Charles Littleton, Markup policy and TEI tag usage in the electronic edition of Robert Boyle's Work-diaries

Markup policy and TEI tag usage in the electronic edition of Robert Boyle's Work-diaries

Introduction

This document is divided into two parts. The first sets out how the editors of the Boyle Work-diaries project would like to see the material we have worked presented on the Web, i.e. the various components there are and their relations. The second part will be a more detailed description of the way in which I have used each of the principal TEI elements in these files. This will discuss its function in the file structure, the formatting we would prefer for it, and its attributes and the way they have been used. This last topic will be quite detailed as the attributes contain much data and formatting instructions in them.

Web format and layout of the work-diaries

This is summarized in the section on Web presentation found in the separate Editorial Policies document connected to these files. We will reproduce it here, but will add additional comments for programmers and Web formatters, which are distinguished by being within parentheses and italicised. The section reads:

Normalized and Diplomatic versions

Readers are offered a 'clean', normalized, and easily readable transcript of an entry which exists parallel to a 'diplomatic' version which includes all the emendations to which the entry was subject. In the normalized version of the work-diary, deletions and alterations to words in the original text have been omitted, unfamiliar abbreviations expanded and Roman numerals expressed as Arabic numbers. Places where there are deletions in the original (marked with ) are marked in the normalized text by a small red 'd' in brackets, and places where there are missing letters (marked with ) are marked by an red ellipsis in brackets; other words for which there is expanded textual commentary are also in red typeface (these include text marked with , with 'hand', 'place' or 'rend' attributes, and ). Similarly, abbreviations and Roman numerals which have been expanded or modernized are marked in green (marked with and ). These colours indicate that such words or sigla are hypertext links, clicking which will take the reader to the parallel 'diplomatic' version of the text, in which all the textual emendements made to the text are noted. The editorial commentary provided in the diplomatic version is written in italics, within square brackets and in a smaller font than the surrounding authorial text (the data contained in these editorial notes is contained in the attribute values of the relevant elements). Square brackets around words of the size of the surrounding text, in both the normalized and diplomatic versions, indicate that that word is an uncertain reading or is a place where there are missing letters in the original supplied by the editors by context - unless there is a note in the entry's editorial notes indicating that the square brackets are the author's own (marked by and elements). Unclear or supplied text in red in the noramlized text indicates that the corresponding word in the diplomatic version will give further information on the causes for its illegibility and will state whether the word is merely unlear or is supplied (contained in the 'reason' attribute of the and elements). The diplomatic and normalized texts are linked both ways and merely clicking on the bracketed and italicised editorial note in the diplomatic text will take the reader back to the same place in the normalized text. Readers should note, though, that links in the diplomatic version are not indicated by different colours, but are in the same black typeface as the surrounding text. (Obviously, it is up to the individual programmer and designer to determine how the sigla indicating deleted or missing words, unclear and supplied readings, expanded abbreviations, etc. are to be represented. We are not wedded to red or green words, etc. However, we do see the linking capability between normalised and diplomatic texts as the key feature of this edition and indeed all the markup policies have been geared primarily for that purpose.)

Other links and searching aids

We have also included other hypertext links for relevant words within the text - particularly names, places, and books referenced - which are linked to a separate biographical and topographical register (which can also be accessed independently). (These are indicated by the element with the value of its 'type' attribute indicating whether it is a biographical (type="person"), bibliographical (type="author") or topographical (type="place") reference; all these are to be linked to the biographical register (Register.xml) by means of links. The relevant link is indicated by the value of the 'key' attribute in , which is the value of the corresponding entry's 'id' value in the register (even though, unfortunately, 'key' is not an attribute of IDREF content)). Boyle was frequently indirect when naming his sources, often just referring to 'An eminent physician whom I know'. Where we have been unable to trace the identities of such mysterious figures, the description in the transcription will not be highlighted. Ocassionally we have been able to ascertain who these people are from knowledge of Boyle's life and contacts or from other clues in the text. In these cases, the description is highlighted and the corresponding note will explain how we have determined the actual named identity for Boyle's circumlocution. (Once again, it is up to the individual programmer to determine how to indicate the links of these elements. They should, however, be distinguished in some way from the sigla for the diplomatic transcription discussed above. We also ask that hypertext links, although they may be differently coloured, not be underlined, as is usually done on other web pages. This would confuse the reader as to Boyle's own original underlining practices.)

We intend that each entry should also be linked with certain 'keywords' which describe its nature and content, although not necessarily appearing in the entry itself (and therefore failing to produce the entry in a regular word search). We have attached keywords to a few sample entries, but have decided that devloping keywords for these entries is a long-term project, due to the variety of topics covered in these notes and the complexity of Boyle's chemical thought (or opacity of his language). We believe that this could be the sort of joint scholarly endeavour which electronic technology is now faclitating; we would like the site to become a place of scholarly and scientific exchange as readers discuss the significance of these entries and the concepts which are most central to them. We hope, then, that readers will assist us in devloping the keywords for these entries by contacting us with their ideas for pertinent categories and concepts to incorporate; please email Prof. Michael Hunter at m.hunter@bbk.ac.uk with your views and ideas. (This is obviously a long-term project which we have barely begun. We intend to use the element to indicate keywords. It is not something to worry about at the moment, though.)

Structure of the Web version of the transcription

The work-diary transcription has both an Editorial Introduction and the transcriptions of the entries themselves. The Editorial Introduction provides general information on the work-diary as a whole (all this information is contained in the , as follows; we do ask that readers have access to it somehow when consulting a work-diary): the title of the work-diary in