On Aug 5, 2012, at 7:19 PM, Gaurav Vaidya gaurav@ggvaidya.com wrote:
Hi everybody,
On 03-Aug-2012, at 2:57 AM, Dovi Jacobs wrote:
Hi, please forgive me in advance if my technical knowledge isn't up to speed and I don't entirely understand the issues.
From what I've seen, there is currently an effort to allow database functions for metadata about Wikisource texts. That in itself is of course very cool.
My question is about the actual texts themselves (not just the metadata describing them): Often there is more than one good way to format and present a single text. In the current Wikimedia environment this forces the community to decide on which format for any given text is the best one for readers and users. But in a true database environment it would be possible to tag all of the different possibilities within the text itself, allowing the reader or user to choose which format best serves his or her needs.
Is this possibility related to any of the current discussions?
Are you thinking of something like the multiple-layer model proposed by Aubrey in this excellent slide? --> http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wikisource_2012_-_Aubrey.pdf&...
I'm a co-author on a recent paper in which we used Wikisource templates to implement a basic annotation system within Wikisource [1]. While we tried to make sure that the annotations were clearly demarcated from the transcribed text (see http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Field_Notes_of_Junius_Henderson/Notebook_1#Sil... for an example), it would be awesome to have a pure-text transcription somewhere with the ability to add annotations in a user-friendly manner. As Aubrey pointed out, such an annotation layer would allow all kinds of interesting content to be added on to Wikisource pages, from comments to critic literature to TEI mark-up. However, I don't know if this is possible without a *completely* overhaul of MediaWiki/ProofreadPage specifically for Wikisource, which I don't think we have the resources for at the moment.
There is an annotation JavaScript tool that I saw briefly at Wikimania. My initial reaction to it was to imagine it as a gadget that could be turned on for those who like annotation and not bother those who do not. Basically that it might solve the debate at en.WS. I really don't know how feasible the technical side of making this a MediaWiki gadget is, however.
http://okfnlabs.org/annotator/
On your point about an overhaul of Mediawiki/ProofreadPage specifically for Wikisource. ProofreadPage IS specifically for Wikisource as it is. It may need to be overhauled in order to play nicely with the visual editor. I cannot speak with confidence about anything technical, but if there are things wanting in ProofreadPage we might want to make sure they are put on the table while this is all being looked at.
Birgitte SB