›A digital edition is not visible‹ – some thoughts on the nature and persistence of digital editions

Abstract

After a period of experimentation and prototyping, digital editions are considered a common standard and a serious, quite often even a better alternative to printed editions. In addition the TEI/XML provides a well introduced standard for mark-up of all relevant structural and semantic elements of an edition. In spite of this process of consolidation the digital edition is still accompanied by harsh critique, particularly by objecting that mark-up leaning on XML fosters a text model of an Ordered Hierarchy of Content Objects (OHCO) that does not fit all editorial problems and limits the flexibility of the editor. As a consequence many attempts have been undertaken to overcome these limits of XML, but up to now without much success. By narrowing down the perspective, however, to problems of the text model seemingly caused by XML it was often overlooked that a digital edition consists of more than a XML file. This contribution attempts to show that the critique can be dissolved when the edition is viewed not merely as a XML file, but as an ensemble of its components. In doing so it can also be shown that other than its critiques maintain a digital edition is not less stable or persistent than its printed predecessor. The seeming fluidity of digital edition disappears if it is no longer determined by its visible surface, but according to its algorithmic nature by the interplay of its components of text, structure, layout, interface and metadata.

Keywords

• edition
• elektronisches publizieren
• informationsvermittlung
• xml