The MLA Committee on the New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare (NVS) is sponsoring the third NVS Digital Challenge to find the most innovative and compelling uses of the data contained in one of the NVS editions. The MLA is making available the XML files and schema for two volumes, The Winter’s Tale and The Comedy of Errors, under a Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 license.

The committee seeks entries featuring new means of displaying, representing, and exploring this data in the most exciting API, interface, visualization, or data-mining project. Entries may be in code, but contestants are encouraged to create wireframes that visualize the various uses of the XML files and serve as schemata for programmers. This will involve a visual and written rationale that offers rigorous scholarly and theoretical reflection. The goal is to see the possibilities of the NVS in digital form and, in particular, the innovations in scholarly research, teaching, or acting and directing that might be enabled by opening up the NVS’s code. The winner will receive $500 and will be recognized at the 2017 MLA convention in Philadelphia. Entries may be sent to nvs@mla.org and must be received no later than 1 August, 2016.

Visit the New Variorum Shakespeare Digital Challenge page to learn more and download the files.