The MELD project has involved the advice, skills and hard labour of a large number of people - we are truly thankful to everyone who has contributed!
The MELD project was financed jointly by the Research Council of Norway and the University of Stavanger in the period 2012-16. The Stavanger team during this period consisted of Geir Bergstrøm, Anastasia Khanukaeva, Delia Schipor, Merja Stenroos, Jacob Thaisen and Kjetil Vikhamar Thengs.
We received much useful input and advice from our external co-workers: Professor Jeremy J. Smith (Glasgow), Dr Martti Mäkinen (Helsinki) and Dr Vibeke Jensen (Volda).
Apart from the project team itself, several people made important contributions to the project. Nedelina Naydenova made the first preliminary classification of documentary texts, and early transcriptions were made by Anne Liv Vastveit Halvorsen, Vibeke Jensen and Hildegunn Støle. After the project period, the MEST team has continued to work on preparing the corpus for publication and developing it further; the team has included Michal Adamczyk, Karoline Johansen and Kenneth Solberg-Harestad, in addition to Merja and Kjetil. In particular, Kenneth has made a substantial contribution in updating and checking the older transcriptions.
The team is extremely grateful to the Department of Cultural Studies and Languages, University of Stavanger, for constant support and for providing the necessities for a good practical running of the project, most importantly our Project Room.
During the project period, we have benefited from the advice and inspiration of several colleagues. We are especially grateful to Michael Benskin and William A. Kretzschmar Jr, both of whom contributed directly to the inception of the present project. A very large number of colleagues have provided advice and inspiration along the way: in particular, we would like to thank Mike Kestemont, Joanna Kopaczyk, Erik Kwakkel, Katie Lowe, Terttu Nevalainen, Matti Peikola, Irma Taavitsainen and Laura Wright.
Our most important debt is, however, to the staff of the archives we have visited and contacted, many of whom have gone far beyond the call of duty to help us:
National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
Alnwick Castle
Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, Aylesbury
North Devon Record Office, Barnstaple
Bath Record Office
Bedfordshire and Luton Archives, Bedford
East Riding of Yorkshire Archives, Beverley
Birmingham Archives
Birmingham Library
Bradford Central Library
East Sussex Record Office, Brighton
Bristol Record Office
Suffolk Record Office, Bury St Edmunds
Cambridgeshire Archives
Cambridge University Library
King’s College, Cambridge
St John's College, Cambridge
Canterbury Cathedral Archives
Cumbria Archive Centre, Carlisle
Essex Record Office, Chelmsford
Cheshire Record Office, Chester
West Sussex Record Office, Chichester
Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, Chippenham
Herbert History Centre, Coventry
Dorset History Centre, Dorchester
Durham Record Office
Durham University Library
Devon Heritage Centre, Exeter
Gloucestershire Archives
Göttingen University Library
Halifax, Calderdale
Herefordshire Archives
Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies
Huddersfield Central Library
West Yorkshire Archive System: Huddersfield, Kirklees
Hull History Centre
Huntingdonshire Archives, Huntingdon
Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich
Keele University Library
Cumbria Archive Centre, Kendal
Sizergh Castle
Leeds Central Library
West Yorkshire Archive System: Leeds
Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Leeds
The Record Office of Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland
Lichfield Record Office
Lincolnshire Archives
Liverpool University, Sydney Jones Library
British Library
London College of Arms
Guildhall Library, London
London Metropolitan Archives
The National Archives, Kew
Suffolk Record Office, Lowestoft
Kent History and Library Centre, Maidstone
Manchester University, John Rylands Library
Derbyshire Record Office, Matlock
North Yorkshire Record Office, Northallerton
Northamptonshire Archives Service
Norfolk Record Office, Norwich
Nottingham University Library
Nottinghamshire Archives
Bodleian Library, Oxford
Magdalen College Archives, Oxford
Oxfordshire History Centre
Queen's College Archives, Oxford
Plymouth and West Devon Record Office
Lancashire Archives, Preston
Berkshire Record Office, Reading
Sheffield Archives
Shropshire Archives, Shrewsbury
Southampton Archives
Staffordshire Record Office
Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive, Stratford-upon-Avon
Somerset Archives, Taunton
Cornwall Record Office, Truro
Walsall Local History Centre
Warrington Library
Warwickshire Record Office
Hampshire Record Office, Winchester
Surrey History Centre, Woking
Northumberland Archives, Woodhorn
Worcester Cathedral
Worcestershire Archives
York City Archives