From 15 to 17 October 2025, the Aula Magna of the Department of Letters and Philosophy at the University of Cassino hosted the training seminar “The Forms of the Biblical Manuscript. Methodological Approaches and Research Perspectives ”, organised within the framework of DOBiPS – Data Oriented Biblical Paratext Studies, a project closely connected to the activities of MeMo DOBiPS – Data Oriented Biblical Paratext Studies, and the LIBeR – Libro e Ricerca Laboratory LIBeR – Libro e Ricerca.

Over three days, distinguished scholars – including Emanuela Colombi, Marilena Maniaci, Giulia Orofino, Roberta Casavecchia, Maddalena Sparagna, Gabriella Macchiarelli, Elvira Zambardi e Alessandra Peri – guided participants through an in-depth exploration of the history, materiality, paratexts, and transmission of biblical manuscripts, with a special focus on the Cassinese tradition and the great Atlantic Bibles.

Alongside the lectures, hands-on workshops led by Silverio Franzoni e Margherita Filippozzi offered participants a direct introduction to the project’s core activities: the digital cataloguing of biblical manuscripts and the use of the DOBiPS database, a key tool for the study of biblical paratexts through integrated and comparative methodologies. The final session, held at the Archive of the Abbey of Montecassino, allowed attendees to work directly with the biblical manuscripts preserved in this exceptional monastic collection.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the seminar was the wide and diverse participation: university students, Master’s candidates, young researchers, senior scholars, and teachers from secondary schools all shared the same learning environment. This diversity showed how research conducted at the highest academic level can also become shared knowledge, capable of engaging and educating broader audiences.

The seminar demonstrated how the principles at the heart of DOBiPS – open knowledge, inclusivity, participation, and citizen science – are not merely theoretical values, but concrete practices capable of building communities and bringing people closer to the written heritage through digital tools and innovative methodologies.

An experience of study and exchange that naturally continues the path opened by MeMo and LIBeR: making manuscript heritage accessible, understandable, and alive, while fostering new connections between research, teaching, and public engagement.

Here you can find the poster with the complete program of the event: