Skip to main content
Log in

The design of the TEI encoding scheme

  • Part I: General Topics
  • Published:
Computers and the Humanities Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper discusses the basic design of the encoding scheme described by the Text Encoding Initiative'sGuidelines for Electronic Text Encoding and Interchange (TEI document number TEI P3, hereafter simplyP3 orthe Guidelines). It first reviews the basic design goals of the TEI project and their development during the course of the project. Next, it outlines some basic notions relevant for the design of any markup language and uses those notions to describe the basic structure of the TEI encoding scheme. It also describes briefly the “core” tag set defined in chapter 6 of P3, and the “default text structure” defined in chapter 7 of that work. The final section of the paper attempts an evaluation of P3 in the light of its original design goals, and outlines areas in which further work is still needed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Association for Computers and the Humanities (ACH), Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL), and Association for Literary and Linguistic Computing (ALLC).Guidelines for Electronic Text Encoding and Interchange. Eds. C. M. Sperberg-McQueen and Lou Burnard. Chicago, Oxford: Text Encoding Initiative, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guittet, C., Ed.Formex: Formalized Exchange of Electronic Publications. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, ‘New Technologies — Project Management’ Department, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO 8879-1986Information Processing — Text and Office Systems — Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). [Geneva]: ISO, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO/TR 9573-1988(E)Information processing — SGML support facilities — Techniques for using SGML. [Geneva]: ISO, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO).ISO DIS 10179 — Information Technology — Text Composition — Document Style Semantics and Specification Language [Geneva]: ISO, 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Text Encoding Initiative. TEI ED P1 “Design Principles for Text Encoding Guidelines”. [Chicago, Oxford]: TEI, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  • Text Encoding Initiative. TEI ED P2 “Charges to the Working Committees”. [Chicago, Oxford]: TEI, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  • Text Encoding Initiative. TEI ED P3 “Theoretical Stance and Resolution of Theory Conflict”. [Chicago, Oxford]: TEI, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tompa, Frank Wm. “What is (Tagged) Text?” InDictionaries in the Electronic Age: Fifth Annual Conference of the UW Centre for the New Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: [n.p.], 1989.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

C. M. Sperberg-McQueen is a Senior Research Programmer at the academic computer center of the University of Illinois at Chicago; his interests include medieval Germanic languages and literatures and the theory of electronic text markup. Since 1988 he has been editor in chief of the ACH/ACL/ALLC Text Encoding Initiative. Lou Burnard is Director of the Oxford Text Archive at Oxford University Computing Services, with interests in electronic text and database technology. He is European Editor of the Text Encoding Initiative's Guidelines.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sperberg-McQueen, C.M., Burnard, L. The design of the TEI encoding scheme. Comput Hum 29, 17–39 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01830314

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01830314

Key words

Navigation