LEMDO: Metadata Basics

Metadata Basics

Prior Reading

Introduction to Metadata

Where we Store Metadata

All LEMDO XML files except documentation files¹ have a


                                          <teiHeader>

. The purpose of the


                                          <teiHeader>

is to capture all the metadata for the XML file.

For the facsimile collection, which is made up of image files, we capture metadata for each set of facsimiles in a standoff XML file that we store in the lemdo/data/facsimiles folder. The standoff XML file has a


                                          <teiHeader>

containing metadata for the images. See Facsimiles (Digital Surrogates).

For images used in individual editions, you will create a .txt file and save it in the images folder in your edition directory.

The remainder of this chapter addresses the curation of the


                                          <teiHeader>

element in XML files.

General Practice

We recommend using the appropriate LEMDO template when you create new files. (see Use LEMDO’s Oxygen Templates). The templates contain detailed information about how to complete the


                                          <teiHeader>

for that particular document type (primary text, critical paratext, apparatus, and so on).

You will also want to consult with your anthology lead about how to word the content of certain metadata elements. Consistency across the anthology is important.

Parts of the TEI Header

The LEMDO customization requires the following child elements in the


                                          <teiHeader>

. They must appear in the order given here:


                                                <fileDesc>


                                                <profileDesc>


                                                <encodingDesc>


                                                <revisionDesc>

The


                                          <teiHeader>

may also contain an optional child


                                          <xenoData>

data. If


                                          <xenoData>

is included, put it after the


                                          <encodingDesc>

and before the


                                          <revisionDesc>

The File Description

The LEMDO


                                          <fileDesc>

element contains the following child elements:


                                                <titleStmt>

: See Encode the Title Statement in Your Metadata.


                                                <editionStmt>

: Use this element to capture information about the anthology release in which the file is published. See Encode the Series Statement and Edition Statement in Your Metadata.


                                                <publicationStmt>

: See Encode the Publication Statement in in Your Metadata.


                                                <seriesStmt>

: See Encode the Series Statement and Edition Statement in Your Metadata.


                                                <sourceDesc>

: See Encode the Source Description in Your Metadata.

Read more about the File Description in the TEI Guidelines.

The Profile Description

The LEMDO


                                          <profileDesc>

contains the following child elements:


                                                <particDesc>


                                                <textClass>

Read more about the Profile Description in the TEI Guidelines.

The Encoding Description

The LEMDO


                                          <encodingDesc>

contains the following child elements, all of which are described in Encode the Encoding Description in Your Metadata:

<p>

containing a narrative description of the TEI customization


                                                <editorialDecl>


                                                <tagsDecl>

Read more about the Encoding Description in the TEI Guidelines.

Non-LEMDO Metadata

Use the optional


                                          <xenoData>

element to capture any non-TEI metadata (e.g., the iseHeader from legacy IML files) or any TEI metadata from earlier projects (e.g., TCP metadata). See Encode Metadata from External Sources.

Read more about the Non-TEI Metadata in the TEI Guidelines.

The Revision Description

The


                                          <revisionDesc>

, described in Encode the Revision Description, contains one or more


                                          <change>

elements.

Read more about the Revision Description in the TEI Guidelines.

Notes

1.Individual documentation files are rooted on the


                                    <div>

element and combined into a single documentation file via a table of contents in our ODD file. The metadata for the documentation is contained in the


                                    <teiHeader>

of the ODD file.↑

Prosopography

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	Metadata Basics
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.