1 This paper aims to communicate some of the main findings from a user study I conducted in 2014 on the potential role of tablet computers for the dissemination of digital scholarly editions. The study, which is comprised of an online survey and some interviews, forms a very early component of my research for the DiXiT Marie Curie network. 2 My research role within this network is to attempt to create an editorial model of best practices for the dissemination of digital editions of scholarly

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... ts in manifold formats to diverse audiences. A crucial element of this methodological research will be to consider the devices and interfaces by which users access and consume the content of scholarly editions. Objectives A principal aim of the user study was to identify user needs, purposes and interactions with scholarly editions and also to gather data on their working habits and digital technology usage patterns. As someone without a background in scholarly editing I also decided to employ this user study as a means to satisfy some of my own initial curiosities about the field. Academically I trained as a historian and professionally I worked for a number of years as an editor creating digitised collections of archival materials for a commercial publisher. Consequently I included a few questions that are not specifically related to my investigation on tablets but rather to the field as a whole, but I hope those results may also be found useful to others. Why this particular study? In an age in which many people expect to be able to digitally access relevant information on almost any device it was surprising to discover how few digital editions were responsively designed or specifically designed for tablets and/or smartphones. In several countries mobile access to the web has now surpassed desktop usage and trends suggest that this will become a global picture in the near future. 3 Surely if such devices can reach a large audience then we should consider how to employ them to disseminate knowledge from scholarly editions of texts, be that in the shape of an entire edition or just certain components of it for particular purposes. How might a tablet-based edition fit into the workflow of a researcher and how might students and teachers use one in the classroom? To answer these kinds of questions it is absolutely crucial to try and understand the users. Claire Warwick said of humanities users that 1 Antwerp University. Email: aodhan.kelly@ uantwerpen.be 2 DiXiT is an international network of high-profile institutions from the public and the private sector that are actively involved in the creation and publication of digital scholarly editions, . 3 . Manuscrítica § n. 28 • 2015 revista de crítica genética Tablet computers for the dissemination of digital scholarly editions Ateliê 124 III. Digital Scholarly Editions [...] despite the popular image of the luddite humanities scholar who does not know what they need or how to use it, we have found that users have very complex models of their information needs and environment; they are thoughtful and critical about the affordances of physical and digital resources. 4 The vast majority of digital editions which I trialled on a tablet were not responsively designed. Those that were responsive to the smaller screen size were still difficult to use from a touchscreen user's perspective. Beyond browser-based editions there appears to be very few apps specifically designed for handheld TUI (touch user interface) devices, with some notable exceptions, such as the CantApp edition of the Canterbury Tales that is under construction and also an iPad edition of the Exeter Book aimed at high school students. A digital edition of The Waste Land that was developed by a commercial publisher, TouchPress, has proven to be highly popular but would probably not be deemed to be a "scholarly edition" by the academic community. Commercially there are also some instances of print editions being adapted into interactive eBooks, for example Random House's The annotated Pride and prejudice, which is comprised of an annotated text integrated with an audiobook, interactive maps and timelines as well as video. Such examples are well-made and pleasant to use but scholarly editors have not really embraced these publishing formats thus far. Kathleen Fitzpatrick in Planned obsolescence: publishing technology and the future of the academy pleas for scholars to open to "the possibility that new modes of publishing might enable, not just more texts, but better texts, not just an evasion of obsolescence, but a new life for scholarship". 5 The proliferation of portable handheld TUI devices marks a very significant shift in how we engage with information in many aspects of our lives. This begs the question as to whether such hardware could become a channel that would provide some form of new life for digital scholarly editions of texts. Can they provide something a little different than web browser-based editions? Methodology