Before you continue reading this page, read through the Quickstart for Encoders and the Introduction to Markup, XML, and TEI.

This page is for new-to-the-team remediators. You may have done TEI encoding on other projects. Now you are taking on the task of remediating texts that were encoded in another markup language before being programmatically converted to a rough version of LEMDO’s TEI customization.

We refers to the LEMDO team based at the University of Victoria. You refers to you, the reader of this page. You are welcome to email us at any time with questions. We also welcome suggestions that will improve this documentation for future readers.

Note: If you are a Research Assistant or Editorial Assistant, you will want to direct questions about the play to the Editor of the play, who may in turn consult the Anthology Lead. LEMDO does not provide textual or editorial advice. Ask the project director to be connected with the Editor of a play.

The Oxford English Dictionary says that remediation is the action of remedying or correcting something (OED, remediation, n. 1.). As a LEMDO Remediator or Remediating Editor, you will certainly be taking that action with respect to texts.

We also use the term to describe the process of taking a text produced in one medium and reproducing it in another medium. For us, reproducing means “to produce again”. It is not our job to create exactly the same thing again. LEMDO remediations necessarily change the text being remediated. Our remediations entail re-encoding the text, which invites us to confront the text anew.

The full remediation workflow entails programmatic conversion processes run by a developer, followed by evaluation, correction, and tidying by a human markup editor (i.e., you in your role as Remediator).

The programmatic conversions are multi-step processes that require validation at each step. The code for these conversions was written by developers Martin Holmes, Joey Takeda, and Tracey El Hajj. The developers run the conversions because the IML source texts have to be run through an IML validator and iteratively corrected and converted.

As a Remediator, you won’t have anything to do with the conversion processes (although you are welcome to read more about them at Convert IML to LEMDO TEI and Convert TCP to LEMDO TEI). But, as the first person to work on the file after conversion, you are in a position to give feedback to the developers.

If you notice that you are correcting the same problem repeatedly, flag the problem for the LEMDO Project Manager or Director, who will then decide if we need to build that correction into the conversion.

If the correction is not one that we can build into the conversion, consider using a regex (regular expression). Regex is more sophisticated than a simple find-and-replace function; it allows you to replace one pattern with another pattern in cases where different text nodes, attributes, or values prevent a find-and-replace. We have a growing library of regex that we have written for LEMDO remediations. For a guide on using regex and a list of prefabricated regex written for LEMDO remediations, see Text Conversions with Regular Expressions.

You may also contact the current Conversion Editor to request a new regex. Describe the problem carefully, providing both an example from the text-as-converted and the end result of your intervention as remediator.

As a Remediator, you will need to balance the need to respect the Editor’s initial work, which was produced under a particular set of constraints, with the opportunities offered by LEMDO’s TEI encoding practices to clarify and improve their work. In some cases, LEMDO asks you, the Remediator, to be more precise than the editor could be. Most cases are straightforward for skilled readers of texts (a job requirement for LEMDO Remediators). In other cases, you will need to ask for help from someone with better knowledge of the edition and the work being edited.

If the Editor is still active in the profession and willing to help, we will be able to put questions directly to them. In some cases, you will be able to correspond with the Editor yourself, after the LEMDO Director makes an email introduction. In other cases, you’ll be asked to put questions to the LEMDO Director or Project Manager first for triage and forwarding.

If we are not able to call upon the Editor, then the Anthology Lead(s) will answer questions for us. In some cases, the LEMDO Director will make a judgement call.

The bottom line is that it is not your job to edit the text. You may ask questions, flag errors, make suggestions, and make changes that are within your remit. But always keep in mind that you are remediating someone else’s scholarly work.

In some cases, the Remediator makes such significant contributions and corrections to the edition that they come to play the role of Remediating Editor. The Director will let you know if you have moved into this role perforce or if you need to move into this role. Thus far, Remediators have become Remediating Editors under various circumstances: (1) the original editor is deceased, (2) the semi-diplomatic transcription was never checked or corrected by an Editor and the Remediator takes on a critically significant role, or (3) the original Editor empowers the Remediator to take on a bigger role.

Most of the <teiHeader> has been completed by the conversion process and can be safely ignored by you. The work of checking the metadata in the <teiHeader> falls to the LEMDO Director in consultation with the editors and the anthology leads.

However, you still need to add a responsibility statement for yourself. At the time of writing (November 2020), we are rethinking our current practice of having all <respStmt> elements as children of the <titleStmt> element. For now, continue to put your <respStmt> element under the <titleStmt> element as the last <respStmt> in the list.

The encoding for a Remediator’s <respStmt> element is as follows:

The encoding for a Remediating Editor’s <respStmt> element uses the same elements and values. Change the wording in the text node of <resp> element as follows:

Editions consist of various documents. The most logical pathway through a remediation is as follows:

Note that the order of remediation is different from the order of editing. Editors begin by preparing or proofing the semi-diplomatic text. Then they may choose to either do the collation of early editions or modernize the text.

The next piece of documentation you will want to read is Remediation Pathways, which describes the various types of files we remediate, why we remediate them, where they came from, what type of content they contain, and brief notes on special treatments.

Once you begin remediating, use the following section of this page to help you find the right documentation to guide you through the specific remediation processes required for the file you are remediating.

Every type of file we remediate has unique challenges. We have therefore created documentation for various remediation processes, listed in the order you will need them if you follow the remediation order listed above:

All of this documentation is contained in the Remediations chapter of the LEMDO documentation. Most of it contains links to the regular LEMDO documentation, where you’ll find more information on how to encode an early modern play and all the components of an edition thereof. On all matters not covered by the Remediation Documentation, your job is to bring the edition being remediated in line with LEMDO’s general encoding and editorial practices.

You will also need to be aware of the general encoding guidelines that pertain to various types of texts, including but not limited to: