ABSTRACT
Digital projects need to be considered as arguments: they argue for the importance of the material they present, and they shape the ways users conceptualize and research texts and archives. This chapter examines the kinds of arguments some existing digital projects make about early modern drama. It focuses on a handful of varied resources that reflect research practices: from providing bibliographic descriptions of primary sources and their origins, to offering digital facsimiles, to emphasizing the events and people in theater history, to making international and multilingual scholarship findable. The chapter highlights the value of more transparent decisions in regards to curation and design, by acknowledging that digital projects are the product of critical and editorial choices. Early English Books Online, the English Short Title Catalogue, Database of Early English Playbooks, and British Literary Manuscripts Online reveal the continued importance of archival research, while also demonstrating the need for innovative approaches to data curation.
