TCP Production Files

⇐ Return to main (index) page.

It is one thing to speak blithely about the creation of SGML/XML-encoded text, such as was created from early printed books under the auspices of the Text Creation Partnership at the University of Michigan Library; quite another to anticipate all the quirks of format, structure, and symbology early printers and authors could come up with during a singularly inventive age.This directory contains files used during the course of production to document decisions about the appropriate capture and encoding of features encountered in early print. The original keying and coding guidelines were written in a week; as books appeared, those guidelines, and the minimalist schema that went with them, needed to be revised and applied. Thus these documents, very much ad-hoc documents, created in response to actual questions and actual books As such, these are working files not intended originally for public distribution, but preserved here for the insight they might provide into the texts that the TCP produced -- as a record of decisions made, both wise and foolish.

VENDOR DOCUMENTATION

Keying/encoding instructions, version 3 (partial revision 2004)

Detailed guidelines for capturing the textual information in the EEBO items. (Version 1 and Version 2 are still available).

Sample pages

Index to 25+ sample pages from potential EEBO items, each presented as a page image or pair of page images (in .pdf) and a corresponding transcription (in SGML).

Calculating EEBO error rates

Documentation of sampling procedures and error-rate calculations

Examples of errors

Examples of "excusable" and "inexcusable" character-level transcription errors

"Illegible" ($) overused (1)

Examples of text unnecessarily marked as illegible

"Illegible" ($) overused (2)

More examples of text unnecessarily marked as illegible

"Illegible" ($) overused (3) and (4)

Yet more examples of text unnecessarily marked as illegible

The other extreme: guessing

Examples of text captured without sufficient warrant in the damaged original

More of the same

More examples of creative capture

Roman numerals

Two special problems with roman numerals: overlining and backwards-c

TEI guidelines

TEI P3 documentation, including element-by-element descriptions

EEBO tagging "cheat sheet"

Supplies a summary description of each of elements of the EEBO tag set (prepared for purposes of internal training)

DIV TYPEs

List of common and preferred values for the TYPE attribute

Decorated initials

Page of sample decorated initials (and non-decorated large initials for comparison)

Apothecaries' symbols

Capture of apothecaries' symbols (ounce, dram, scruple, etc.) as found in medical recipes.

Alchemical symbols

Some samples of alchemical symbols, with suggestions for capture (draft)

Unusual symbols used as note markers

Suggested capture for notes that use unusual symbols as markers.

Noting subtle font changes

Examples of subtle typeface changes to be marked with <HI> or <Q> (etc.).

Inverted letters

Examples of letters accidentally printed upside-down.

Sample alphabets from the Caxton's press: ; His 'type 1' font ; His 'type 2' font ; His 'type 3' font ; His 'type 4' font ; His 'type 5' font ; His 'type 6' font

Alphabets and letter combinations extracted from Caxton's type fonts, with tentative instructions on capture (to be revised as various letter combinations are seen in context in the books themselves).

Additional symbols

A supplement to the main keying instructions.

Character capture issues (March 2005)

Five proposed areas of change and innovation in character capture:

• Text of email about first four of these changes.
• Text of email about fifth proposed change (long-s).
• Characters needed for Welsh books.
• Clarification of upper-case I/J policies.
• Changes and clarifications of upper-case U/V policies.
• Introduction to Anglo-Saxon type.

When there's nothing there...

Quick summary of the treatment of blanks and things missing.

INTERNAL (REVIEWERS') DOCUMENTATION

[in progress] All characters list

Experimental list of all available character entities, with pictures. [will never be as up to date as the auto-generated charent list on which it is based.]

All character entities

List of all available charents (both TCP-created and ISO sets) with displayable forms as used in derivative XML version of texts [auto-generated from character map file (see below)].

Additional symbols/charents

Growing list of symbols for reviewers to recognize and supply beyond those in vendor instructions

More odd uses of symbols and characters

Especially math

Overview of review process

Basic guide to the inhouse review process as a whole

How to proof

Step-by-step guide to the proofing stage (preparing and proofing sample)

How to review

Step-by-step guide to the tag-review stage (reviewing and correcting book)

How to end

Step-by-step guide to the final stage (checking in and reporting)

More Latin abbrevs

Further examples of Latin abbreviations, etc.

Ambiguous abbreviations

Examples and draft policy on ambiguous characters and symbols, with examples. (also includes more examples of apothecary's measures)

Anglo-Saxon type

[now moved to vendor area]

Greek type and ligatures</a

Early modern Greek type and its characteristic forms and ligatures: introduction and a few unorganized samples

Hijacked symbols

Some thoughts on symbols pressed into duty against their will.

Reviewers' questions and tips relating to ...

Structure

Using DIVs to group like things; Using GROUP instead of BODY for several texts with common title front and/or back matter; DIVS and LETTER tags; Songs embedded in plays; Using Q for "raisins in oatmeal"; OPENERs and CLOSERs as holdalls; Dialogues and Catechisms: Questioner and Responder. When pages are in the wrong order.

Notes and Milestones

Note markers; Note placement; Handling endnotes.; STAGE and NOTE combined; Use of MILESTONE unit attribute; MILESTONEs with illegible values; Multiple notes with a single reference

Captions, Headings, and Quotations

Captions in figures; ARGUMENTS in verse; Quotations on title pages; Authorial interjections in quotations; Changing &startq; into <Q> and <HI>; <Q>s broken by <P>s. Q+BIBL inside HEAD. Q+BIBL inside TRAILER. Using running header for division header. Placement of epigraphs.

Letters

New tag: POSTSCRIPT; DIV versus LETTER; SALUTE and SIGNED; Use of DATELINE and DATE (DATELINE and SIGNED, DATELINE without DATE, Including dating system within DATE); Sample CLOSERs with problems; Correct sample CLOSERs and SIGNEDs; Lists of signatories.

Matters philosophical

Correcting illegibilities; Counting in/excusable errors; Purpose of DIV types; Printer's errors.

Matters miscellaneous

Superscripts, including superscript o; Clarifying UNCLEAR; Long or short lines in verse; Abbreviations and abbreviation entities; Tagging "Explicit"s; editing TABLEs; Acrostic poem; "Spoken by..." in plays; letters for rubricator.

Title Page matters

Proofing the title page; Handling epigraphs on title pages; Imprimaturs, approbations, licenses

Software tips (esp. TextPad)

TextPad clip libraries; TextPad upgrades; TextPad syntax file (for color-coding tags); downloading EEBO pdfs.

Divisions (DIVs)

Assigning div types; Sample div types; Use of "N" attribute alongside "TYPE"

Lists

Lists with curly braces; Genealogies as lists; Tables of Contents and Indexes as lists; Changes to the model of LIST; Syllogisms as lists

Character capture issues

Z and yogh in Scottish texts; Other uses of z; I/J; Illegibilities

Code

• TCP dtd version 1.0 (SGML version) for use in 2001
• TCP dtd version 2.0 (SGML version) for use in 2002+
• TCP character entity selection (auto-generated from TCP character map file)

For internal use only

• TCP dtd for the use of TCP staff MURPs (SGML version) for use in 2002+
• TCP XML dtd for indexing and online delivery only (adds SUP and SUB tags not found in SGML version)
• TCP SGML dtd for character map file (below)
• TCP character map file (complete list of character entities mapped to various replacement strings and supplied with Unicode equivalents, either canonical or private-use, from which file-conversion hashes and the SGML character-entity files can be derived)

Vendors' coding and capture queries (all very old)

1. (No. A1) Re: Drama tags (<SP>, <SPEAKER>) in non-dramatic dialogs. Marginal notes and numbers in prose texts. Page-level illegibility (see now P12 instead).
2. (No. A2) Re: Milestones.
3. (No. A3) Re: Musical notation.
4. (No. A6) Re: Single table, illustr., etc. spanning multiple pages.
5. (No. P1) Re: Marginal notes and numbers in prose texts. Strange "q"-like character in Latin passage.
6. (No. P2) Re: Odd characters: stars, pointing fingers, and dot-triplets.
7. (No. P3) Re: Braces; <STAGE> directions; marginal notes IMPLICITLY linked to asterisks in the text.
8. (No. P4) Re: Interlinear numbers in a "puzzle" poem; <SPEAKER> tags; <SPEAKER>s identified only by number.
9. (No. P5) Re: ee and oo ligatures with acute accent marks
10. (No. P7) Re: Numbers appearing usually (but not always) at beginnings of <P>s; specialized vs. default (fallback) tagging; blocks of text after FINIS.(<BACK> matter).
11. (No. P8) Re: identifying <LETTER>s buried in running text.
12. (No. P9) Re: missing t.p.; verse paragraphs; poetic letters; analytical summary table of contents; list vs. table; lapidary inscriptions; fractions; mismatched catchwords (missing pages?)
13. (No. P10) Re: text attached to figures; acrostics printed at an angle.
14. (No. P11) Re: in-line figures; overlining (of roman numerals).
15. (No. P12) Re: damaged and illegible text; out-of-sequence pages
16. (No. P13) Re: song lyrics interspersed with musical notation
17. (No. P15) Re: duplicate pages: capture both or one & if the latter, which one?
18. (No. P16) Re: right-justified words at ends of verse lines
19. (No. P17) Re: multiple typefaces used concurrently, partly to mark quotations
20. (No. T1) Re: miscellaneous tagging problems exemplified.

Question log (1) regarding the bidding process

Questions (with answers) received from data conversion firms, as well as updates and announcements.

Question log (2) regarding setup and production

Questions (with answers) received from data conversion firms, as well as updates and announcements.

Accumulated Wisdom garnered by the Oxford staff

Encoding

<ADD>

• Mistaken use of ADD tags in LETTERs;
• Use of ADD tags for typewritten material;
• ADD with handwritten material;
• ADD in CLOSERs

<CLOSER>

• Addressee in CLOSER;
• Notary signatures;
• Use of POSTSCRIPT;
• Problem CLOSERs;
• Signatures tagged as SALUTE;
• DATELINE tagged as SIGNED;
• Correctly tagged CLOSER with DATELINE;
• CLOSER or TRAILER?;
• CLOSER, SIGNED, for "quoth x" ;
• Unusual CLOSERs in LETTERs;
• DATELINE or SIGNED for descriptions of person or place?;
• "directions" after CLOSER in letters

DIV types

• EEBO DIV TYPEs;
• ECCO DIV TYPEs;
• DIV TYPE="list of authors";
• DIV type for lists of Scripture references;
• DIV TYPE="envoy" (1);
• DIV TYPE="register";
• DIV type for quoted remarks;
• DIV type for kings;
• DIV TYPE="corroboration";
• Q at the end of DIV; envoy (2);
• DIV TYPE="imprimatur";
• DIV TYPE="title";
• DIV TYPE="publisher's advertisement";
• DIV TYPE="testimonial";
• DIV TYPE="approbation";
• DIV TYPE="envoy" (3);
• DIV TYPE="docket title";
• DIV TYPE="attestation";
• DIV TYPE="advertisement" etc;
• DIV TYPE="mittimus" etc;
• DIV TYPE="versions";
• DIV TYPE="index" vs DIV TYPE="table of contents";
• DIV TYPE or N?

Drama

• Placement of STAGE directions;
• Use of STAGE for heads of speeches;
• Use of drama tags in other types of material;
• Use of STAGE for heads of speeches;
• "spoken by" as STAGE or OPENER;
• "spoken by" in STAGE not BYLINE;
• STAGE used in non-drama;
• STAGE used in musical texts;
• "enter chorus" as STAGE and SPEAKER;
• use of Q within dialogues and plays;
• STAGE in musical texts?;

<FIGURE>

• Captions functioning as HEADs;
• Uncaptured material in captions;
• FIGURE before HEAD;
• Tags allowed in FIGURE;
• Two related thoughts on FIGUREs;
• Placing FIGURE inside HEAD.;
• Multiple PBs in fold-out maps;
• FIGURE appearing at the end of text;
• FIGURE before HEAD?;
• Porphyry's tree diagram;
• TRAILER type="illustration";
• Use of FIGURE for title page borders?;
• Scheme attribute of FIGDESC;
• Capturing printers' devices;
• Guide letters in rubrication;
• Sample tagging of frontispiece with FIGURE, FIGDESC, and BYLINE

<GAP>

• Correcting illegibles;
• "Intruder" GAPs;
• Missing material of less than a page;
• Another intruder GAP;
• "Blank" GAPs;
• Mdash or blank gap?;
• Material omitted in print

<HEAD>

• Half titles captured as HEADs;
• "The text" appearing before an EPIGRAPH;
• ARGUMENT in HEAD

<LETTER>

• Marginal quotes;
• Letters broken by comments;
• Complex openings in LETTERs;
• Superscription in LETTER

<LG>

• Acrostic poems;
• Songs in drama;
• LGs with indented text;
• Obsolete type attributes for LGs;
• Nested LGs for songs in drama;
• Short or Long Verse Lines?;
• Verse numbers in metrical psalms;
• Lines entirely in HI;
• Short or long lines? (3)

<LIST>

• TRAILERS in LISTs;
• Complex nested LISTs;
• Simplifying an index;
• Simplifying LISTs with nesting;
• Simplifying LISTs with LABEL and ITEM;
• More on LABEL and ITEM;
• LISTs with just one ITEM;
• Syllogisms;
• ROLE="label" attribute for LABEL and ITEM;
• LISTs with curly braces;
• Syllables alongside syllogisms;
• Nested LISTs used for genealogies;
• Options for table of contents tagging;
• LIST type="sum";
• Mixture of LISTs and verse

Music

• ij;
• Hyphenated words in music;
• Vocal parts in music;
• Musical part book

<NOTE>

• Endnotes;
• Multiple NOTE sets;
• Interlinear NOTEs;
• Endnotes and markers in the text;
• Index fingers tagged as MILESTONE;
• UNIT values in MILESTONEs;
• LETTERs broken by comments;
• Linking Endnotes;
• Difference between REF and PTR;
• Automatically moving NOTEs next to markers;
• Endnote or marginal note?;
• Correct use of endnotes;
• Strung out marginal notes

<OPENER>

• Tagging "to the tune of";
• OPENER and CLOSER as holdalls;
• DATELINE without DATE;
• Complex OPENERs in songs;
• "To the honour of God" as OPENER;
• Complex opening to dedication;
• Where to split HEADs and OPENERs;
• DIV TYPE="ballad"; more on HEADs and OPENERs in songs

<Q>

• Q versus HI REND="marginal quotes";
• startq; and endq; to mark dialogue;
• when to use HI REND="marginal quotes";
• one-off dilemma;
• Q and BIBL within HEAD;
• Two Ps within one Q, or two Qs?;
• authorial interjections in quotations";
• Use of Q and BIBL in HEAD (2);
• Q or TRAILER at the end of chapters;
• Use BIBL where there are no Q tags?;
• Thus far in BIBL

Structure

• Replacing BODY with GROUP;
• Wrong PB numbers

<TABLE>

• Parallel text or TABLE?;
• Use of TABLEs for paired quotations;
• TABLE tagging: rowspans;
• Point-by-point structure in parallel text

Title Pages

• Extra title page known as a "cancel";
• Engraved or handwritten title pages

Transcription

Abbreviations and Ligatures

• Esq;;
• Ambiguious ae/oe forms;
• German eszett/ss/tz;
• Barred q symbol meaning "qui" or "quam"?;
• More on barred q;
• E hook, eogon, and ae ligature;
• G with an abbreviation stroke;
• Caxton's barred double-l;
• Abbreviations for Christ;
• Removing ABBR round barred double-l;
• Abbreviation for "qui";
• Caxton's "d-flourish";
• Abbreviation for "quartern(e)"

Fonts

• Anglo-Saxon mistranscribed;
• Dealing with Gaelic/Irish fonts;
• Anglo-Saxon P and wyn;
• z/yogh; p/thorn;
• Scottish yogh and sz

Foreign alphabets

• Greek symbol made up of o and u;
• Standardization of Hebrew character entities;
• Breathings in Greek;
• Problems with capturing Greek;
• Breathings in Greek (2)

Miscellaneous

• Where to find the latest charent file;
• Blocks of upside down characters;
• Upper-case Z in the middle of words;
• Whitespace capture

Punctuation

• Half slashes captured as commas;
• Use of &punc; within a word;
• Full stops in the shape of crosses;
• Space between elided article and noun in French;
• Mdash or blank gap?;
• ct ligature for ampersands;
• End-of-line hyphens

Unresolved Queries

• Unresolved query;
• Another query

Symbols

Handwritten Symbols;
• Jupiter v. Recipe;
• Date symbols;
• Stand-alone symbols;
• X as denarius;
• Infinity symbol;
• Squares and Quadrines;
• Use of generic and specific cross entity references;
• Rotated index fingers;
• Reversed section symbol;
• Rx symbol;
• Fractions;
• Note-markers

Technical

DTD and image sets

Other

Miscellaneous

Matters philosophical

Correcting illegibilities; Counting in/excusable errors; Purpose of DIV types; Printer's errors.

Matters miscellaneous

Superscripts, including superscript o; Clarifying UNCLEAR; Long or short lines in verse; Abbreviations and abbreviation entities; Tagging "Explicit"s; Editing TABLEs; Acrostic poem; "Spoken by..." in plays; Letters for rubricator.