369
there is also a field named ‘Transcription’, with links to every page of a letter. By
clicking on one of them, users are linked to a page where, on the left, there is the
transcription of the letter and, on the right, the image of the manuscript. Registered
users can create new transcriptions or edit the already existing ones.
Once entered into edit mode, a user will be able to edit the text as source code,
using a mix between Wiki syntax
12
and XML-like tags. Many actions are available
at this stage, e.g. the image of the manuscript can be moved to the top or to the right
side of the page and can also be zoomed in or out. It is also possible to add footnotes
and to do something regarding the edition of the text, using the ‘Edition’ toolbar.
Here each button corresponds to a specific markup that follows the Text Encoding
Initiative guidelines,
13
a kind of standard for any project of digital scholarly edition:
this allows one to add tags to mark some text phenomena, such as a gap or a deletion
in the original text.
At the bottom of the page, there is another toolbar where users can set the status
of the transcription. ‘Not proofread’ is the default value and means that the transcription has to be reviewed; it is possible to select ‘Proofread’, ‘Without text’ in
case of blank pages and ‘Problematic’, to be used when a text presents some particular problems in the transcription (e.g. unknown alphabets). There is also the
status ‘Validated’ which can be selected only when two or more users have contributed to the transcription. Each one of these states is marked by a specific colour that
helps users to orient themselves and allows administrators to trace the progress of
the work and address the users’ contribution.
Another feature available in GATE is annotation: this function allows one to link
a portion of the text to other pages, giving a specific meaning to that link. Annotation
is possible, thanks to the use of the MediaWiki extension Semantic MediaWiki and
to the creation of a specific toolbar available in the edit mode. In this toolbar, there
are several buttons that allow one to annotate several categories: Names, Places,
Works, Objects, Terms and Languages. For instance, if the name ‘Angelo’ without
any other specification occurs in the text and a user is sure that this ‘Angelo’ is
‘Angelo Secchi’, he/she can select the word ‘Angelo’ and annotate it as a Name by
clicking on the corresponding button in the Annotation toolbar and then stating that
this name refers to Angelo Secchi. After this action, the word ‘Angelo’ will appear
edited with a syntax like this: ‘[[citesName::Angelo Secchi|Angelo]]’, where:
• The text ‘[[citesName::]]’ is added after clicking on the button ‘Annotate Names’
and technically is a property, a text that connects the letter in use and the entity
cited in it.
• ‘Angelo Secchi’ is the actual annotation, added manually by the user.
• ‘Angelo’ is the original text transcribed.
12 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Wikitext
13 https://tei-c.org/
21 GATE (Gregorian Archives Texts Editing): An Online Resource of Angelo Secchi…
there is also a field named ‘Transcription’, with links to every page of a letter. By
clicking on one of them, users are linked to a page where, on the left, there is the
transcription of the letter and, on the right, the image of the manuscript. Registered
users can create new transcriptions or edit the already existing ones.
Once entered into edit mode, a user will be able to edit the text as source code,
using a mix between Wiki syntax
12
and XML-like tags. Many actions are available
at this stage, e.g. the image of the manuscript can be moved to the top or to the right
side of the page and can also be zoomed in or out. It is also possible to add footnotes
and to do something regarding the edition of the text, using the ‘Edition’ toolbar.
Here each button corresponds to a specific markup that follows the Text Encoding
Initiative guidelines,
13
a kind of standard for any project of digital scholarly edition:
this allows one to add tags to mark some text phenomena, such as a gap or a deletion
in the original text.
At the bottom of the page, there is another toolbar where users can set the status
of the transcription. ‘Not proofread’ is the default value and means that the transcription has to be reviewed; it is possible to select ‘Proofread’, ‘Without text’ in
case of blank pages and ‘Problematic’, to be used when a text presents some particular problems in the transcription (e.g. unknown alphabets). There is also the
status ‘Validated’ which can be selected only when two or more users have contributed to the transcription. Each one of these states is marked by a specific colour that
helps users to orient themselves and allows administrators to trace the progress of
the work and address the users’ contribution.
Another feature available in GATE is annotation: this function allows one to link
a portion of the text to other pages, giving a specific meaning to that link. Annotation
is possible, thanks to the use of the MediaWiki extension Semantic MediaWiki and
to the creation of a specific toolbar available in the edit mode. In this toolbar, there
are several buttons that allow one to annotate several categories: Names, Places,
Works, Objects, Terms and Languages. For instance, if the name ‘Angelo’ without
any other specification occurs in the text and a user is sure that this ‘Angelo’ is
‘Angelo Secchi’, he/she can select the word ‘Angelo’ and annotate it as a Name by
clicking on the corresponding button in the Annotation toolbar and then stating that
this name refers to Angelo Secchi. After this action, the word ‘Angelo’ will appear
edited with a syntax like this: ‘[[citesName::Angelo Secchi|Angelo]]’, where:
• The text ‘[[citesName::]]’ is added after clicking on the button ‘Annotate Names’
and technically is a property, a text that connects the letter in use and the entity
cited in it.
• ‘Angelo Secchi’ is the actual annotation, added manually by the user.
• ‘Angelo’ is the original text transcribed.
12 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Wikitext
13 https://tei-c.org/
21 GATE (Gregorian Archives Texts Editing): An Online Resource of Angelo Secchi…