristotele. Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Venice (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • De Robertis, T., Milani, G., Regnicoli, L., Zamponi, S. (eds.): Codice Diplomatico Dantesco. Salerno Editrice, Rome (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  • Engineering Historical Memory (EHM) (2018–2023). https://engineeringhistoricalmemory.com. Accessed 07 Feb 2023

  • Eusebi, M., Burgio, E. (eds.): Marco Polo. Le Devisement dou monde. Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, Venice (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallo, R.: Le ricerche della tomba di Marco Polo nella Chiesa di S. Lorenzo. Rivista mensile della città di Venezia, 3(9), 233–249 (1924). Published also as a book, Stab. Grafico U. Bortoli, Venice (1924)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallo, R.: Marco Polo, la sua famiglia e il suo libro. In: Nel VII centenario della nascita di Marco Polo, pp. 63–161. Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Venice (1955)

    Google Scholar 

  • Gomzin, S., Westin, K.: Crypto Basics: A Nontechnical Introduction to Creating Your Own Money for Investors and Inventors. Apress, New York (2022)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jagosh, J., et al.: Uncovering the benefits of participatory research: Implications of a realist review for health research and practice. Milbank Q. 90(2), 311–346 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lanfranchi, L.: Per un codice diplomatico veneziano del secolo XIII. In: Viridarium floridum. Studi di storia veneta offerti dagli allievi a Paolo Sambin, pp. 355–363. Editrice Antenore, Padua (1984)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazari, V., Pasini, L. (eds.): I viaggi di Marco Polo veneziano, tradotti per la prima volta dall’originale francese di Rustichello di Pisa e corredati d’illustrazioni e di documenti da Vincenzo Lazari, pubblicati per cura di Lodovico Pasini, membro ref. e Segretario dell’I. R. Istituto Veneto. Coi Tipi di Pietro Naratovich, Venice (1847)

    Google Scholar 

  • Micheloni, F.: L’edizione critica tra digitale e stampa: riflessioni metodologiche. Umanistica Digitale 10, 25–48 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  • Michieli, A. A.: Gli studiosi veneti del Polo. In: Nel VII centenario della nascita di Marco Polo, pp. 269–295. Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Venice (1955)

    Google Scholar 

  • Miraz, M.H., Ali, M.: Applications of blockchain technology beyond cryptocurrency. Annal. Emerg. Technol. Comput. 2(1), 1–6 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakamoto, S.: Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Bitcoin (2008). https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf. Accessed 09 Feb 2023

  • Nanetti, A., Burgio, E., Eusebi, M., Simion, S., Vu, N.K. (eds.): EHM – Marco Polo. Le Devisement dou Monde (2020–2023a). https://engineeringhistoricalmemory.com/MarcoPolo.php. Accessed 08 Feb 2023

  • Nanetti, A.: Defining heritage science. a consilience pathway to treasuring the complexity of inheritable human experience through historical method, AI and ML. Complexity 2021, 4703820 (2021a)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nanetti, A.: Venezia e il Peloponneso, 992–1718. Indagini storiche tra territorio, biblioteca e archivio. Ca’ Foscari University Press, Venice (2021b)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nanetti, A.: Computational Engineering of Historical Memories. Routledge, London and New York (2022 online, 2023 hardcover)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nanetti, A., Benvenuti, D.: Engineering historical memory and the interactive exploration of archival documents. The Online Application for Pope Gregory X’s Privilege for the Community of Mount Sinai (1274) as a Prototype. Umanistica Digitale, 10, 325–357 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nanetti, A., Vu, N.K. (eds.): EHM – Pope Gregory X’s Privilege for the Holy Monastery of St Catherine of Sinai (24 September 1274) (2020–2023). https://engineeringhistoricalmemory.com/MountSinai.php. Accessed 08 Feb 2023

  • Orlandini, G.: Marco Polo e la sua famiglia. Archivio Veneto-Tridentino 9–10, 1–68 (1926)

    Google Scholar 

  • Orlando, E.: Medioevo, fonti, editoria. La Deputazione di storia patria per le Venezia (1873–1900). Firenze University Press, Florence (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortalli, G.: Ancora Marco Polo? Vogel per qualcosa di nuovo. Quasi Una Recensione. Archivio Veneto 149, 13–23 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  • Piattoli, R. (ed.): Codice Diplomatico Dantesco. Edizioni Gonnelli, Florence (1940) 19502

    Google Scholar 

  • Plebani, T. (ed.): Il Testamento Di Marco Polo: il documento, la storia, il contesto. Edizioni Unicopli, Milan (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  • Quaderni della Scuola di Archivistica, Paleografia e Diplomatica dell’Archivio di Stato di Venezia, vols 1–3. Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Venice (I. 1988 and II. 1991). Nardini Editore, Florence (III. 2021)

    Google Scholar 

  • Regnicoli, L.: Tra biografia e filologia dei documenti: l’esperienza del Codice Diplomatico Dantesco. Medioevo Letterario D’italia 14, 35–47 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  • Salmini, C.: 160 anni ben portati: la “Scuola di paleografia” annessa all’Archivio di Stato di Venezia. In: Farsi storia. Per il bicentenario dell’Archivio di Stato di Venezia 1815–2015, pp. 265–269. Scripta Edizioni, Verona (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • van Rossum, J.: Blockchain for Research. Digital Science (Holtzbrinck Publishing Group), London (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaughn, L.M., Jacquez, F.: Participatory research methods – choice points in the research process. J. Particip. Res. Methods 1(1), 13244 (2020). https://doi.org/10.35844/001c.13244

  • Vogel, H.U.: Marco Polo Was in China: New Evidence from Currencies Salts and Revenues. Brill, Leiden (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyman, O.: What Business Needs to Know About the Generation Changing Everything. In: Oliver Wyman Forum (2023). https://www.oliverwymanforum.com/global-consumer-sentiment/a-gen-z.html. Accessed 08 Feb 2023

Download references

Acknowledgement

This research project is supported by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, under its Academic Research Fund Tier 1 (2023–2026, ‘Technical challenges, linguistic obstacles, and cultural barriers in bringing knowledge societies into the metaverse. With a metaverse showcase of how the peoples of Afro-Eurasia saw each other transitioning into modernity,’ PI, Andrea Nanetti).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Andrea Nanetti & Dusit Niyato

  2. Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Venice, Italy

    Paola Benussi & Andrea Erboso

Authors
  1. Andrea Nanetti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Paola Benussi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrea Erboso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dusit Niyato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea Nanetti .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Matthias Rauterberg

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Nanetti, A., Benussi, P., Erboso, A., Niyato, D. (2023). Blockchain Technology for Participatory Publication of Archival Documents. Marco Polo’s Diplomatic Codex as a Showcase. In: Rauterberg, M. (eds) Culture and Computing. HCII 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14035. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34732-0_42

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34732-0_42

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-34731-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-34732-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation