LEMDO: Choose Linking Mechanisms

Choose Linking Mechanisms

Prior Reading

Introduction to Making Links

Principles, Practices, and Caveats of Linking

Introduction to Linking Mechanisms

Rationale

LEMDO uses the pointer and reference mechanisms to create most links in our editions. You will determine which linking mechanism to use based on your encoding scenario for each link. This documentation will explain how to choose which linking mechanism to use.

When to Choose the Pointer Mechanism

You may only use the pointer mechanism (encoded using the self-closing


                                          <ptr>

element) when linking to your edition. We recommend using the


                                          <ptr>

element for the following scenarios:

When you are linking to an act, scene, speech, or specific point in your modernized text.

When you are linking to a speech in your semi-diplomatic transcription.

When you are linking to a


                                                <div>

in one of your critical paratexts that has a heading (encoded as a


                                                <head>

element) and you want your citation to match the heading of that


                                                <div>

When you are linking to an entire file in your edition and you want your citation to match the title of your file.

We recommend using the pointer mechanism in these scenarios because it will ensure that citations are consistently formatted across both your edition and the entire LEMDO project.

Once you have determined that you will use the pointer mechanism to encode a link, you must also decide whether to add the


                                       @type

attribute. You will only add the


                                       @type

attribute on the


                                          <ptr>

element in two scenarios: 1) when you are linking to an act, scene, speech, or specific point in your modernized text and 2) when you are linking to a speech in your semi-diplomatic transcription. Using the


                                       @type

attribute with a value of "localCit" tells our processor to supply a canonical reference (i.e., an Act, Scene, Speech number) as the text of your citation. See Encode Pointer Links for information on how we use the


                                       @type

attribute when linking to modernized texts.

When to Choose the Reference Mechanism

You must use the reference mechanism (encoded using the


                                          <ref>

element) when creating links to anything outside of your edition. You may use the reference mechanism when linking to your edition.

Use the


                                          <ref>

element in the following scenarios:

When you are linking within your edition and you want to control what text appears in your citation (i.e., you do not want the canonical reference for an act, scene, or speech; you do not want the heading of a


                                                <div>

that you are linking to; or you do not want the title of the file that you are linking to to appear as the text of your citation).

When you are linking to a different edition in the LEMDO project.

When you are linking to a sitewide database such as BIBL1.

When you are linking to an external database such as DEEP.

When you are linking to an external Web site or page.

What you provide as the value of the


                                       @target

attribute on your


                                          <ref>

element depends on which of the above scenarios you are linking for. See Encode Reference Links for more information about encoding the


                                       @target

attribute on your


                                          <ref>

element.

Decision Tree

The following decision tree graphically lays out which linking mechanism to use.

Flowchart showing laying out the scenarios for using ref and pointer as outlined above.

Prosopography

Chloe Mee

Chloe Mee (she/her) worked as a research assistant with the LEMDO team over several periods from 2022 to 2025. She graduated from the University of Victoria in 2025 with a BA (Hons with distinction) in English. She will be studying at the University of British Columbia to complete her MA in English. Chloe collaborated with the LEMDO team on a VKURA internship in summer 2022, mainly focusing on Hamlet quartos. Following her internship, she also worked as a research assistant in 2022–23 and 2025.

Isabella Seales

Isabella Seales is a fourth year undergraduate completing her Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of Victoria. She has a special interest in Renaissance and Metaphysical Literature. She is assisting Dr. Jenstad with the MoEML Mayoral Shows anthology as part of the Undergraduate Student Research Award program.

Janelle Jenstad

Janelle Jenstad is a Professor of English at the University of Victoria, Director of The Map of Early Modern London, and Director of Linked Early Modern Drama Online. With Jennifer Roberts-Smith and Mark Kaethler, she co-edited Shakespeare’s Language in Digital Media: Old Words, New Tools (Routledge). She has edited John Stow’s A Survey of London (1598 text) for MoEML and is currently editing The Merchant of Venice (with Stephen Wittek) and Heywood’s 2 If You Know Not Me You Know Nobody for DRE. Her articles have appeared in Digital Humanities Quarterly, Elizabethan Theatre, Early Modern Literary Studies, Shakespeare Bulletin, Renaissance and Reformation, and The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. She contributed chapters to Approaches to Teaching Othello (MLA); Teaching Early Modern Literature from the Archives (MLA); Institutional Culture in Early Modern England (Brill); Shakespeare, Language, and the Stage (Arden); Performing Maternity in Early Modern England (Ashgate); New Directions in the Geohumanities (Routledge); Early Modern Studies and the Digital Turn (Iter); Placing Names: Enriching and Integrating Gazetteers (Indiana); Making Things and Drawing Boundaries (Minnesota); Rethinking Shakespeare Source Study: Audiences, Authors, and Digital Technologies (Routledge); and Civic Performance: Pageantry and Entertainments in Early Modern London (Routledge). For more details, see janellejenstad.com.

Joey Takeda

Joey Takeda is LEMDO’s Consulting Programmer and Designer, a role he assumed in 2020 after three years as the Lead Developer on LEMDO.

Mahayla Galliford

Project manager, 2025-present; research assistant, 2021-present. Mahayla Galliford (she/her) graduated with a BA (Hons with distinction) from the University of Victoria in 2024. Mahayla’s undergraduate research explored early modern stage directions and civic water pageantry. Mahayla continues her studies through UVic’s English MA program and her SSHRC-funded thesis project focuses on editing and encoding girls’ manuscripts, specifically Lady Rachel Fane’s dramatic entertainments, in collaboration with LEMDO.

Martin Holmes

Martin Holmes has worked as a developer in the UVic’s Humanities Computing and Media Centre for over two decades, and has been involved with dozens of Digital Humanities projects. He has served on the TEI Technical Council and as Managing Editor of the Journal of the TEI. He took over from Joey Takeda as lead developer on LEMDO in 2020. He is a collaborator on the SSHRC Partnership Grant led by Janelle Jenstad.

Navarra Houldin

Training and Documentation Lead 2025–present. LEMDO project manager 2022–2025. Textual remediator 2021–present. Navarra Houldin (they/them) completed their BA with a major in history and minor in Spanish at the University of Victoria in 2022. Their primary research was on gender and sexuality in early modern Europe and Latin America. They are continuing their education through an MA program in Gender and Social Justice Studies at the University of Alberta where they will specialize in Digital Humanities.

Tracey El Hajj

Junior Programmer 2019–2020. Research Associate 2020–2021. Tracey received her PhD from the Department of English at the University of Victoria in the field of Science and Technology Studies. Her research focuses on the algorhythmics of networked communications. She was a 2019–2020 President’s Fellow in Research-Enriched Teaching at UVic, where she taught an advanced course on Artificial Intelligence and Everyday Life. Tracey was also a member of the Map of Early Modern London team, between 2018 and 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, she was a fellow in residence at the Praxis Studio for Comparative Media Studies, where she investigated the relationships between artificial intelligence, creativity, health, and justice. As of July 2021, Tracey has moved into the alt-ac world for a term position, while also teaching in the English Department at the University of Victoria.

Orgography

LEMDO Team (LEMD1)

The LEMDO Team is based at the University of Victoria and normally comprises the project director, the lead developer, project manager, junior developers(s), remediators, encoders, and remediating editors.

Metadata

Authority title	Choose Linking Mechanisms
Type of text	Documentation
Publisher	University of Victoria on the Linked Early Modern Drama Online Platform
Series	Linked Early Modern Drama Online
Source	TEI Customization created by Martin Holmes, Joey Takeda, and Janelle Jenstad; documentation written by members of the LEMDO Team
Editorial declaration	n/a
Edition	Released with Linked Early Modern Drama Online 1.0
Encoding description	Encoded in TEI P5 according to the LEMDO Customization and Encoding Guidelines
Document status	prgGenerated
Funder(s)	Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
License/availability	This file is licensed under a CC BY-NC_ND 4.0 license, which means that it is freely downloadable without permission under the following conditions: (1) credit must be given to the author and LEMDO in any subsequent use of the files and/or data; (2) the content cannot be adapted or repurposed (except in quotations for the purposes of academic review and citation); and (3) commercial uses are not permitted without the knowledge and consent of the editor and LEMDO. This license allows for pedagogical use of the documentation in the classroom.