After five years of development, the Middle English Text Series (METS) is thrilled to announce the launch of its new website. This landmark digital resource, designed to improve access to Middle English literature, celebrates a modernized platform that will serve the needs of a growing global audience of students, scholars, and medieval enthusiasts.
On November 1, more than 60 faculty members, students, and medieval literature fans gathered for a virtual launch party, marking the occasion and exploring the site’s features. This was followed by an in-person celebration in the Rossell Hope Robbins Library, a fitting home for the project, which has been a cornerstone of medieval studies at the University of Rochester since its establishment in 1987. The METS initiative began in 1990 as a collaboration between the Robbins Library, the University of Rochester, and the Teaching Association for Medieval Studies. Now, with a redesigned website, METS is set to inspire new generations of readers and researchers alike.
The aim of METS is simple but powerful: to provide free access to Middle English literature for anyone curious about these rich, historical texts. General editor and University of Rochester Professor Thomas Hahn notes, “METS' digital format aspires to take the series far beyond undergrad students and their teachers in the U.S. as a primary audience.”
In partnership with Cast Iron Coding, the METS team focused on improving functionality and accessibility to accommodate the growing number of visitors each year. The site, which hosts over 1,000 texts and receives more than half a million visits annually, now includes mobile compatibility, TEI/XML markups, and improved accessibility features. Plans are already underway to enhance accessibility for users with visual and hearing impairments, ensuring an inclusive experience for all visitors.
Creating this resource was a collaborative process. Faculty and students worked together to carefully edit and digitize each text, meeting the high standards of scholarship while adapting to the digital format. For managing editor Pamela Yee, the launch event was a gratifying reminder of the project’s impact: “It was really gratifying to see [that] during the launch everyone's comments in the chat were so supportive.”
She continued, “It feels like the medievalists who use this site are really excited about our new features and are really excited to bring this into the classroom so that we can share it with their students as well.”
The METS website will soon be featured at conferences nationwide, including the upcoming Medieval Academy of America’s annual conference in Boston.
Supported by funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the University of Rochester’s River Campus Libraries, METS is not just a resource but a legacy, preserving and sharing medieval literature for future generations. For students interested in contributing to this remarkable project, please contact executive director Anna Siebach-Larsen at alarsen@library.rochester.edu.
