Forms of Annotation (Workshop Practice)

Now that you have had the opportunity to explore different forms of annotation, it is time to start to apply what you have learned and determine what your preferences tend to be. To do this, read through the following scenarios and decide which approach you would select. Please keep in mind that there is no wrong answer.

Practice: Preferred Approaches to Annotation

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Scenario 1: You are editing a multi-volume diary and have identified approximately 200 different individuals mentioned. Approximately 25 of those individuals make up 80% of the mentions.

Which of the following approaches would you take if you were publishing the diaries in a print edition?

Include all the annotations as footnotes. Spread out the information about the more important individuals in notes throughout the entire edition. Use the index to help readers pull together the entire story about any one individual.

Create a biographical directory at the end of the edition where the 25 most important bios will appear. The first time that a name is mentioned, add a footnote that directs readers to the directory. Describe the remaining 175 individuals in footnotes.

Place all 200 names in a biographical directory, and create entries for each that make sense given their importance to the volume. There will be no footnotes that provide biographical information.

Which of the following approaches would you take if you were publishing the diaries in a digital edition?

Place all 200 names in a biographical directory, and create entries for each that make sense given their importance to the volume. There will be no footnotes that provide biographical information.

Scenario 2: You’re editing an edition of more than 10,000 letters and reports that discuss a specific geographical area. You want to provide readers with descriptions of the various locations named in the texts.

How would you handle this in a print environment?

Create a glossary that contains descriptions of the most important places mentioned in the texts. Use footnotes for those that only appear once or twice.

Create a glossary that contains descriptions of every place mentioned in the texts.

Use footnotes to contextualize the places in the texts, and use the index to tie together all the instances where that place is mentioned.

Create a map that shows the major places mentioned in the texts.

How would you handle this in a digital environment?

Create a digital map that contains descriptions of the places mentioned in the texts, and link the descriptions to the map points. Also link the texts of your documents to those descriptions so that readers can click from the text to the description to the map. They can also click the map, then select a location and read the description and see texts that refer to it.

Create a glossary that contains descriptions of each of the places mentioned in the texts. The descriptions can contain images of the place and a map to show its location. Link the texts to the glossary so that readers can click on the place name and go to the glossary. Readers can also read the glossary to get a sense of the variety of locations.

Provide a detailed map labeled with all the locations, and use annotation in the documents to describe them.

Link all locations mentioned in the texts to a Geographic Information Name System that provides geographical coordinates. Do not provide any annotation.

When possible, link the locations mentioned in the texts to Wikipedia entries for those places. When there is no Wikipedia entry, create your own annotation linked to the document.

Scenario 3: You want to include a timeline for your edition, which is a documentary history of a small town founded more than 100 years ago.

How would you address this in a print edition, knowing that you have a limited amount of space for the timeline?

Write a historical essay that tells the story in chronological order to replace the timeline.

Create a general timeline that tells the story in more sweeping terms, with only the most important events detailed.

Create a detailed timeline that provides more in-depth information, and find room for it by reducing the number of documents in the edition.

Create a web-based timeline that book readers can refer to.

How would you address this in a digital edition?

Create a general timeline that tells the story in a broad sweep but doesn’t attempt to repeat the detailed story that is told in the documents. The timeline’s major divisions can be used to organize documents and also bring in outside events.

Create a detailed timeline, drawn from the documents, that provides an entry for every event that you think is important. Link from these events to the documents that discuss them.

Create a timeline of the general history of the country or world as a counterpoint to the timeline of town events. Use the timeline as a means of contextualizing local history within larger historical movements.

Use your documents as the timeline, showing them in chronological order to provide a narrative.

Compare Your Results

Scenario 1: You are editing a multi-volume diary and have identified approximately 200 different individuals mentioned. Approximately 25 of those individuals make up 80% of the mentions.

Print Edition

Digital Edition

Scenario 2: You’re editing an edition of more than 10,000 letters and reports that discuss a specific geographical area. You want to provide readers with descriptions of the various locations named in the texts.

Print Edition

Digital Edition

Scenario 3: You want to include a timeline for your edition, which is a documentary history of a small town founded more than 100 years ago.

Print Edition

Digital Edition