Leslie A. Morris, a Harvard librarian in charge of the project who also convened the advisory board, declined to elaborate on Manning’s comment on the dispute.
Elisa New, a Harvard English professor who is not involved in the archive, said that based on her limited knowledge of the dispute, she senses that the tensions are “about credit and attribution.”
“I doubt, myself, that Harvard meant to disrespect Amherst, but I’m not a party to this,” New said.
Despite the recent strife, scholars from both Amherst and Harvard alike expressed optimism about the archive’s launch.
“I myself feel incredibly happy that this level of openness is where we’ve gotten to,” New said. “If we can provide digital access to scholars and learners all over the world, I am delighted that we can do that.”
For his part, Kelly found a silver lining in the dispute.
“Dickinson always generates interest and controversy, and as usual, it’s generally blown out of proportion,” Kelly said. “If this makes people pay more attention to Dickinson, and if this little bit of controversy makes people look at this Harvard Dickinson website who may not have done so before, that’s only a good thing.”