Requirements for Baseline Encoding

Projekts have to meet three requirements:

1. Intelligent Search. In contrast to the simple free text search, a structured search based upon specific encodings of different text types should facilitate more precise and therefore more intelligent queries. The fundamental question is which aspects of the different text types are of special interest for either a general intertextual search or a text-type specific intertextual search (we aim at supporting a broad range of searches, excluding highly specific ones).
2. Structured presentation of search results. As:
   1. Search results should be displayed according to the particular editorial context of the place of discovery (e.g. "Shakespeare'Macbeth'Act II'Scene 1").
   2. The typographical conventions of the respective text type should be retained (e.g. verses on single lines, typographical difference between stage directions and the characters' speech).
3. Data reuse and data processing The baseline encoding also facilitates the reuse of data across research groups and project contexts. Even automatic processing and information retrieval, e.g. linking to dictionary entries, is possible.

We chose his structure to modularise the encoding due to its function:

1. general structural data
2. general content data (inline elements)
3. metadata (TEI Header information)
4. text-type specific encodings:
   • letters
   • prose, drama, verse
   • dictionaries
   • editions

These are individually developed modules, however, they are merged to a complete schema in order to allow processing of mixed text types.