User Guide

LEMDO is primarily a documentation project. LEMDO supports anthologies and the editions therein, but LEMDO’s own project output consists of:
A customization of TEI-XML P5 for encoding editions of early modern drama.
A codebase for processing and rendering our TEI customization.
Documentation of the customization and codebase in an ODD file called emODDern.
The documentation you are reading right now, which offers editorial, encoding, remediation, documentation, and processing guidelines.

Scope

These guidelines have four intended audiences:
Anthology leads.
Play editors.
Encoders and remediators, including RAs and editors who are doing their own encoding and/or remediation.
Developers at UVic and elsewhere.
Because the guidelines are written for multiple audiences with varying expertise and experience, you may find that the guidelines explain concepts already well known to you. You may be a skilled encoder but the guidelines also need to serve editors and RAs with no experience of encoding. You may be an experienced editor but the guidelines also need to serve new editors and RAs who are supporting editors. The guidelines do include some non-technical information about how the platform works but assumes that most users will simply want to use the platform to prepare editions and anthologies. Whatever your domain of expertise and skill therein, please help us make these guidelines better by asking questions and offering comments.

Anthology Leads and Editors

For anthology leads, these guidelines explain how to:
Include editions or components thereof in an anthology.
Customize an anthology menu.
Create About pages.
For editors and anthology leads, these guidelines:
Address many editorial contingencies.
Explain where LEMDO has an established editorial policy.
Indicate where LEMDO offers anthologies flexibility to establish their own editorial policy.
However, the Guidelines are silent on the following:
Matters of copytext.
What a modern text is meant to capture.
Length and scope of critical paratexts.
Length and type of required annotations.
Number of witnesses transcribed as semi-diplomatic transcriptions.
Number and type of contextual materials (if any).
Inclusion/exclusion of exemplary video and photographic materials.
Modernization guidelines.
Anthologies will prescribe such matters for editors. Note, however, that LEMDO strongly recommends the adoption of the DRE Editorial Guidelines, which are included as a chapter within the LEMDO documentation.

Encoders and Remediators

For encoders and remediators, these guidelines:
Explain how to gain access to and use the LEMDO platform.
Cover every encoding scenario that an encoder is likely to encounter in the preparation of semi-diplomatic transcriptions, modern text, collations, annotations, and critical paratexts.
Explain to remediators, who are normally encoders working at UVic or trained by the UVic team, how to remediate the encoding of texts that LEMDO has converted from other markup languages or other customizations of TEI.

Developers

For developers, these Guidelines:
Describe the build processes that UVic developers have written to convert the XML files to HTML digital editions and PDF print editions.
Describe how developers elsewhere can work with anthology leads to customize the menus, logos, and colour schema of an anthology.

Documentation Structure

Chaper 1. Quickstart Guidelines consists of introductory tutorials and Quickstart documents. We have Quickstarts for the following user groups:
Chapters 2 to 6 cover features of the LEMDO platform:
Chapter 2. The LEMDO Platform explains what you need to do in order to start using the LEMDO platform to edit, encode, and remediate editions.
Chapter 3. LEMDOʼs Taxonomies covers the controlled vocabularies (taxonomies) that we use across the entire LEMDO platform and in all the anthologies.
Chapter 4. Editions and Anthologies explains how anthologies and editions are created, customized, and connected.
Chapter 5. Entities and Databases introduces the sitewide databases that you will link to while encoding editions.
Chapter 6. Making Links covers linking to the platform-wide databases, the concepts of entities and linked data, and the mechanics of making links to entities and URIs.
Chapters 7 and 8 set out LEMDO’s preferred editorial guidelines, LEMDO’s internal style guidelines for its own About pages, and the very few style requirements that all anthologies must follow:
Chapter 7. Editorial Guidelines covers editorial guidelines.
Chapter 8. Style Guidelines covers style guidelines.
Chapters 9 to 11 cover general encoding guidelines and encoding practices that you will need in many different parts of an edition
Chapter 9. General Encoding Guidelines covers common characters (ellipses, ampersands, and others), filenaming conventions, xml:ids, document status values, titles, split elements, and special characters (e.g., accented letters).
Chapter 10. Bibliography and Citation Guidelines explains how to prepare bibliography entries for various sources (books, articles, websites, productions, performances) and how to cite those sources, with special instructions for citing Shakespeare, the OED, the ODNB, and LEME.
Chapter 11. Quotations explains how to encode quotations, terms, disclaimers, glosses, emphasis, foreign words, and more.
Chapters 12 to 17 address the components of the critical edition, in the order in which you will likely prepare them:
Chapter 12. Semi-Diplomatic Transcriptions: Print covers semi-diplomatic transcriptions of printed playbooks
Chapter 13. Semi-Diplomatic Transcriptions: Manuscript covers semi-diplomatic transcriptions of manuscript playbooks.
Chapter 14: Collation covers witness lists and collation of textual variants and editorial interventions.
Chapter 15. Modern Texts covers modernization, lineation, character lists, literary units (acts, scenes, and speeches), letters and songs, and stage directions in the modern texts.
Chapter 16. Annotations covers the various types of annotations and how to encode them.
Chapter 17. Critical Paratexts covers the preparation, encoding, and numbering of critical paratexts.
Chapters 18 and 19 explain how to include media in your edition and how to capture metadata for each file in an edition, for the edition as whole, for the anthology, and every page in the anthology.
Chapter 18. Media contains information about facsimiles of playbooks, metadata for facsimiles, the selection and preparation of images for use in critical paratexts and annotations, linking to and numbering images, and writing effective alternate text.
Chapter 19. Metadata explains how to capture metadata in the <teiHeader> of each XML file in editions and anthologies, including credits for everyone who has worked on the file or funded the work, revision history, status of the file, type of the file, editorial and encoding statements, and descriptions of sources.
Chapter 20. Anthology Release explains how we release a static anthology. This chapter covers:
The anticipated timeline for an anthology release.
The roles and responsibilities of editors, anthology leads, and the LEMDO team leading up to an anthology release.
Chapter 21. Programming is written by and for developers (i.e., programmers and designers). The chapter covers:
LEMDO’s programming principles.
How the static build process works and how to run a build.
How to process various things, such as pointers, links, references, inline processing instructions, and witness lists.
The editor tools that we have built.
How to produce the PDFs for the LEMDO Hornbooks series.
Chapter 22. Documentation Guidelines sets out the guidelines for writing documentation. This chapter is meant primarily for the UVic-based team and for the LEMDO Group members who have contributed to the documentation. The chapter:
Describes the general structure of the documentation.
Sets out the documentation-specific style guide.
Explains how to structure, encode, and capture credit for each documentation file.
Explains how to encode references to elements, attributes, and values.
Explains how to encode examples of encoded texts using the <egXML> element, as well as snippets of non-XML markup and terminal commands.
Sets out our practices for linking between documentation sections.
Chapter 23. Conversions and Remediations consists of step-by-step instructions for LEMDO’s conversion editors and remediators. Once the IML-to-TEI remediations are complete, this chapter will serve as a record of how we treated the texts encoded in the ISE Markup Language. TCP-to-LEMDO conversions will continue to be run for many years, at the request of an editor or anthology lead. The light remediations usually required to create a print-ready PDF from the XML files are also documented in this chapter.
The documentation ends with Appendices 1 to 4:
Appendix 1. Elements contains an alphabetical list of all the elements used in the LEMDO project, with links to element specifications generated from the emODDern ODD file.
Appendix 2. Attributes contains a list of all the attributes allowed by the emODDern ODD file. Each attribute is followed by a list of elements that take the attribute and/or by the attribute class to which elements that can take the attribute belong. This appendix is useful mainly to experienced customizers and users of TEI.
Appendix 3. Supplementary Texts sets out the way LEMDO handles supplementary texts included in an legacy edition.
Appendix 4. Legacy Markup offers an IML-to-TEI conversion table to show how we have converted the ISE Markup Language in the legacy texts, along with tips for editors still working in IML. This appendix will eventually include documentation for any TEI-to-TEI conversions that we run on other files that are ingested into LEMDO.

Chapter Structure

Each chapter consists of a set of discrete HTML pages, each with its own underlying XML file. These HTML pages can be viewed in isolation if you click on the page link from the Documentation Index or on a link to a page from elsewhere in the documentation. If you click on the chapter heading in the Documentation Index, you will be able to read the entire chapter at once, with all the underlying XML pages combined and rendered as a continuous HTML page.
Each chapter begins with an introduction to the resources provided in the chapter. Following the introductory page, pages are organized by one or more of the following organizational principles:
Sequential (with the pages reflecting a logical workflow, as in Chapter 15. Modern Texts).
Pedagogical (with foundational information presented first and more complex information presented later, as in Chapter 2. The LEMDO Platform).
Frequency of encountering an encoding challenge (with the most likely coming early in the chapter).
The size of the likely audience (with pages of the greatest value to the greatest number of users coming first in the chapter).
We expect that few users will read a chapter from beginning to end. You are likely to dive into the documentation at the page level. We have therefore included Prior Reading and Further Reading sections into many pages to direct you to other sections of the chapter that you will need to read before or after the page on which you find yourself.

Page Structure

Page titles usually begin with a verb. You are probably reading documentation because you need to do something. The verbs in the page titles are meant to help you find the right documentation for the task you need to do.
We have tried to keep pages short. We make frequent use of tables, lists, and examples so that you can find the information you need quickly by scanning the page.
Pages are divided in the underlying XML into <div> elements, each capturing a self-contained section of the page and each with its own header. When they are rendered as HTML pages, we add a clickable pilcrow beside the header. If you click on the pilcrow, the URL in your browser bar will become more precise; you can save and share this link as necessary.

Standard Headings on Pages

We use a controlled vocabulary to name the sections of a page. Pages generally begin with a Rationale section. Sometimes, the Rationale is preceded by a Prior Reading section. Pages usually include a Practice section that tells you in narrative form what you need to do. Some pages also offer a Step-by-Step section that breaks down the encoding task into a numbered or bulleted list. A page usually ends with Examples, and sometimes Further Reading.
We use the following standard headings and sections throughout LEMDO documentation:
Prior Reading sections include links to documentation pages that should be read before reading the current page.
Rationale sections explain why we follow the encoding practice being described in a particular documentation file.
Principles sections outline the project principles that we follow when developing encoding practices. Principles give us a set of rules by which to make encoding decisions in cases where we cannot outline every possible use case or example.
Practice sections explain specific encoding practices and often include both prose and lists.
Workflow sections are usually lists and outline the steps required to complete a particular encoding project and the order in which users typically undertake those tasks.
Step-by-Step sections are numbered lists designed to be skimmed quickly with short instructions on how to complete a certain encoding task.
Examples sections include examples of the encoding described in the documentation file.
Special Cases sections include examples that are atypical but still appear in encoding and must be taken into account.
Tips sections include non-essential but helpful information, such as strategies that allow users to work more efficiently.
Optional sections include encoding practices that are not relevant to some users or in specific scenarios.
Rendering Note sections give information on how the encoded material will look on the LEMDO site or how the encoding practice will affect rendering.
Disambiguation sections distinguish between similar things that users may assume are the same. They usually include links to other documentation pages with information on the thing being disambiguated.
Further Reading sections include links to documentation pages that should be read after reading the current page.

Verbs Indicating Requirements, Prohibitions, Recommendations, and Options

We use the following modal verbs in LEMDO documentation1:
Must or required means that you have to do this to achieve a valid, processable file.
Must not means that you cannot do this because it will make your file invalid.
Should or recommended means that you should follow these instructions unless you fully understand the implications of not doing so and have a valid reason for going against this recommendation.
Should not or not recommended means that you should not do this unless you fully understand the implications and have a valid reason for going against the recommendation.
May or optional means that you may choose to use this encoding because it is useful to your work while another user may not because it is not relevant to the work they are doing.

Technical Glossary

LEMDO has a glossary of technical terms. When the documentation uses these terms, we make a link to the glossary entry. Click here if you wish to see the entire glossary.

Notes

1.This list is adapted from the TEI Guidelines, which in turn are taken from BCP 14/RFC 2119 (BCP stands for “Best Current Practice” and RFC for “Request for Comments”), with the exception that we do not follow the requirement of BCP14 /RFC 8174 that these terms be in UPPERCASE.↑

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.

Martin Holmes

Martin Holmes has worked as a developer in the UVicʼs 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

Project manager 2022–present. Textual remediator 2021–present. Navarra Houldin (they/them) completed their BA in History and Spanish at the University of Victoria in 2022. During their degree, they worked as a teaching assistant with the University of Victoriaʼs Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies. Their primary research was on gender and sexuality in early modern Europe and Latin America.

Rylyn Christensen

Rylyn Christensen is an English major at the University of Victoria.

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.

Glossary

lemdo.odd or emODDern
“lemdo.odd is the TEI file that developers use to capture LEMDO’s documentation and publish it on the site. The .odd file extension stands for “one document does it all” or ODD file. We call our ODD file emODDern. We use an ODD processor to generate a RelaxNG schema, against which editors and encoders validate their XML files. Many projects are entirely documented in their ODD file. Because LEMDO has so much documentation that is written by editors, encoders, and technical writers, we write a lot of our documentation outside the ODD file and then have the developers include it in the ODD file. You can find the ODD file in the repository (lemdo/data/sch) and see how documentation files are organized there, but only developers have permission to commit changes to this file. The LEMDO schema and all of our editorial and encoding documentation HTML pages are generated from the ODD file. (Read more about ODD files in the TEI Guidelines.)”

Metadata

Authority title User Guide
Type of text Documentation
Short title
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.