oxford text archive
TRANSCRIPT
Funded by:
© AHDS
Oxford Text Archiveand good practice in the creation
of electronic resources
http://ota.ahds.ac.uk
Martin [email protected]
with a lot of help from Ylva [email protected]
Funded by:
© AHDS
Case study: Terms of Address in Ben Jonson’s plays
• Database of all address terms • Instances coded for various parameters
– addresser/addressee, type of address, reference, etc.
• Stored on computer + back-ups on floppy disks
• The creator is happy to share the resource…
Funded by:
© AHDS
Problem 1: Hardware/media• Changes in hardware → data on old
computer and floppies now largely inaccessible
• Storage media vulnerable
Funded by:
© AHDS
Problem 2: Software
• Specialist software → data tied into application
• Proprietary software → ongoing support for application reliant on commercial interests
• Program versions: compatibility, different platforms → not compatible
Funded by:
© AHDS
Problem 3: Coding/mark-up
• Personal scheme – not comparable to other resources– doesn’t work with generic software
• Documentation– resource soon becomes unusable if
documentation is inadequate or impossible to find
Funded by:
© AHDS
Problem 4: Sharing• Dissemination
– Awareness– Distribution– Sustainability
Funded by:
© AHDS
Solution 1: Hardware/media• Migrate data from old hardware• Don’t keep on only one machine• Don’t store on vulnerable media
Funded by:
© AHDS
Solution 2: Software • Avoid specialised software unless
possible to migrate data• Consider open source
Funded by:
© AHDS
Solution 3: Coding/mark-up• Use standards• Document!
Funded by:
© AHDS
Example: htmlThis is boldThis is <b>bold</b>
This is a nounThis is a <b>noun</b>
Funded by:
© AHDS
Example: COCOA<Q FRENCH><A SARTRE><T NAUSEE><I 9><L 1>%"$C' EST UN GAR*CON SANS IMPORTANCE COLLECTIVE,%
%C' EST TOUT JUSTE UN INDIVIDU."%\L#-\F# \CE[LINE.%\L' E[GLISE\.%<F 00><P 11><L 1>%%AVERTISSEMENT DES E[DITEURS%%%$CES CAHIERS ONT E[TE[ TROUVE[S PARMI LES PAPIERS D'
\ANTOINE R\OQUENTIN.\%%$NOUS LES PUBLIONS SANS Y RIEN CHANGER.%…
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© AHDS
Example: XML<s n="97"><w type="AJ0">Normal</w> <w type="NN1">economy</w> <w type="NN1">return</w> <w type="VBZ">is</w> <w type="NN0">£262</w> <c type="PUN">.</c>
</s>
Funded by:
© AHDS
Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)• Guidelines for the encoding of electronic
texts using XML• For interchange• Guidelines freely available• http://www.tei-c.org/
Funded by:
© AHDS
Encoding
• Choose language/format– e.g. XML
• Choose coding scheme– e.g. TEI
Funded by:
© AHDS
Markup and encoding options
• Word processing files• PDF• Database• HTML• SGML• XML• Plain text• Unicode
Funded by:
© AHDS
Advantages of XML• Standard not only in scholarly text
encoding, but publishing, web, etc.• Growing number of tools• Community of users, support• Re-usable skills, useful to learn• XML resources good for repurposing• XML resources good for preservation• Disadvantages? Cost, complexity
Funded by:
© AHDS
Advantages of TEI• Standard in scholarly text encoding,• Community of users, support available• Extensible• TEI resources good for interchange• Disadvantages:
– Cost, complexity– Compromises to text integrity– Overlapping hierarchies
Funded by:
© AHDS
Disadvantages of TEI• Cost, complexity• Compromises to text integrity• Overlapping hierarchies…
Funded by:
© AHDS
<p><sp cat=”NRS”>One officer said:</sptag><sp cat=”DS”>'This is like an episode from Inspector Morse.</p><p>"The victim was single but we believe he had several lady friends.</p><p>"It is possible that it was something in the background of one of those relationships that caused his death. .</p><p>"We don't think he was linked with any criminals or involved in any secret wrong doing." .</p></sp><p><sp cat=”N”>Police have not ruled out the possibility of a contract killing by ahitman.</sp></p>
Funded by:
© AHDS
Solution 4: Sharing
• Inform user/subject communities • Metadata• Consider using archives
Funded by:
© AHDS
Oxford Text Archive• Founded in 1976• Collect, catalogue, preserve, and
distribute high-quality electronic resources
• Advise creators and users• Part of the AHDS
Funded by:
© AHDS
AHDS http://www.ahds.ac.uk
• Archaeology • History• Literature, Languages and Linguistics• Performing Arts• Visual Arts
+• Executive
Funded by:
© AHDS
The OTA today
• About 2000 resources, in 25 languages• Mostly primary texts, ‘classics’• Language corpora• Increasingly, more complex resources,
with more intellectual content• http://www.ota.ahds.ac.uk/
Funded by:
© AHDS
The OTA in the future• New webpage
– More information– New ways of accessing resources
• Workshops and training events– Digitisation workshop– For new projects– Specialised workshops
• New resources
Funded by:
© AHDS
Oxford Text Archiveand good practice in the creation
of electronic resources
http://ota.ahds.ac.ukMartin Wynne
[email protected] a lot of help from Ylva Berglund