180 likes | 278 Views
Documenting Text Encoding Practices for Academics. Julia Flanders Brown University Women Writers Project. Scholarly text encoding. Specialized but significant Tension and ongoing debate about relationship of “scholarly” and “technical” realms
E N D
Documenting Text Encoding Practices for Academics Julia Flanders Brown University Women Writers Project
Scholarly text encoding • Specialized but significant • Tension and ongoing debate about relationship of “scholarly” and “technical” realms • Marked by direct, intensive engagement with textual materials and digital representation CNI Task Force 2003
Overview • Scholarly text encoding: what and why • Text Encoding Initiative background • Women Writers Project background • NEH/Delmas documentation project • Goals and audience • Relationship to TEI Guidelines • Workplan, structure, progress, significance CNI Task Force 2003
Text Encoding Initiative • Founded 1987, funded by NEH • Restructured as a membership consortium, 2000 • TEI Guidelines (P3) published 1994, updated (P4) 2003 • P5 forthcoming, 2005? • http://www.tei-c.org CNI Task Force 2003
TEI Guidelines • A common language for humanities text encoding projects • Standards-based: SGML, XML, Unicode • Broad coverage of genre, discipline • Open-ended rather than tightly specified • Ongoing research effort • Extensible by users CNI Task Force 2003
<lg type=“poem.quatrain” lang=“en” id=“PP” corresp=“PQP”> <head><name>Probable-Possible</name>, My Black Hen</head> <l><name>Probable-Possible</name>, my black hen</l> <l>She lays eggs in the Relative When;</l> <l>She never lays eggs in the Possible Now</l> <l>Because she’s unable to postulate how.</l> </lg> <lg type=“poem.quatrain” lang=“fr” id=“PQP” corresp=“PP”> <head><name>Plus-que-Possible</name>, Ma Poule Noire</head> <l><name>Plus-que-Possible</name>, ma poule noire</l> <l>Elle pond ses oeufs dans la Quand-Provisoire;</l> <l>Elle ne pond point dans une période sure</l> <l>Car l’expérience serait bien trop dure.</l> </lg> CNI Task Force 2003
<pb n="04"> <milestone unit="sig" n="A2v"> <mw rend="align(center)" type="pagenum">4</mw> <l>The In&s;piring Mind Illu&s;trious, Rich, and Great;</l> <l>A Mind that can inform your wond'rous Pen</l> <l rend="indent(1)">In all that's Perfect and Sublime:</l> <l>And with an Art beyond the Wit of Men,</l> <l rend="indent(1)">On what e're Thea<unclear reason=”damage">m</unclear>, on what e're great De&s;ign,</l> <l>It carries a Commanding Force, like that of Writ Divine.</l> </lg> CNI Task Force 2003
Motives for WWP effort • To clarify where the TEI is unclear • To specify where the TEI is general • To document and publish WWP extensions CNI Task Force 2003
Women Writers Project • Text encoding research project • Early women’s writing in English, 1450-1850s • Publisher of Women Writers Online • Founded 1987, first funded 1988 • Long history of affiliation and connection with TEI CNI Task Force 2003
NEH/Delmas Project • http://dev.stg.brown.edu/projects/wwpneh/ • Two years of funding • Deliverables: • WWP internal documentation made public • Encoding Guide: a companion to the TEI Guidelines CNI Task Force 2003
Project Goals • Increase comprehension of text encoding among academics • Lower the start-up costs for small digitization projects • Improve consistency and quality of encoding CNI Task Force 2003
Audience • Faculty advisors for text encoding projects • Project directors and managers • Individual faculty who want to do text encoding on their own CNI Task Force 2003
Plan of work • Revise the WWP’s internal documentation • Review the work/documentation of other projects • Publish drafts for critique • Publish final version electronically CNI Task Force 2003
Structure of the Guide • Narrative • For initial learning process • Explanation of what text encoding is and does • Description of how to model textual information usefully • Guide to decision-making CNI Task Force 2003
Structure of the Guide • Reference database • Keyworded for lookup, searching • Used for reference, training • Cookbook and examples CNI Task Force 2003
Progress so far • Gathered documentation from other projects • Produced outline of entire Guide • Began revising WWP internal documentation • Produced internal drafts of two chapters • Project web site: http://dev.stg.brown.edu/projects/wwpneh/ CNI Task Force 2003
Significance • A model for work needed in other areas • A sign of changes: how digital materials are being created and used • A community to watch CNI Task Force 2003
Women Writers Project http://www.wwp.brown.edu http://dev.stg.brown.edu/projects/wwpneh/ Text Encoding Initiative Consortium http://www.tei-c.org