Winter School: HTR of Historical Sources, 2026

2 Oct 2026, 14:00 → 27 Nov 2026, 17:00 Europe/Vienna

Virtual

The use of AI for reading historical sources (known as Automated or Handwritten Text Recognition) is becoming an expected and necessary part of many DH projects. Nevertheless, there are still many challenges, from choosing between a growing number of options for HTR, to learning how to prepare ground truth and train models, and to navigating new methodological issues.

 

 

The Winter School: HTR of Historical Sources, 2026 (further as HTR Winter School) started in 2022 and has evolved along with technological developments and the current state of research. Most importantly: Its participants learn not only the basics of HTR, but contribute to growing datasets for particular languages and scripts. 

 

Transcription tools

We will be using mainly Transkribus, however, we will learn also eScriptorium together. 

Working groups

This year, there will be working groups for the following languages/scripts:

• Carolingian Latin
• Late Medieval Latin
• Early Modern German
• Byzantine Greek
• Syriac
• Church Slavonic
• Old Icelandic

 

Each of these groups will work on its own materials and has its own requirements for participation. Please check them before registering.

 

Only participants who fulfill their tasks in the language/script groups will receive the final digital certificate. 

Timetable

This year, the Winter School will take place online only (with the exception of the Old Icelandic group that will have an additional in-person meeting), resuming in-person participation in 2027. 

 

There are five virtual sessions, always on Friday from 2PM to 5PM, Central European Time:

• 2nd October
• 16th October
• 30th October
• 13th November
• 27th November

Each session consists of a plenary part (lecture) and a working group part. For all sessions except the last one, the plenary part will be 45 minutes long and the group part 2 hours long. 

The last session will be dedicated to presenting the results.

Call for applications

Call for application is open until 15th September 2026. 

You will be notified on 18th September, whether you have been accepted.

 

 

Friday 2 October

14:00 → 14:05 Welcome

Speaker: Jan Odstrčilík (Institut für Mittelalterforschung, ÖAW)

14:05 → 14:15 What ATR/HTR Solutions are out there?

Speaker: Jan Odstrčilík (Institut für Mittelalterforschung, ÖAW)

14:15 → 14:45 Transkribus 1 (uploading documents, layout recognition, simple transcription)

Speaker: Anna Michalcová (Czech Language Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences; Institute for Medieval Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences)

14:45 → 15:00 Break

15:00 → 17:00 Working in Groups

Friday 16 October

14:00 → 14:30 Transkribus 2 (introduction to models, CER, learning curve)

Speaker: Anna Michalcová (Czech Language Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences; Institute for Medieval Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences)

14:30 → 14:45 What Is Character Error Rate And How To Calculate It Independently?

Speaker: Jan Odstrčilík (Institut für Mittelalterforschung, ÖAW)

14:45 → 15:00 Break

15:00 → 17:00 Working in Groups: Working in groups

Friday 30 October

14:00 → 14:45 Introduction into eScriptorium

Speaker: Christine Roughan

14:45 → 15:00 Break

15:00 → 17:00 Working in Groups: Working in groups

Friday 13 November

14:00 → 14:45 Exporting and Sharing - Zenodo, HTR-United and Github

Speaker: Dr Martin Roček (Faculty of Arts, Charles University | Digital Lab, IMAFO, Austrian Academy of Sciences)

14:45 → 15:00 Break

15:00 → 17:00 Working in Groups: Working in groups

Friday 27 November

14:00 → 14:45 Working in Groups: Working in groups

14:45 → 15:00 Break

15:00 → 17:00 Plenary Session - Presentation of the results and discussion: Plenary session