Add a Historical or Literary Person to the Personography
encoding instructions
databases
personography
PERS1.xml
persons
people
data entry
Encode the Root Element
encoding instructions
databases
personography
PERS1.xml
persons
people
data entry
basics
sex
male persons
female persons
other sex
unknown sex
unknown persons
The person element is the root of every personography entry. It requires a
unique xml:id, so that references in other documents to people may be tagged
with that unique xml:id and links be made to the information in the
personography file (PERS1.xml). The value of the xml:id should be comprised
of the mol: pointer plus a unique four digit and one letter identifier. Ctrl+F on the A-Z Index
on the Jenkins site to find the next unused
id.
For historical and literary persons, you must also add a sex attribute to the
person element. For historical persons, enter a value of 1 if the person is male, 2 if the person is female, or 9 if there are no gendered pronouns in the text to help determine a sex. For literary persons, enter the value of 0 if the person’s sex is contested (I.e., London in mayoral shows), 1 if the person is male, 2 if the person is female, or 9 if there are no gendered pronouns in the text to help determine a sex.In 2020, MoEML decided that, for literary characters in particular, the sex attribute is the equivalent of performed gender. When tagging a new occurence of a personified character (e.g., Fame appears in both mayoral shows and
Survey of London), make sure their sex in the new text matches their current sex in PERS1.xml. If not, change the character’s sex from
1,
2, or
9 to
0.
Here are some examples of how to encode the person root element:
Nested within the person element should be the following second-tier elements:
persName, birth (if known), death (if known),
floruit (if birth and death are not known), and note. The following
sections describe how to encode these elements.
Encode Names
encoding instructions
databases
personography
PERS1.xml
persons
people
data entry
types of people
historical persons
literary persons
fictional characters
templates
regularized names
authority names
forenames
first names
given names
middle names
second names
surnames
last names
name links
linking names
nobility particles
particles in names
prepositions in names
titles
role names
honorifics
epithets
affixes in names
titles in names
additional names
leading epithets
prefixes in names
trailing epithets
suffixes in names
generation numbers
ordinals
roman numerals
full names
Nest a persName tag inside the person element. We use the
persName element to tag the various names (forename, surname, etc.)
associated with a person. Before tagging these names, add a type attribute to
the persName element. We use this attribute to identify a person as a
historical figure or a literary figure. If a person is historical, supply a
type value of hist. If a person is literary, supply a
type value of lit.
Nest name tags within the persName element. There are six name tags that you
can use when encoding a person’s name: reg, forename,
surname, roleName, genName, and addName.
Use the reg element to tag a regularized version of the person’s name. In most
instances, the regularized version will be the person’s forename followed by their
surname (e.g., regWilliam
Shakespeare
reg). In special cases, however,
the regularized version of a person’s name may contain only certain components of
theirIn 2018, MoEML retired its use of
gendered language such as his/her
. MoEML uses the singular,
gender-neutral pronouns they
, their
, and
them
in cases where gender is irrelevant or unknown. name or
components in a certain order. If you need to alter the reg of a pre-existing
entry, make sure you change the person’s name throughout the entirety of PERS1.xml. For
example, if you wanted to change William Bowyer’s reg to Sir William
Bowyer, not only would you add Sir to his
reg, but you would Ctrl+F his xml:id in PERS1.xml (in this case,
BOWI1) and make sure he is referred to as his updated
reg name (Sir William Bowyer) in other entries.
The following table outlines a number of special cases in which a person’s regularized
name does not follow the usual Forename + Surname format:
Type of Person |
Template |
Example |
Monarch of England |
Forename + Ordinal |
Elizabeth I |
Monarch of a country other than England |
Forename + Ordinal + of + Dominion |
Charles I of Spain |
Member of the peerage |
Forename + Surname [No Title] |
Thomas Howard |
Member of the gentry |
Sir or Dame + Forename + Surname |
Sir William Roch |
Pope |
Forename + Ordinal |
Innocent III |
Saint |
St. [Not Saint ] + Forename + Surname |
St. Augustine of Canterbury |
Bishop or priest |
Forename + Surname [No Title] |
Thomas Arundel |
Doctor |
Dr. [Not Doctor ] + Forename + Surname |
Dr. William Chichele |
Person with a different birth name |
Forename + Surname + (née + Surname at Birth +
) |
Anne Farrant(née Bower) |
Person with no known surname |
Mr. or Ms. + Forename |
Mr. Robert |
Person with no known forename |
Mr. or Ms. + Surname |
Mr. Randoll |
Person with only one name |
Forename/Surname [No Mr. or Mrs. ] |
Bede |
Use the forename element to tag a person’s forename or given name (e.g., forenameWilliam
forename). Sometimes, a person will have more than one forename
(i.e., they will have a middle name or middle
names). We tag every such name separately using the forename tag.
We also use forename to tag the names of allegorical or
mythological figures (e.g., forenameTruth
forename or forenameZeus
forename):
Henry Frederick
Henry
Frederick
Use the surname element to tag a person’s surname or family name (e.g., surnameShakespeare
surname). Sometimes, a person’s surname will contain a preposition
(e.g., Robert de Arras
or Chet van Duzer
). Tag these
prepositions using the nameLink element nested within the surname
element:
Robert de Arras
Robert
de Arras
Note that some people, often married women, may be known by more than one
surname. As with people who have multiple forenames, we tag each surname separately:
Anne Farrant (née Bower)
Anne
Farrant
Bower
Use the roleName element to tag any titles or roles associated with a person’s
name. Often, a role name will be the first component in a person’s name:
Sir David Craddock
Sir
David
Craddock
Urban IV
Pope
Urban
IV
St. Anthony of Egypt
Saint
Antony
Note that each of these tags identify a person as occupying a particular
station or rank within society. Sometimes, a role name will be the last component in a
person’s name:
Sir Edward Barkham
Sir
Edward
Barkham
Sheriff
Mayor
Thomas Savage
Thomas
Savage
Bishop
Archbishop
These kinds of role names are usually titles or offices that a person holds. If
the person is a monarch, we list their roleName as the last component of their
name:
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth
I
Queen of England
Queen of Ireland
Gloriana
Good Queen Bess
In the above example, note that Queen of England and Queen of Ireland
are individually listed (in contrast to one roleName of Queen of England and Ireland). The
same practice applies to bishops and archbishops:
Thomas Savage
Thomas
Savage
Bishop of Rochester
Bishop of London
Archbishop of York
The more consistent our encoding is throughout PERS.xml, the easier it will be
to link our data with other projects in the future.
It is also important to note that not everyone who holds an office/title should have
a roleName tag. As a general rule, we tag the role names of monarchs (e.g.,
King of England, Queen of France), religious officials/figures
(e.g., Pope, Saint, Archdeacon of London, Bishop of Durham, Archbishop of York etc.),
mayors (e.g., Mayor), sheriffs (e.g., Sheriff), and members of the gentry (e.g.,
Sir, Dame, Lord, Lady). Conversely, we do not tag the role names of aldermen, livery
company directors, or members of the peerage etc. Since the order of tags (forename, surname,
roleName, genName, addName) are rendered in the order they
are encoded, it is important to stay consistent and know where the roleName
element should appear:
- Sir, Dame, Lord,
and Lady are encoded after reg and before
forename.
- Pope is encoded after reg and before
forename.
- Saint is encoded after reg and before
forename.
- Sheriff and Mayor are encoded
after
surname.
- Bishop of, Archbishop of, and
Archdeacon of are encoded after
surname.
- King of and Queen of are encoded
after
surname.
Use the genName element to tag any ordinals in a person’s name. Usually, only
monarchs or popes will have ordinals in their names (e.g., Elizabeth I or Innocent III).
We write ordinals as roman numerals and, accordingly, nest a num tag with a
type value of roman within the genName. We also add a
value attribute to the num tag with a value that corresponds to
that of the roman numeral being tagged:
Boniface IX
Pope
Boniface
IX
When a person has more than one ordinal in their name, we tag each ordinal
separately:
James VI and I
James
VI
I
King of Scotland
King of England
King of Ireland
The genName element is also used to tag the
Younger and the Elder:
Cato the Younger
Cato
the Younger
Pliny the Elder
Pliny
the Elder
Use the addName element to tag any aliases, nicknames, or epithets associated
with a person’s name. The addName tag is not used for variant
spellings of a person’s name or location-based indicators (e.g., of
Norwich or of France). Only tag Master and Mistress with addName if they appear in the names of dramatic characters (e.g., Mistress Quickley in
Henry IV, Part 1):
Alfred the Great
Alfred
the Great
King of Wessex
King of the Anglo-Saxons
Edward I
Edward
I
King of England
Longshanks
Hammer of the Scots
Like
roleName, it is important to stay consistent and know where the
addName element should appear:
- Epithets (i.e., the Great) are encoded after
surname and, if applicable, after
genName.
- Nicknames and aliases (i.e., Longshanks or Hammer
of the Scots) are encoded at the end of the entry after
surname and, if applicable, after rolename.
Sometimes a person will have a
leading epithet (i.e.,
Black Will) which will require the
addName tag to
precede the other tags. In rare cases, the
addName tag will be the only known
component (other than the always-necessary
reg tag) in a person’s name (e.g.,
addNameWhipping Tom
addName). Refer to the above examples and other examples in
PERS1.xml for help.
In total, the persName tag and its nested components should provide a
comprehensive record of the various names used to identify a person. The reg
tag wraps the authority name and the other tags (forename, surname,
roleName, genName, addName) (1) break down the
reg name into its parts and (2) provide extra information that may not be
included in the reg name.
Encode Life Dates
encoding instructions
databases
personography
PERS1.xml
persons
people
data entry
life dates
dates
birthdates
dates of birth
date of death
precision
imprecision
certainty
uncertainty
If known, important life dates such as a person’s date of birth, date of death, and/or
flourish dates can be encoded following the persName element. Three
self-closing dating elements may be used:
- The birth element to encode information
about a person’s date of birth.
- The death element to encode information
about a person’s date of death.
- The floruit element encode
information about the dates a person was active (i.e., their
flourish dates).
Choose which dating elements to include. You will often only have enough information to
use one or two of the above dating elements. Because death records were far more common
than birth records in early modern England, it is easier to find information about a
person’s date of death. Baptism records often serve as the only primary sources for
determining a person’s date of birth. As infants were customarily baptised a few days
after they were born, baptism records can provide an approximation of when someone was
born. We record flourish dates only if both a person’s date of birth and
date of death are unknown.
Next, add attributes with values to the dating elements. Every element must declare (1)
a date or duration and (2) the calendar system being used. To declare a date or
duration, follow these guidelines:
- Use the when-custom attribute to express a single date of birth or
date of death. This attribute may not be used in combination with any other dating
attributes.
- Use the from-custom attribute to express the start date of a
duration. This attribute may only be added to the floruit element. It must
be used in combination with either the to-custom attribute or the
notAfter-custom attribute.
- Use the notBefore-custom attribute to expresses the earliest possible
date of an event. Unlike the value of the from-custom attribute, the
value of the notBefore-custom attribute is not assumed to be a definitive
start date of a duration. The notBefore-custom attribute may
express any duration that begun after the specified date or any single date that
occurred after the specified date. Accordingly, it may be added to any dating
element and it may be used by itself or in combination with the
notAfter-custom attribute or the to-custom attribute.
- Use the to-custom attribute to express the end date of a
duration. This attribute may only be added to the floruit element. It must
be used in combination with either the from-custom attribute or the
notBefore-custom attribute.
- Use the notAfter-custom attribute to express the latest possible date
of an event. Unlike the value of the to-custom attribute, the value of
the notAfter-custom attribute is not assumed to be a definitive end
date of a duration. The notAfter-custom attribute may express any
duration that finished before the specified date or any single date that occurred
before the specified date. Accordingly, it may be added to any dating element and it
may be used by itself or in combination with the notBefore-custom
attribute or the from-custom attribute.
- Values for the when-custom, from-custom,
to-custom, notBefore-custom, and notAfter-custom
attributes must be entered in standard ISO format. Reference particular days as
YYYY-MM-DD, months as YYYY-MM, and years as YYYY.
Use zeros to fill extra digits in years that are less than four digits (e.g., 0012 C.E.).
Use negative values when referring to a year before the common-era (e.g.,
-0008 B.C.E.).
To declare the calendar system being used, add a datingMethod attribute to
the dating element, then choose one of the following values:
- Enter a value of mol:julianMar if your source uses a Julian calendar
and considers March 25th the beginning of the new year.
- Enter a value of mol:julianJan if your source uses the Julian
calendar and considers January 1st the beginning of the new year. Although March
25th traditionally marked the new year in the Julian calendar, some early modern
writers (e.g., Samuel Peyps) had already begun using January 1st as the new year to
replicate the new style of the Gregorian calendar, which was
used by Catholic countries in mainland Europe.
- Enter a value of mol:julianSic if your source uses the Julian
calendar, but you are unsure whether January 1st or March 25th is considered the
beginning of the new year. You will use this value in most cases as many
sources, including the ODNB, are not entirely clear about the calendar system they
use.
- Enter a value of mol:gregorian if your source uses the Gregorian
calendar. Because England did not begin using the Gregorian calendar until 1752
(well after the period our project studies), you will rarely encounter a source that
uses the Gregorian calendar. Nonetheless, it is possible that a source may use a
proleptic Gregorian calendar, so the appropriate value is listed here.
In addition to the attributes and values outlined above, there are two optional
attributes that can be added to dating elements in special cases:
- Use the cert attribute with a value of low to express when
you are uncertain about the accuracy of a date. This may happen when your
information is based on an unreliable resource (e.g., Wikipedia) or when two or more
sources give conflicting information.
- Use the precision attribute with a value of low to express when a date is imprecise. This may happen when you only have the year of a person’s birth or death.
- Use the evidence attribute with a value of baptism to
express when a date of birth is based on a baptism record. Accordingly, the
evidence attribute should only be added to the birth element.
Here are some examples of how to encode life dates in a personography entry:
Note Biographical Information
encoding instructions
databases
personography
PERS1.xml
persons
people
data entry
biographical information
A note element should always follow the persName element. When known,
life dates may be inserted between the persName and note elements. We
use the note element to encode a short biographical statement and link to one
or two external resources about a person.
Write a Bio Statement
encoding instructions
databases
personography
PERS1.xml
persons
people
data entry
biographical information
descriptions of people
bio statement
biographies
Nest a p element immediately within the note element. We use this
p element to tag a short biographical statement about the person. A
biographical statement should summarize the salient facts pertaining to a person’s life,
including their important roles, titles, and/or relations.
Note that references to dates, locations, and other people in the biographical
statement are marked up using the appropriate TEI-XML tags. Because certain
types of people will have similar biographical statements, we
have developed a set of templates:
Type of Person |
Template |
Example |
Member of the peerage |
Name of title(s) + . + Other biographical
information + . |
First Earl of Banbury. Husband of Constance Knolles. |
Actor |
Actor with + name of playing company + . + Other
biographical information + . |
Actor with the King’s Men. First editor of William Shakespeare’s First Folio. |
Mayor |
Sheriff of London + YYYY-YYYY + . +
Mayor + YYYY-YYYY + .
Member of the + livery company to which they belonged +
. + Other biographical information + . |
Sheriff of [London](mol:LOND5) 1489-1490. Mayor 1503-1504 and 1509-1510. Member of the Drapers’ Company. Buried at [Holy Trinity Priory](mol:HOLY1). |
Sheriff |
Sheriff of London + YYYY-YYYY + .
Member of the + livery company to which they belonged +
. + Other biographical information + . |
Sheriff of [London](mol:LOND5) 1567-1568. Member of the Haberdashers’ Company. Knighted on 23 July 1603. |
Member of a livery company |
Member of the + livery company to which they belonged . + Other biographical information +
. |
Member of the Goldsmithsʼ Company. Warden of [London Bridge](mol:LOND1). |
Monarch |
Queen or King + of + dominion + YYYY-YYYY +
. |
Queen of [England](mol:ENGL2) 1533-1603. |
Pope |
Pope + YYYY-YYYY + . |
Pope 314-335. |
Bishop and/or Archbishop |
Bishop of + dominion + YYYY-YYYY + .
Archbishop of + dominion + YYYY-YYYY +
. + Other biographical information + . |
Bishop of [London](mol:LOND5) 1597-1604. Archbishop of Canterbury 1604-1610. Chief overseer of the production of the King James Bible. |
BenefactorIn 2020, MoEML retired its use of benefactress to distinguish the gender of a patron. |
Benefactor of + location + . |
Benefactor of [St. Foster](mol:FOST4). |
Financier |
Finacier of + location + . |
Financier of [St. Paul’s Cathedral](mol:STPA2). |
Donator |
Donated + object of donation [can be funds] + to + recipient(s) of donation +
. |
Donated [St. George Southwark](mol:STGE4) to the monks of [Bermondsey Abbey](mol:BERM3). |
Namesake |
Namesake of + location + . |
Namesake of [Finch Lane](mol:FINC1) (also known as [Fink Lane](mol:FINC1)). |
Dramatic character |
Dramatic character in + author’s name + ’s +
name of work + . |
Dramatic character in William Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing. |
Allegorical character in mayoral shows |
Personification of + concept the character represents +
. Appears as an allegorical character in mayoral shows. |
Personification of purity. Appears as an allegorical character in mayoral shows. |
Allegorical character in mayoral shows and Survey of
London |
Personification of + concept the character represents +
.
Appears as an allegorical character in mayoral shows and Survey of London. |
Personification of prudence. Appears as an allegorical character in mayoral shows and Survey of London. |
Representative character in mayoral shows |
Character representing + person/people the character represents + . + Appears in mayoral shows. |
Character representing the French. Appears in mayoral shows. |
Stock character in mayoral shows |
Stock + occupation the character represents + character.
Appears in mayoral shows. |
Stock shepherd character. Appears in mayoral shows. |
Unnamed character in mayoral shows |
Unnamed character. Appears in mayoral shows. |
Unnamed character. Appears in mayoral shows. |
Mythological god or goddess |
God or Goddess + of + domain of god or goddess + in + Greek or Roman + mythology. + Other biographical information + . |
God of love in Greek mythology. Equated with Cupid in Roman mythology. |
Biblical figure |
Role of figure + in the Bible. + Other biographical information
+ . |
Prophet in the Bible. Wife of Abraham. |
Apostle |
Apostle of Jesus Christ in the Bible. |
Apostle of Jesus Christ in the Bible. |
In addition to the special cases outlined in this table, there are a number of
universal rules that should be followed when formatting any biographical statement.
Biographic statements should be written in fragments rather than complete sentences.
Separate fragments using periods (avoid using semicolons):
Wife of Robert Mellingon. Daughter of Ferreis of Ousley. Buried at [Crossed Friars](mol:CRUT2). Not to be confused with Dame Elizabeth Mellington.
Fully spell out the titles of members of the peerage (i.e., first not 1st):
First Earl of Somerset.
When describing a person’s relationship to another person, use the preposition
of
rather than to
and separate each relation with a
period:
Wife of Stephen Slaney. Mother of Stephen Slaney, Anne Colepepper, Mary Weld, Elizabeth Lennard, Jasper Slaney, Thomas Slaney, Richard Slaney, Timothy Slaney, Alicia Slaney, and Martha Slaney. Daughter of Jasper Pheasant.
Note that when adding a new family relation to a person’s entry, the entries of all family members should be updated. For example, many mayors and sheriffs appear in the 1598
Survey of London with no listed family members, but by the 1633
Survey of London, their entire families are mentioned. In a case like this, not only would you add the new family members to PERS1.xml, but you would update the preexisting entry of the mayor or sheriff as well.
In 2019, MoEML team members noticed that the biographical statements of many early modern women mentioned their relationship to their husbands (i.e., Wife of
) while the biographical statements of early modern men did not mention their relationship to their wives (i.e., Husband of
). MoEML’s current practice is for all relationships within PERS1.xml to be reciprocal. PERS1.xml is continually being updated to reflect this practice. When writing about a person’s family, note that the order of their biographical
statement goes spouse(s) (
Wife of), offspring (
Mother
of), parent(s) (
Daughter of), and sibiling(s)
(
Sister of). For consistency, it is also important that all
people mentioned in a
note element are referred to by their
reg name.
In the above example, note how
Anne Colepepper,
Mary
Weld, and
Elizabeth Lennard are referred to by their
reg names (in this case, their forenames and surnames after marriage) and are
not called
Anne Slaney,
Mary Slaney, or
Elizabeth Slaney.
Date ranges that occur in the same century should be expressed in YYYY-YYYY format (e.g.,
1601-1602). Date ranges that span across two centuries should also be expressed in YYYY-YYYY format
(e.g., 1598-1601). Note that we use a hyphen instead of a preposition in date
ranges.
When noting where a person was buried, insert a separate fragment beginning with
Buried at
:
Esquire. Buried at [St. Mildred, Bread Street](mol:STMI9).
When noting where a person has a monument dedicated to them, insert a separate fragment
beginning with Monument at
:
Alderman. Monument at [All Hallows, Bread
Street](mol:ALLH3).
Note that when mentioning locations in note elements their reg names are used for consistency.
Use the word possible to clarify facts that are unconfirmed. For
example, if
MASL describes a person as
Vintner (possibly)
, we write
Possible member of the Vintners’
Company
.
Possible can also be used for unsure
family relations (i.e.,
Possible son of Roger le
Duc
.) or any miscellaneous information that is unconfirmed (i.e.,
Possible founder of St. Martin’s le
Grand
.).
When little information can be found about a person except that they were an early
modern Londoner, the note element should read Denizen of London
. If nothing can be found about a person, the
note element should read:
MoEML has not yet added biographical content for this person. The editors welcome research leads from qualified individuals. Please [contact us](mol:contact) for further information.
When there is not enough information to accuratly discern if someone is the same person
as another, add Possibly the same person as
so readers know to look at
both entries:
Son of Sir Thomas Skinner. Possibly the same person as John Skinner.
When there is not enough information to accuratly discern if someone is a historical
figure found in another source, link the source as follows:
Possibly historian and controversialist Nicholas Harpsfield. See [ODNB](https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12369).
Possibly Welles uprising participant Sir Thomas de la Lande. See [Enacademic’s Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses](https://war_of_roses.enacademic.com/382/Welles_Uprising).
If a person only appears in a latin epitaph in John Stow’s
1633
Survey of London, add
Latin epitaph in Stow
1633 to the end of their biographical statement:
Rector of [St. Nicholas Olave](mol:STNI3). Buried at [St. Nicholas Olave](mol:STNI3). Latin epitaph in Stow 1633.
Link to Further Resources
encoding instructions
databases
personography
PERS1.xml
persons
people
data entry
biographical information
further resources
related resources
more information
encyclopedias
dictionaries
archives
links
hyperlinks
related resources
acronyms
We always attempt to provide one or two links to external resources that provide
further information about a person. To keep our data consistent and reliable, we almost always link to entries in the following databases and online encyclopaedias:
[British Book Trade
Index (BBTI)](http://bbti.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/search/advanced/)
[British History Online
(BHO)](https://www.british-history.ac.uk/)
[Encyclopedia Britannica
(EB)](https://www.britannica.com/)
[Encyclopedia Mythica (EM)](https://pantheon.org/)
[History of Parliament
Online (HPO)](https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/)
[Mayors and Sheriffs
of London (MASL)](https://https://masl.library.utoronto.ca/)
[Oxford Reference (OR)](https://www.oxfordreference.com/)
[Oxford Dictionary of National
Bibliography (ODNB)](https://www.oxforddnb.com/)
[Records of London’s Livery Companies
Online (ROLLCO)](https://www.londonroll.org/)
[Wikipedia](http://www.wikipedia.org/)
Before encoding links to external resources, the first step is to determine whether the
person you are looking for is included in any of the above resources. If the person is
included in more than three resources, select the best three resources to link to. We
always include a link to the
ODNB entry on a person if it
exists. Furthermore, we always try to link to at least one open access resource.
Wikipedia links should be included only if the person cannot be
found in other open access resources.
Note that it is possible that a person will be included as a sub-entry in the
ODNB entry for another person (usually one of their family members). Do not
link to a sub-entry as a further resource. Instead, link to it in the person’s
biographical statement. Insert an extra sentence that reads
See related ODNB article on [name of person’s relation]
at the end of
the biographical statement. Tag
ODNB
with the link
to the article being referenced:
Knight of the Garter. Brother of Simon Burley. See related [ODNB](https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4036) entry for
Simon Burley.
After determining which further resources to use (if they exist), insert a
list element with a type value of links immediately
after the p element. Next, spell out the acronym for each resource you want to
link to. Here are the acronyms we use:
Resource |
Standard Acronym |
[British Book Trade Index](http://bbti.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/) |
BBTI |
[British History Online](https://www.british-history.ac.uk/) |
BHO |
[Encyclopedia Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/) |
EB |
[Encyclopedia Mythica](https://pantheon.org/) |
EM |
[History of Parliament
Online](https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/) |
HPO |
[Mayors and Sheriffs of
London](https://https://masl.library.utoronto.ca/) |
MASL |
[Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography](https://www.oxforddnb.com/) |
ODNB |
[Oxford Reference](https://www.oxfordreference.com/) |
OR |
[Records
of London’s Livery Companies Online](https://www.londonroll.org/) |
ROLLCO |
[Wikipedia](http://www.wikipedia.org/) |
Wikipedia |
The final step requires that you encode each acronym using the following tags (in the
following order). First, tag each acronym using the title element with a
level value of m. The value of m means that the source is monographic (it is considered a distinct publication, not a periodical or serial). Database titles and book titles are tagged with the value of m and are rendered in italics. Second, tag each acronym using the
ref element with a target attribute. The value of the target
attribute should be the http:// address for the external resource. Third, tag each
acronym using the item element. The following XML tree serves an example of how
to link to further resources:
[ODNB](https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26932/63285)
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Eleanor_Talbot)
If possible, use a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for the link; in the case of
ODNB, they are much more stable than the long URLs.
Example Entries
Examples of fully encoded historical or literary person entries in PERS1.xml
can be found by searching the file for type="hist"
or
type="lit"
, or by using XPath like this:
//person[persName[@type='hist']]
. When adding a new person to PERS1.xml,
it is a good idea to look at existing entries of similar figures. For example, when
adding a sheriff to PERS1.xml, look at the biographical statements of other sheriffs and
try to stay as consistent as possible.
Research a Historical or Literary Person
encoding instructions
databases
personography
PERS1.xml
persons
people
data entry
biographical research
encyclopedias
dictionaries
archives
finding aids
resources for research
Biographical research is often required to add a historical or literary person to the
personography. The following table outlines the resources we recommend for researching
different types of people.
Monarchs |
[Oxford Dictionary
of National Biography (ODNB)](http://www.oxforddnb.com) contains full-length, scholarly
biographies for every monarch of England and many monarchs of France, Spain,
and other countries. Unfortunately, the ODNB is behind a paywall. UVic has
purchased a subscription to the ODNB, so you can access it on any campus computer
or via the library’s proxy server.
[Encylopedia
Britannica (EB)](https://www.britannica.com/) contains short, scholarly biographies for every
monarch of England and many monarchs of France, Spain, and other countries.
Longer biographies are available to those who pay for a subscription (which
UVic Libraries does not). Because the free biographies are so short, they are
unlikely to contain any information that the ODNB does not.
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)
contains an extensive collection of biographies for almost every monarch in
the world. Because Wikipeda entries are written and
edited by common users, we recommend that you cross-reference any information
you take from Wikipedia with a more reliable source
like the ODNB or EB.
|
Members of the peerage |
[Oxford Dictionary
of National Biography (ODNB)](http://www.oxforddnb.com) contains full-length, scholarly
biographies for most members of the peerage.
- If a member of the peerage served in the House of Lords, see
[History
of Parliament Online (HPO)](https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/) for their full-length biography
and family tree. Note that certain time periods (e.g., 1422-1504) are not yet
available. HPO is open content, meaning anyone can access it from any internet
connection.
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) is another useful resource for researching
members of the peerage (especially lesser-known peers). Wikipedia is particularly helpful when you want to search by a
person’s title (e.g., Fifth Earl of Oxford or Earls of
Oxford ).
|
Members of the gentry |
- Well-known members of the gentry can be found in the
[Oxford Dictionary of
National Biography (ODNB)](http://www.oxforddnb.com).
- If a member of the gentry cannot be found in the ODNB, we recommend searching
for them in
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page).
- Because some members of the gentry were also members of the House of
Commons, you might also consider searching for a member of the gentry in
[History of Parliament Online (HPO)](https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/).
|
Religious figures |
[Oxford Dictionary
of National Biography (ODNB)](http://www.oxforddnb.com) contains full-length, scholarly
biographies for all archbishops of Canterbury. Some bishops, priests, deacons,
and other religious officals can be found in the ODNB as well; however, you
are more likely to find them in [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page).
[Encylopedia
Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) are the best resources for researching popes and
saints.
|
Mayors and sheriffs |
[Mayors and Sheriffs of London (MASL)](https://masl.library.utoronto.ca/) contains
records of every mayor and sheriff who held office between 1190 and present day.
For each mayor and/or sheriff, MASL lists the person’s
name, the year(s) they held office, and the livery company they belonged to.
Other biographic details, such as a person’s life dates or family members, are
not included.
[Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB)](http://www.oxforddnb.com) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) contain some full-length biographies of well
known mayors and sheriffs. Note that Wikipedia’s [List of Lord Mayors of London](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lord_Mayors_of_London) and [List of Sheriffs of London](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sheriffs_of_London) contain some errors; we
recommend that you refer to MASL instead.
|
Stationers |
[British
Book Trade Index (BBTI)](http://bbti.bodleian.ox.ac.uk) contains records of every printer,
publisher, and bookseller mentioned in the English Short
Title Catologue (ESTC). Entries include the name of the stationer,
their date of birth and date of death, locations where they worked, and their
roles. Note that there are many duplicate or near-duplicate entries in the
BBTI database. To gather all the important information about a stationer, you
may need to refer to multiple entries for the same person.
[Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB)](http://www.oxforddnb.com) and [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) contain encyclopedia articles for some well-known
stationers. When available, these articles can provide valuable context for
the facts listed in BBTI entries.
|
Common people |
- You probably will not find common people in usual sources like the
[Oxford English
Dictionary (ODNB)](http://www.oxforddnb.com) or [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page).
[British
History Online (BHO)](https://www.british-history.ac.uk/) contains numerous primary sources such
as court rolls, wills, records of loans, etc. Many common people are mentioned
in these sources.
[The
Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913](https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/) contains records of
criminal trials held in London, many of which involved common people. The
earlier records contained in this database are especially of interest to our
project.
[Records of
London’s Livery Companies Online (ROLLCO)](https://www.londonroll.org/) contains records
of apprentices and freemen in ten livery companies between 1400 and 1900. If
the person you are looking for was a member of one of these ten livery
companies, you will likely find them in this database.
|
Mythological figures |
[Encyclopedia
Mythica](https://pantheon.org/) is an online encyclopedia of
Greek, Roman, Celtic, and other ancient mythologies. Enyclopedia articles tend
to be short, but reliable.
- Many mythological figures can also be found in
[Oxford
Reference](https://www.oxfordreference.com/), a searchable database of reference works
published by Oxford University Press. Because the database includes titles
such as A Dictionary of Britsh History, A Dictionary of English Folklore, and Dictionary of Phrase and Fables, it is a particularly
good resource for researching the mythology of London and Britain.
- Former research assistants have found
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)
to be a useful resource. As it is not
necessarily scholarly, we advise you cross-reference any information
gleaned from this resources with a more scholarly resource.
|
Note that, due to early modern spelling variations, it is sometimes difficult to find
the person you are looking for in these databases. For example, note how Henry
le Waleys appears in John Stow’s
Survey of London:
- 1598 Temporal Government: Henry Waleys
- 1598 Cheap Ward: Henry Wales
- 1633 Dowgate Ward: Henry Wallis
- 1633 Farringdon Within Ward: H. Wales
If you were to search for Henry Waleys in
MASL, you would not find
his entry because he is listed as
Henry le Waleys. To get around
this problem, we recommend that you include many variant spellings of a person’s name in
your search. When searching
MASL, for example, it can be helpful to search small parts
of names (ex.
Henry or
Wal) and manually click
through the results.
Add Modern Contributors to the Personography
The basic structure of a personography entry for a modern contributor is the same as for
a historical or literary person. Entries consist of a root element (person),
which contains a persName element and a note element. We do not encode
life dates (i.e., birth, death, or floruit elements) for modern
contributors.
Encode the Root Element
The person element is the root of every personography entry. To distinguish
one personography entry from another, we add an xml:id attribute to the
person element with a unique value composed of four letters and one number
(e.g., JENS1). For more information, see [Applications for Encoders](applications.htm#applications_id_app).
Unlike entries for historical or literary persons, we do not add a sex
attribute to the root element in entries for modern contributors.
Here are some examples of how to encode the root element in a personography entry for a
modern contributor:
Encode Names
Nest a persName tag immediately inside the person root element. Add a
type attribute with a value of cont to the name tag.
Inside the name tag, nest a reg tag. Use the reg element to
tag a regularized version of the contributor’s name. For a modern contributor, a
regularized name should consist of the person’s forename followed by their middle
name(s) (if applicable) and their surname. After surname, use the abbr
element to tag the contributor’s initials. Please leave out any suffixes such as Dr. or
M.A.
Here are some examples of how to encode the persName element in a
personography entry for a modern contributor:
Janelle Jenstad
Janelle
Jenstad
JJ
Martin D. Holmes
Martin
D.
Holmes
MDH
Note Biographical Information
Usually contributors themselves write their biographical statement. In cases of less
stylized entries, such as a group of students involved in a Pedagogical Partnership, a
MoEML research assistant will be tasked with adding the entries. As the MoEML team grows
and changes, it is important that entries are updated to reflect the current team. When
a team member leaves, their biographical statement can either be changed into the past
tense or can be edited to explain where the team member is now:
Research Assistant, 2014-present. Catriona is an MA student at the University of Victoria. Her primary research interests include medieval and early modern Literature with a focus on book history, spatial humanities, and technology.
Research Assistant, 2014-2016. Catriona was an MA student at the University of Victoria. Her primary research interests included medieval and early modern Literature with a focus on book history, spatial humanities, and technology.
Because certain types of people will have similar biographical
statements, we have developed a set of templates:
Type of contributor |
Template |
Example |
Research Assistant |
Research Assistant, + YYYY-YYYY + . + One or two sentences about the research assisstant’s degree
program and/or academic interests. |
Research Assistant, 2018-2020. Chris Horne was a student in the Department of English at the University of Victoria. His primary research interests included American modernism, affect studies, cultural studies, and digital humanities.
|
Programmer or technical assistant |
Programmer [or more specific job title] + at the
University of Victoria Humanities Computing and Media Centre (HCMC) [or
other place of work, if applicable] + . + One to three sentences
about the contributor’s career and/or contributions to MoEML. |
Programmer at the University of Victoria Humanities Computing and Media Centre (HCMC). Martin ported the MOL project from its original PHP incarnation to a pure eXist database implementation in the fall of 2011. Since then, he has been lead programmer on the project, and led the work to convert it to a purely static HTML version in 2018. He was a co-applicant on MoEML’s 2012 and 2018 SSHRC Insight Grants.
|
Pedagogical partner (instructor) |
Contributor’s full name + is a MoEML pedagogical partner. + Two
or three sentences about the contributor’s career. + One sentence about the
contributor’s contribution to MoEML. |
Sarah Hogan is a MoEML Pedagogical Partner. She is Assistant Professor of English Literature at [Wake Forest University](http://college.wfu.edu/). Her work has appeared in JMEMS, JEMCS, and Upstart, and she is currently at work on a book-length project, Island Worlds and Other Englands: Utopia, Capital, Empire (1516-1660). Her class on sixteenth-century British literature will be composing an entry on [Ludgate](mol:LUDG1).
|
Pedagogical partner (student) |
Student contributor enrolled in + calendar code for pedagogical
partnership course + : + name of pedagogical partnership course [in
title case] + at + name of their university + in +
season [as determined by their university calendar] + YYYY +
, working under the guest editorship of + name of instructor +
. |
Student contributor enrolled in English 534: Historicizing Shakespeare and the Blackfriars Theater at San Diego State University in Spring 2014, working under the guest editorship of Peter C. Herman.
|
Sometimes, a contributor will have had multiple roles with MoEML. If they have had
multiple roles over the course of months or years, list each role chronologically
(including corresponding dates) at the beginning of their biographical statement:
Project Manager, 2020-present. Assistant Project Manager, 2019-2020. Research Assistant,
2018-2020. Kate LeBere completed her BA (Hons.) in History and English at the University of
Victoria in 2020. During her degree she published papers in
The Corvette
(2018), The Albatross (2019), and PLVS
VLTRA (2020) and presented at the English Undergraduate Conference (2019) and
Qualicum History Conference (2020). While her primary research focus was sixteenth and
seventeenth century England, she developed a keen interest in Old English and Early Middle
English translation and completed her honours thesis on Soviet ballet during the Russian
Cultural Revolution.
Data Manager, 2015-2016. Research Assistant, 2013-2015. Tye completed his
undergraduate honours degree in English at the University of Victoria in 2015.
Example Entries
Examples of fully encoded person entries for modern contributors in PERS1.xml
can be found by searching the file for type="cont"
, or by using XPath like
this: //person[persName[@type='cont']]
.