Take Our Tools, Make Your Own Cooperative (or Edition)

Making the historical content of primary source records available to the broadest audience depends on expanding digital access, work the Massachusetts Historical Society has committed to for decades. The Primary Source Cooperative contributes to that effort along two specific paths:

• The Primary Source Cooperative website and its participating editions
  An engaged cohort, these scholars and editors work together with digital publishing specialists to maintain the collaborative processes that built the Coop’s shared editorial practices and its publication platform.
• Open-source access
  The systems developed for the Cooperative are freely available for other editions, cohorts, and institutions to download and re-use with their own projects.

By providing a takeaway packet of our publishing platform, the Coop and its host institutions encourage the propagation of more editor-driven publishing initiatives. Adaptable for reuse in different contexts, the Coop’s resources can contribute to a landscape of similar digital edition projects that vary in scale, emphasis, and editorial tools—a landscape of abundant and diverse opportunities for content development and publication. As representatives of the nation’s first historical society, the MHS staff hope this system can engender similar initiatives at other archival repositories, where researchers delving into collections are often apt to find themselves with an idea for an edition but no clear path to creating it.

For more general information, please read this synopsis of the Coop publishing system.

Fully Integrated Publishing System

The full Primary Source Cooperative software package is available on GitHub, including a guide for installation. Please read the installation instructions carefully before embarking on an installation, as the server requirements are extensive and specific. It is advisable that installation be performed by someone with considerable experience with Linux systems.

The software supports all key systems of the publication platform.

Systems for Transcription, XML Generation, and Annotation, including

• Word-to-XML transformation tool: WET VAC
• TEI XML schema, with minor customization for Coop encoding
• Word template designed to work with WET VAC and the custom schema: WET (Word Enhanced for TEI)
  See section below for more information about these tools.

Systems for Document and Content Management, including

• People database for managing entries of all people referenced and tagged in documents
• Historical Topics database for managing entries of all historical topic terms approved by editions for tagging in documents
• interface for XML file upload, with schema verification
• controls for document preview and publication

Tools for Website Content Creation and Management, including

• delivery of source document transcriptions and page scans, organized by edition
• search and browse options, by edition or across editions, including faceting by metadata
• ability to edit the navigation and home page
• option for editions, using document management system, to create and edit supporting pages

WET VAC System for Generating XML Documents

Because many editors appreciate the ability to work in a word-processing environment, WET VAC is a key part of the Coop system, allowing projects to develop their content in MS Word and convert it to XML. Projects interested in testing WET VAC as a way to generate XML through WET VAC may do so, acknowledging that input requires the specialized Word Enhanced for TEI (WET) document—including a custom schema that may not validate in other publication platforms.

Access the online WET VAC. Works best on Google Chrome.

Using WET VAC and the WET Templates. [coming soon] This guide explains how to use the WET template file to generate fresh Word documents for starting a new transcription. The guide also walks the user through various steps, from using WET VAC to convert the completed Word file to XML through securing the downloaded XML file.

Key to WET Markers. This guide explains the intended purpose of each marker to assist editors in filling out each piece correctly, including adding extra markers as needed and dealing with edge cases.

Word Doc Template (.dotx Word file). This MS Word template comprises the regularized structures for the three main parts of each standardized document:

1. the series of “markers” for entering the metadata about a document;
2. for transcription of historical text, exemplary “markers” for a typical document structure, as well as examples of how to use Word formatting functions;
3. and a regularized setup for a source note and editorial annotations.

Opening the .dotx file will automatically generate a fresh .docx file, leaving the .dotx file unchanged.

Word Doc Template-Annotated (.dotx Word file). This is the same Word template as above, but the markers are annotated with example text, helping the user to become familiar with what content is expected after each “marker.”