In this May 1, 2014, talk, JASA member John Resig discusses and demonstrates the use of of the Ukiyo-e.org Japanese woodblock print database and search engine, a new tool for ukiyo-e researchers, scholars, and collectors that simplifies print research. He also presents new research that this site has made possible. The database currently contains over 213,000 prints from 24 institutions and has received 6.3 million page views from 260,000 people since its launch.
The database holds images of Japanese woodblock prints collected from a variety of museums, universities, libraries, auction houses, and dealers around the world. It provides the ability to search for prints simply by providing a photograph of a print. Using this tool, new copies of prints have already been located by scholars and curators. Additionally, museums have been able to correct information on unattributed prints, identifying the artist and comparing to known examples.
John Resig is the creator of the Ukiyo-e.org Japanese woodblock print database and search engine. He develops tools to aid ukiyo-e and ehon researchers. A visiting researcher at Ritsumeikan University, he recently presented at the 2013 Japanese Association for Digital Humanities conference in Kyoto. Head of Computer Science at Khan Academy, he is a renowned computer programmer, having created the jQuery JavaScript library used by over two-thirds of all web sites. He has also published two books on JavaScript programming: Pro JavaScript Techniques (2006) and Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja (2012).