Signe Rirdance presented early Latvian manuscript research at Transkribus User Conference 2026
Signe Rirdance, a PhD student and a Transkribus scholarship recipient, presented her work at the Transkribus User Conference 2026 in Passau, Germany, 21-23 September 2026. Transkribus is an AI-assisted platform for transcribing, searching and analysing historical handwritten documents.
Signe Rirdance.
In her presentation “From Manuscript to Model for Early Latvian: Deciphering the Mixed-Script Hand of Andreas Getzel (1628),” Signe Rirdance explored how Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR), palaeography and philological expertise can be combined to unlock the mixed German Kurrent and Humanist cursive script, non-standard orthography and distinctive diacritics of this largest surviving manuscript of early Latvian. Her participation in the conference was funded by P.A. Siljeströms Foundation.
The conference also offered valuable opportunities for exchange with other users of Transkribus, including researchers from the University of Latvia, Rūta Bruževica and Annija Berzinska. Such exchanges underline the importance of continued collaboration in digital approaches to Latvian written heritage.
Read more about the presentation in the TUC 2026 programme
Read more about Signe Rirdance's research on her profile page
Rūta Bruževica (University of Latvia), Signe Rirdance (Stockholm University), Annija Berzinska (University of Latvia) at the Transkribus User Conference 2026.
Last updated: 2026-10-09
Source: Communications Office