SigiDoc 1.0 is the first stable version of an XML-based and TEI-compliant standard, largely based on the experience of EpiDoc, for the encoding of Byzantine seals. SigiDoc represents the first attempt to extend the digital approach - already applied to inscriptions, coins and papyri - to Byzantine seals: it allows the scholarly edition of the seals (as objects, texts, and images) and the valorisation of the data coming from them. The transformation of XML documents into a webpage, various indexing possibilities, a search interface as well as multi-lingual features are delivered to SigiDoc by EFES (EpiDoc Front-End Services).
Introductory and preparatory readings
- Introducing SigiDoc
- SigiDoc's blog: news about SigiDoc will be available through the platform 'Hypothèses': developments of the standard, publications, conferences and presentations, training events, – etc.
- Introduction to XML (W3 Schools, Wikipedia) and to TEI.
SigiDoc's Components
All these components reached their 1.0 version, but they are supposed to evolve thanks to the contribution of several sigillographic projects based on SigiDoc.
- Guidelines: recommendations especially focused on the markup of seals' legends and the indexing of the information coming from them. The XML files containing the Guidelines are available here.
- Template: the XML structure of a SigiDoc file, presented and explained in detail, and linked to the list of field names composing the final web page generated from this template. An XML file containing the SigiDoc template and ready to be used is available here.
- Schema: largely based on EpiDoc's customisation of the TEI schema, the SigiDoc schema makes a selection in order to better fit with the sigillographic needs and introduces several attributes' values; currently, SigiDoc XML files successfully validate against the lastest EpiDoc schema and the tei_all schema.
- SigiDoc/EFES source code: highly customised version of EFES for the needs of Byzantine sigillography and ready to be deployed and populated with the XML edition files.
Shared documentation
Being a collaborative project, SigiDoc shares the following documentation (and more to come) among its users, who should refer to it and collectively contribute to it.
- Controlled vocabulary: currently, there is a controlled vocabulary designed in order to use consistently SigiDoc's template. The HTML version of the latter is linked to this vocabulary. The working copy of this list (spreadsheet, reading mode only) is available here.
- List of attributes' values: a list of the values - required or optional - to be used within the SigiDoc template. The HTML version of the latter is linked to this list. The working copy of this list (spreadsheet, reading mode only) is available here.
- List of IDs: the list of SigiDoc's identifiers for imprints and matrices (boulloteria). The working copy of this list (spreadsheet, reading mode only) is available here.
Mandatory Readings
- EpiDoc guidelines: SigiDoc being a subset of EpiDoc, reading the EpiDoc guidelines is highly recommended (current version 9.2).
- EFES guidelines: EFES is the platform through which SigiDoc is displayed, therefore a good understanding of its functionalities is of great help to SigiDoc's users.
A test-corpus
In order to illustrate the encoding of Byzantine seals in SigiDoc and their publication through EFES, a test-corpus consisting of the digital enhancement of a paper publication is available here. The source code is available in a GitHub repository.
Next steps
This 1.0 version is just the first of a series of steps intended to improve and expand the standard. The following are some topics to be addressed in the next months (the order in which they are presented below does not necessarily reflect the order in which they will be considered):
- About the font Athena Ruby:
- include the search for variant letters
- develop the Greek keyboard
- Indices:
- simplify how EFES works for alphabetical display of indices in several languages
- dynamic indices
- develop the reconstitution of matrices (boulloteria)
- improve the index of abbreviations
- add external hyperlinks: place names to geographical gazetteers, such as Pleiades, personal names to prosopographies (e.g., PBE, PmbZ, and PBW), lemmata to Perseus, etc.
- Search interface:
- improve original spelling search
- Improve the encoding of the overstruck seals
- Iconography: often neglected, iconography is a crucial feature of a seal; the foundations of a description system already exist and they need now to be expanded and made usable
- Images: introduce RTI images in the seals' edition pages (where applicable)
- Ontologies
- Controlled vocabularies: implement and expand the existing internal vocabularies, creating new ones, and enhance the interoperability with the external ones
- Common search interface: this is the ultimate goal of SigiDoc, the creation of a common search portal through which it will be possibile to query all the corpora published with SigiDoc
