Submit your Contribution

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From Your Copy to MoEML Markup

When you submit a contribution to us, you will probably send us a file that you have prepared using a word processing program (Word, OpenOffice, etc) or some kind of text editor. We will then encode the content of your file. While you are not responsible for encoding your contribution, it helps us if you understand a little bit about the difference between word processing and encoding.
Word processing (and writing in general) does involve a kind of markup, but it is ambiguous and context-dependent. For example, when you are word processing, you might italicize to indicate visually that a passage is in Latin. Italicization, indentation, capitalization, spacing, and other typographical and handwriting conventions are a form of markup. However, such markup is potentially ambiguous: italicization can mean lots of different things, such as a foreign word, a monograph title, an emphasized word, or a transcription of a word that was italicized in its original context; in the past, printers italicized all names. Because italicization is ambiguous, machines cannot parse it. Human readers draw on context, typographical conventions, and disciplinary conventions to parse an italicized phrase as an instance of a foreign language, or an indented bit of text as a long quotation (especially if it has a parenthetical page reference at the end, which functions as a corroborating bit of markup).
The kind of encoding that we do with TEI-XML, however, demands that we encode truthfully and label things as what they actually are. Our markup has to be unambiguous. When we are encoding your file, we will add tags to mark up a long quotation as a citation using the <cit> tag. We will mark up a Latin phrase as an instance of foreign language using the <foreign> tag; in this case, we would add special attributes to indicate exactly which foreign language was represented by the string of character. When it comes time to render the encoded version of your contribution on the website, we will use MoEML’s CSS stylesheets to turn the underlying markup back into typographical conventions. Our CSS stylesheets contain an instruction to italicize foreign language, and a separate instruction to italicize monograph titles — but the italication no longer serves as markup.
The MoEML encoders are skilled at translating your copy into markup. It helps, however, if your intentions are clear. We always appreciate comments and clarifications.

Submission Checklist

Before you send your contribution to the MoEML team in Victoria, please ensure that you have met the following criteria, as elaborated on below:
  • I have followed the MoEML Guide to Editorial Style for formatting, quotations, and apostrophes.
  • I have included markup or markup instructions for all people, organizations, places, bibliographical sources, links within MoEML, and external links.
  • I have included suitable images with my submission and have met all of MoEML’s criteria for using images.
  • I have included a c.150 word abstract of my submission.
  • I have followed MoEML’s guidelines for naming my file.

Style and Presentation

Submissions should follow the MoEML Guide to Editorial Style, which expands on the conventions of The MLA Handbook and UVic Style.

Typographical Conventions

To help us encode your contribution correctly, indicate the following clearly using the normal typographical conventions:
  • paragraph breaks
  • block quotations
  • typographical features of your source, if you are quoting from early modern texts.
    • We retain the long ſ in our transcriptions and quotations. If you search for long s in your character map, you will find that this character is available in most fonts. You will be given the option to select and copy the character. If your submission contains many transcriptions, you might want to make a keyboard shortcut in your word processor or text editor for the ſ character. In Unicode, the character is 017F (Latin Small Letter Long S)
    • We retain the idiosyncratic use of interchangeable u and v in transcriptions and quotations.
    • We retain the idiosyncratic use of interchangeable i and j in transcriptions and quotations.
    • We retain the vowel digraphs (Æ, æ, Œ, œ) but not the consonant ligatures in our transcriptions and quotations.
    • Accented characters, Greek letters, and many other characters are available to select and copy from your character map. For any character NOT in the character map, give us the number from the Unicode charts.

Quotation Marks and Apostrophes

  • Use curly apostrophes and double quotation marks. Note that quotation marks will be replaced with the <quote> element.
  • We do not recommend the use of quotation marks to demarcate special or non-standard uses of a word or phrase. If you must mark detachment from a term, we will tag the term with the <soCalled> element.

Marking Up Your Own Contribution (optional)

Most of our contributors and Pedagogical Partners thus far have left the encoding to the MoEML encoding assistants. In the event that you are familiar with XML and TEI, we are always grateful for .xml files that include at least some MoEML tagging. See MoEML’s Praxis pages if you would like to try encoding your article. (We will add further guidelines here after the pilot term of our Encoding Pedagogical Partnership in Spring 2015. Our goal is to create a downloadable mini-project with templates and encoding instructions for use in TEI courses and for use by contributors who wish to do their own markup.)

Instructions to the MoEML Encoder

If you do not encode your own contribution, you will need to give our encoders clear instructions. Most of our contributors to date have elected to submit .doc, .docx, .txt, or .odt files. Please embed in your contribution any special instructions to the MoEML encoders, via comment bubbles, brackets, and/or footnotes. If you elect to use brackets, we would appreciate double square brackets around your comments to us, which we can find quickly using Ctrl+F. Example: [[Encoder, please make a link from the previous word to the gazetteer]]. If you use footnotes, please distinguish notes that are meant to be footnotes in your contribution from instructional notes directed to the MoEML encoders. Again, double square brackets are helpful. Note that our peer reviewers are accustomed to seeing (and ignoring) such instructions in the files they review for MoEML.

Including Images in Your Contribution

Images enliven a webpage and may even be necessary to illustrate a point. At the moment, MoEML does not have formal agreements with any particular institution other than the London Metropolitan Archives to use images. We do not have a budget for purchasing the rights to images,1 and prefer to use images in the public domain and/or to support institutions that have chosen to make images freely available for educational use. The best sources for images are therefore the following:
  • Your own university library’s Special Collections, Archives, or Rare Books Room. Many libraries with Digitization Units are happy to digitize items from their Special Collections. For example, if you find an image in an EEBO book that you want to use, check to see if your library owns a copy of the volume. If yes, ask your Rare Books Librarian to help you submit a request for digitization. We will gladly credit your institution. You might even be helping bring a hidden collection to scholarly attention.
  • British History Online (BHO) includes many images. BHO has generously allowed us to use out-of-copyright images in the past. If you find a useful image here, we will contact BHO for you.
  • British Printed Images to 1700 (bpi1700): British Printed Images to 1700 is a digital library of prints and book illustrations from early modern Britain. It also offers various resources aimed at furthering our knowledge and understanding of them. [...] The core of the project is the database, a fully searchable library of several thousand printed images. Most of the images in this extraordinarily useful resource come from the British Library Department of Prints and Drawings; the rest come from various other institutions, including the National Art Library (at the Victoria and Albert Museum). Teachers will be interested in the Resources Section. A handy feature is the alphabetical list of British Book Illustrations 1604-40.
  • The Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection (LUNA): This database offers access to tens of thousands of high resolution images from the Folger Shakespeare Library, including books, theater memorabilia, manuscripts, and art. Users can show multiple images side-by-side, zoom in and out, view cataloging information when available, export thumbnails, and construct persistent URLs linking back to items or searches. The Folger has generously licensed all of these images under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license, which covers MoEML’s educational, non-commercial use. See their Policy on how to cite images.
  • Any other museum, library, or public institution that has elected to digitize and license items in its collection for non-commercial use.
  • Wikimedia Commons: Many of the images in Wikimedia Commons can be used in other websites. Check the guidelines on Reusing Content Outside Wikmedia
  • flickr: If you are looking for a photo of what now occupies the site you are researching, you will likely find one on flickr. You can limit your search to photos that are licensed under a Creative Commons License. We can embed flickr images on MoEML pages.
  • If you want to show what a particular site looks like now, you may want to link to or embed a Google StreetView image. Once you are in Google StreetView, click on the Settings icon and follow the Share Link instructions to generate a URL that includes the geospatial coordinates. The URL will look something like this: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5131319,-0.0978524,3a,75y,347.63h,92.7t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sHCkWJg2FDhuhxkhYLwR10w!2e0. If you want MoEML to embed the image, add a note for the encoder. Be aware, however, that the image will change periodically as the Google camera takes new images. You might like the picture now, but your site could be obscured by a bus or scaffolding in the next iteration of Google StreetView.
If we cannot embed an image on our site, we can easily point to the URL of the image on another site. For example, London Metropolitan Archives has put some of its images on its flickr Photostream and many more on Collage. All rights are reserved, but at least MoEML readers can see the object you are talking about. We can point to EEBO images and other resources behind a subscription payroll, but bear in mind that only readers with subscriptions to those resources will be able to see the image. Open-access resources will serve MoEML users better.
If your contribution does include images, please send the following:
  • A high resolution .jpeg or .tiff file, via email attachment or secure server. We will likely compress the image to shorten download time for readers with slow internet connections, but we like to archive a high-quality image.
  • Full details of your source.
  • Indication of which of the following conditions pertains:
    • The image is in the public domain.
    • The owner of the image has made the image available for scholarly use via a Creative Commons license.
    • You hold the copyright on the image.
    • You have sought, and been granted, permission to use the image on our site.
  • A link (if the image comes from an online repository).
  • Text for the caption.
  • Clear indication of where the image should appear in your contribution.

Including an Abstract

With your contribution, provide a brief abstract of up to 150 words that gives a summative and interesting overview of your submission. It may include details such as events, important literary references, or cultural significance. Your abstract will appear in the pop-up box that is rendered when users click on the link to your contribution.

Naming Your Files

Do not include spaces in file names. Replace spaces with underscores. Our house style is to name all files with underscores (submit_contribution, for example) but CamelCase is also acceptable (SubmitContribution).

Sending Your Files to MoEML

Submit files as email attachments with the contribution title in the email subject line. MoEML can process .xml, .doc, .docx, .odt, .txt, or .rtf files. If you cannot submit a file in one of those formats, contact us to arrange an alternative.

Notes

  1. In some cases (e.g., where an image essential to your argument is not in the public domain and has not been licensed for non-commercial use), MoEML will negotiate with the holding institution on your behalf. (JJ)↑