Documenting Text Encoding Practices for Academics Julia Flanders

Documenting Text Encoding Practices for Academics Julia Flanders Brown University Women Writers Project CNI Task Force 2003

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 9/18/2020 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 9/18/2020 CNI Task Force 2003

Text Encoding Initiative • Founded 1987, funded by NEH • Restructured as a membership consortium, 2000 • TEI Guidelines (P 3) published 1994, updated (P 4) 2003 • P 5 forthcoming, 2005? • http: //www. tei-c. org 9/18/2020 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 9/18/2020 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 pé riode sure</l> <l>Car l’expé rience serait bien trop dure. </l> </lg> 9/18/2020 CNI Task Force 2003

<pb n="04"> <milestone unit="sig" n="A 2 v"> <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> 9/18/2020 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 9/18/2020 CNI Task Force 2003

Women Writers Project • Text encoding research project • Early women’s writing in English, 14501850 s • Publisher of Women Writers Online • Founded 1987, first funded 1988 • Long history of affiliation and connection with TEI 9/18/2020 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 9/18/2020 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 9/18/2020 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 9/18/2020 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 9/18/2020 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 9/18/2020 CNI Task Force 2003

Structure of the Guide • Reference database – Keyworded for lookup, searching – Used for reference, training • Cookbook and examples 9/18/2020 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/ 9/18/2020 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 9/18/2020 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 9/18/2020 CNI Task Force 2003