The Text in the Machine

Book excerpt: The first comprehensive guide to explore the growing field of electronic information, The Text in the Machine: Electronic Texts in the Humanities will help you create and use electronic texts. This book explains the processes involved in developing computerized books on library Web sites, CD-ROMs, or your own Web site. With the information provided by The Text in the Machine, you?ll be able to successfully transfer written words to a digitized form and increase access to any kind of information. Keeping the perspectives of scholars, students, librarians, users, and publishers in mind, this book outlines the necessary steps for electronic conversion in a comprehensive manner. The Text in the Machine addresses many variables that need to be taken into consideration to help you digitize texts, such as: defining types of markup, markup systems, and their uses identifying characteristics of the written text, such as its linguistic and physical nature, before choosing a markup scheme ensuring accuracy in electronic texts by keying in information up to three times and choosing software that is compatible with the markup systems you are using examining the best file formats for scanning written texts and converting them to digital form explaining the delivery systems available for electronic texts, such as CD-ROMs, the Internet, magnetic tape, and the variety of software that will interpret these interfaces designing the structure of electronic texts with linear presentation, segmented text, or image files to increase readability and accessibility Containing lists of suggested readings and examples of electronic text Web sites, this book provides you with the opportunity to see how other libraries and scholars are creating and publishing digital texts. From The Text in the Machine, you?ll receive the knowledge to make this medium of information accessible and beneficial to patrons and scholars around the world.