Text Encoding Initiative: Background and Context - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792336895 ISBN 13: 9780792336891

Publisher: Springer, 1995

Synopsis

Charles F. Goldfarb Saratoga. California If asked for a sure recipe for chaos I would propose a I am delighted that my invention, the Standard project in which several thousand impassioned special­ Generalized Markup Language, was able to play a ists in scores of disciplines from a dozen or more role in the TEl's magnificent accomplishment, particu­ countries would be given five years to produce some larly because almost all of the original applications 1300 pages of guidelines for representing the informa­ of SGML were in the commercial and technological tion models of their specialties in a rigorous, machine­ realms. It is reasonable, of course, that organiza­ verifiable notation. Clearly, it would be sociologically tions with massive economic investments in new and and technologically impossible for such a group even changing information should want the benefits of infor­ to agree on the subject matter of such guidelines, let mation asset preservation and reuse that SGML offers. alone the coding details. But just as clearly as the It is gratifying that the TEl, representing the guardians bumblebee flies despite the laws of aerodynamics, the of humanity's oldest and most truly valuable informa­ Text Encoding Initiative has actually succeeded in such tion, chose SGML for those same benefits. an effort. The vaunted "information superhighway" would The TEl Guidelines are extraordinary.

About this title

Review

`I recommend this book highly. It succeeds both in serving as an informative and readable introductin to the TEI and in addressing many more technical and detailed topics that will appeal to potential TEI users from many different fields. The references and bibliographies are of the highest academic quality. The chapters are well written, edited and proofread.'
Natural Language Engineering, 4:2 (1998)

Synopsis

The Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) Guidelines for Electronic Text Encoding and Interchange are the result of over six years' work by dozens of scholars from all over the world. As such, they represent a pioneer effort in an area where only occasional and isolated attempts were made before. They will certainly serve as the primary basis for encoding texts in electronic form for the foreseeable future. The work of participants in the TEI not only involved consideration of problems of text encoding that are likely to be with us for decades to come, but also required the development of a methodology - from scratch - for approaching these problems. These pioneering efforts, while likely to be refined and extended, must not be lost: they provide the intellectual basis upon which text encoding practices will build in the future. This collection therefore documents the course of these efforts.'The TEI Guidelines are extraordinary. Even if they were never adopted they would stand as a significant contribution to scholarship for their detailed analysis of the information sets of a huge range of complex text types.' - From the Preface by Charles E.

Goldfarb, inventor of the Standard Generalized Markup Language.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792336895
• ISBN 13: 9780792336891
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 246
• Editor: Ide Nancy, Véronis Jean