User talk:OCIMCO

ABOUT THE OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE ISLAMIC MANUSCRIPT CATALOGUES ONLINE PROJECT (OCIMCO)
The OCIMCO project aims to greatly improve scholarly access to the valuable Islamic texts held in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and Cambridge University Library. It is part of JISC's Digital Resources for Islamic Studies programme aimed at opening up access to a wide range of rare and important Arabic manuscripts and Islamic Studies resources.

Although much excellent work has been done in the UK to digitise medieval manuscripts like Psalters, books of hours and bestiaries, Middle Eastern manuscript culture has received less attention, yet UK organisations hold rich and valuable collections and there is great and increasing demand for access to them. The OCIMCO project is using TEI/XML to create some 10,000 basic manuscript descriptions that will be freely available and searchable online. These basic descriptions will also provide a framework for future enhancements and the inclusion of more details about individual manuscripts.

As the documentation for TEI manuscript description derives from Western manuscript examples, applying these descriptive standards to Islamic manuscripts in a union catalogue present a number of challenges, which are explored in the project documentation presented here.

OCIMCO PROJECT DOCUMENTATION
The TEI's Manuscript Description module makes it possible to provide detailed descriptive information about handwritten primary sources. While the OCIMCO project has initially focussed on the retrospective conversion of existing descriptions and catalogues, it will eventually provide detailed manuscript descriptions that will include digital representations of the manuscripts themselves.

For the purpose of this documentation we have chosen a representative record which will be discussed in detail: MS. Marsh 80, one of over 700 manuscripts belonging to Narcissus Marsh, Archbishop of Armagh and fellow of Exeter College, which the Bodleian received by bequest in 1714. Below is the complete TEI-conformant description of this manuscript:

    MS. Marsh 80 - OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE ISLAMIC MANUSCRIPT CATALOGUES ONLINE JISC Gillian Evison   [Date when first made available] Bodleian Library  Department of Special Collections Bodleian Library Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG    oriental@bodleian.ox.ac.uk </addrLine> </pubPlace> OCIMCO </publicationStmt> </recordHist> <availability status="restricted"> Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of                                   a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures contact <ref                                        target="http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/services/admissions/"                                        >Bodleian Admissions ). Contact oriental@bodleian.ox.ac.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript </adminInfo> </msDesc> </sourceDesc> </fileDesc> <encodingDesc> <classDecl> <taxonomy xml:id="LCSH"> </classDecl> </encodingDesc> <profileDesc> <textClass> <keywords scheme="#LCSH"> </textClass> </profileDesc> <revisionDesc> <change when="2009-05-14"> Alasdair Watson created this file on 14 May 2009. </revisionDesc> </teiHeader> <graphic url="folio1r.png"/> <graphic url="folio1v.png"/> <graphic url="folio2r.png"/> <graphic url="folio2v.png"/> </TEI>

The TEI Header Elements
The header of a TEI document provides a mechanism for describing an encoded work so that the text itself, its source(s), its encoding, and its revisions are all thoroughly documented. The <teiHeader> element provided for this purpose has four principal components:


 * <fileDesc> (file description) : contains a full bibliographic description of an electronic file.
 * <encodingDesc> (encoding description) : documents the relationship between an electronic text and the source or sources from which it was derived.
 * <profileDesc> (text-profile description) : provides a detailed description of non-bibliographic aspects of a text, specifically the languages and sublanguages used, the situation in which it was produced, the participants and their setting.
 * <revisionDesc> (revision description) : summarizes the revision history for a record.

The file description <fileDesc>
<fileDesc>  MS. Marsh 80 - OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE ISLAMIC MANUSCRIPT CATALOGUES ONLINE JISC Gillian Evison </titleStmt> <publicationStmt> <date calendar="Gregorian">[Date when first made available] Bodleian Library <pubPlace> Department of Special Collections</addrLine> Bodleian Library</addrLine> Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG</postCode>  </addrLine>  oriental@bodleian.ox.ac.uk </addrLine> </pubPlace> OCIMCO </publicationStmt> </recordHist> <availability status="restricted"> Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of              a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures contact <ref               target="http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/services/admissions/"               >Bodleian Admissions ). Contact oriental@bodleian.ox.ac.uk for further information on the availability of this manuscript </adminInfo>

<adminInfo> <recordHist> </recordHist> <availability status="restricted"> Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of        a valid reader's card for admissions procedures contact <ref target="http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/eligibility.cgi/" >Cambridge University Library Admissions ). Contact        near_eastern@lib.cam.ac.uk for further         information on the availability of this manuscript     </adminInfo>     <listBibl type="related-items">      Other copies Or. 419       </listBibl>

The   (additional information) section groups additional information, combining bibliographic information about a manuscript, or surrogate copies of it with curatorial or administrative information. The OCIMCO project supplies the <recordHist> (recorded history), i.e. information about the source and revision status of the parent manuscript description itself, and the  , i.e. information about the availability of the work, for example any restrictions on access, its use or distribution, its copyright status, etc.

solution a
Here at OCIMCO, we are struggling to find a satisfactory method of coding works of a derivative nature such as commentaries and translations. One method favours putting the information about the work the commentary etc., is based on in a, another in a. We are still experimenting, but have come up with a possible solution to this by putting all the information in a element with subelements such as another for the original work the commentary was based on and for the author of the original work. We are wondering if it is possible to indicate the priority of the works by having a type attribute value of, say, "primary", "secondary", etc., for the and elements? Please see below for a coded example:

<msItem> <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="standard">Qūshjī, ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad, d. 1474 or 5</persName> <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="alt">al-Qawshajī, ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad, ʻAlāʼ al-Dīn</persName> <persName xml:lang="ara" type="standard"> بن محمد علي <addName type="laqab">علاء الدين</addName> <addName type="kunyah">أبو القاسم</addName> <addName type="nisbah">القوشجي</addName> </persName> <docAuthor>Qūshjī, ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad d. 1474.</docAuthor> <foreign xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">al-Sharḥ al-jadīd, a                               commentary on the <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">Tajrīd al-ʿaqāʾid of <name type="person" xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī , 1201-1274.                            <title xml:lang="ara">الشرح الجديد شرح تجريد الاعتقاد لنصير الدين الطوسي <listBibl> GAL I 509 </listBibl> <textLang mainLang="ara">Arabic</textLang> </msItem>

Solution b
To facilitate an advanced grouping of the materials the  class  attribute is used in <msContent> and/or <msItem> to denote commentaries, super-commentaries, gloss, etc. combined with the value  text-relations  in the  type  attribute to clearly mark individual texts and authors and describe their relationship.

Examples of "text-relations":

<msContents> <msItem class="commentary"> <author key="nr91037727" ref="http://viaf.org/viaf/90046369/"> <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="standard">Quṭb al-Taḥtānī, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad, 1294 or 5-1364 or                                   5</persName> <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="org"/> <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="alt"/> <persName xml:lang="ara">قطب الدين الرازي <addName xml:lang="ara" type="laqab"/> <addName xml:lang="ara" type="kunyah"/> <addName xml:lang="ara" type="khitab"/> <addName xml:lang="ara" type="nisbah"/> </persName> <respStmt> <persName/> </respStmt> <docAuthor/> <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">Sharḥ al-risālah al-shamsīyah <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="alt"/> <title xml:lang="ara">شرح الرسالة الشمسية <listBibl> record in printed catalogue >no. 813                             <bibl type="text-relations">Commentary on the <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">al-Risālah al-shamsīyah xml:lang="ara">الرسالة الشمسية of <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" key="nr93027510" >Qazwīnī, ʻAlī ibn ʻUmar, 1203 or 4-1276 or 7 xml:lang="ara">نمجم الدين علي الكاتبى القزوينى .</persName> <textLang mainLang="ara">Arabic</textLang> </msItem> </msContents>

<msContents> <msItem class="commentary"> <msItem n="1" xml:id="a1"> <author key="79106223" ref="http://viaf.org/viaf/100374544/"> <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="standard">Taftāzānī, Masʻūd ibn ʻUmar, 1322-1389?</persName> <persName xml:lang="ara">التفتازاني، سعد الدين مسعود بن عمر </persName> Fanārī, Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad Shāh, 1436 or 7-1481 or 2 <persName/> <docAuthor/> <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">Al-Muṭawwal <title xml:lang="ara">المطول <listBibl> record in catalogue         >no. 1057                                    <bibl type="text-relations">The manuscript contains also the glosses of al-Fanārī on al-Taftāzānī's al-Muṭawwal, which is                                     a commentary on the <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">Talkhīṣ al-miftāḥ <foreign xml:lang="ara">تلخيص المفتاح of <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" >Qazwīnī, Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Raḥmān, 1267 or 8-1338</persName> <persName xml:lang="ara">القزوينى، جلا ل الدين محمد بن عبدالرحمان</persName>. This last work is, in turn, an               abridgement of the <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" >Miftāḥal-ʻulūm<foreign xml:lang="ara">مفتاح العلوم of <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" >Sakkākī, Yūsuf ibn Abī Bakr, b. 1160</persName> <persName xml:lang="ara">السكاكي، يوسف بن أبي بكر</persName>. </listBibl> <textLang mainLang="ara">Arabic</textLang> </msItem>

Extended OCIMCO practices
For more detailed description a number of additional practices have been adopted as shown below.

Example of multiple <msItem>
We have used the nestable <msItem> element to include the description of different works within a single codex as mentioned under <msContent>.

<msContents> <msItem n="1" xml:id="a1"> ff. 3-42   <author key="n89017436" ref="http://viaf.org/viaf/17624266/"> <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="standard">Ibn Zaghdān, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad, 1417 or 18-1477 or 8</persName> <persName xml:lang="ara">ابن زغدان، جمال الدين محمد بن احمد <addName xml:lang="ara" type="laqab">الوفائي الشاذلي</addName> <addName xml:lang="ara" type="kunyah">ابو المواهب</addName> <addName xml:lang="ara" type="nisbah">التونسي</addName> </persName> <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">al-Risālah ilá al-ṣūfīyah <title xml:lang="ara">قوانين حكم الاشراق الى كل الصوفية بجميع الآفاق <textLang mainLang="ara">Arabic</textLang> </msItem> <msItem n="2" xml:id="a2"> ff. 43-90  <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="supplied">Burhān al-Dīn Ibrāhīm ibn Maḥmūd al-Aqsarāʼī al-Mawāhibī</persName> <persName xml:lang="ara"> برهان الدين ابراهيم بن محمود الاقسرائي المواهبي </persName> <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">Nafaḥāt al-ṣafāʼ bi-al-sūl li-sharḥ muqaddimat al-uṣūl <title xml:lang="ara">نفحات الصفاء بالسول لشرح مقدمة الاصول <textLang mainLang="ara">Arabic</textLang> </msItem> </msContents>

Added values to <respStmt>
In addition to  the element <respStmt> has been used to link a statement of responsibility to a name, which is not the author. For further precision the code value "trl" has been used for "translator". The value "compiler" was added to the key attribute since an equivalent code value was not found.

<msContents class="#letters"> <msItem> <author key="n80145329" ref="http://viaf.org/viaf/90056948/"> <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="standard">Rashīd al-Dīn Ṭabīb, 1247?-1318</persName> <persName xml:lang="ara">رشيد الدين فضل الله <addName xml:lang="ara" type="laqab">طبيب</addName> </persName> <respStmt> Compiler <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">Muḥammad Abarqūhī<foreign xml:lang="ara">محمد ابرقوهي </persName> <persName/> </respStmt> <title xml:lang="eng" type="desc">Collection of letters dating from <date calendar="Hijri-qamari" from="0670" to="0690">670 to                                   690 <date calendar="Gregorian" from="1272" to="1297">1272 to 1291. <listBibl> [record in printed catalogue] </listBibl> <textLang mainLang="per">Persian</textLang> </msItem> </msContents>

Use of the elements <listBibl> and
We used the type attribute in <listBibl> and  to define bibliographic relationships of texts. Nested within <msItem> the value text-relations expresses close bibliographic affiliations to other texts which may be intergrated in the text described.

Examples of "text-relations":
<msContents> <msItem class="#commentary"> <author key="nr91037727" ref="http://viaf.org/viaf/90046369/"> <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="standard">Quṭb al-Taḥtānī, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad, 1294 or 5-1364 or  5</persName> <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="org"/> <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="alt"/> <persName xml:lang="ara">قطب الدين الرازي</persName> <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">Sharḥ al-risālah al-shamsīyah <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="alt"/> <title xml:lang="ara">شرح الرسالة الشمسية <listBibl><bibl type="text-relations">Commentary on the <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">al-Risālah al-shamsīyah xml:lang="ara">الرسالة الشمسية of <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" key="nr93027510" >Qazwīnī, ʻAlī ibn ʻUmar, 1203 or 4-1276 or 7 xml:lang="ara">نمجم الدين علي الكاتبى القزوينى .</persName> <textLang mainLang="ara">Arabic</textLang> </msItem>

</msContents> <listBibl><bibl type="text-relations">The manuscript contains also the glosses of al-Fanārī on al-Taftāzānī's al-Muṭawwal, which is           a commentary on the <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">Talkhīṣ al-miftāḥ xml:lang="ara">تلخيص المفتاح of <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" >Qazwīnī, Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd al-Raḥmān, 1267 or 8-1338</persName> xml:lang="ara">القزوينى، جلا ل الدين محمد بن عبدالرحمان. This last work is, in turn, an            abridgement of the <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" >Miftāḥal-ʻulūm xml:lang="ara">مفتاح العلوم of <author key="84031911" ref="http://viaf.org/viaf/61532835/"><persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">Sakkākī, Yūsuf ibn Abī Bakr, b. 1160</persName> <persName xml:lang="ara">السكاكي، يوسف بن أبي بكر</persName>.

Examples of "related-items"
Nested in The value related items in the type attribute of the   element was used to indicate other copies of the same work.

</adminInfo> <listBibl type="related-items"> Other copies: Oo. 6. 32, and Add. 199 . </listBibl>

</adminInfo> <listBibl type="related-items"> Other copies: Add. 191, which contains the entire dictionnary; and Add. 181, containing the first part of this work. </listBibl>

The attribute
In order to classify the various types of texts regardless of subject or ‘genres’, we made use of the   attribute and created a list of local-class terms to denote Commentaries, Supercommentary, Multiple Works, Glosses, Palimpsest, Documents, Abridgements, Letters, Translations, Extracts, Selections, Translation, Extract, Diagrams, Papers, Notes. In some instances a combination of attributes render more detailed information.

Example in <msContents>
<msContents class="#commentary"> <msItem> <persName xml:lang="per-Latn-x-lc" type="supplied">Sabzavārī, Ḥusayn ibn Ḥasan, d. 1436-7</persName> <persName xml:lang="per">سبزوارى، حسين بن حسن <addName xml:lang="per" type="nisbah">الخوارزمى</addName> </persName> <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">Jawāhir al-asrār fī sharḥ al-mathnawī <title xml:lang="ara">جواهر الاسرار في شرح المثنوي <listBibl> <bibl type="text-relations">Commentary on the <title xml:lang="per-Latn-xlc">Mas̲navī-i maʻnavī <foreign xml:lang="per">مثنوي معنوي of <persName xml:lang="per-Latn-x-lc">Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, Maulana, 1207-1273 <foreign xml:lang="per">مولانا جلال الدين رومى </persName>. <ref target="http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/arabic_catalogues/nicholson1932/view.php?id=47" />                            </listBibl> <textLang mainLang="per">Persian</textLang> </msItem> </msContents>

Example in <msItem>
<msItem n="2" xml:id="a2" class="gloss"> ff.8-96 <author key="n88286025" ref="http://viaf.org/viaf/19930855/"> <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" type="standard">Jurjānī, ʻAlī ibn Muḥammad, al-Sayyid al-Sharīf, 1340-1413</persName> <persName xml:lang="ara">السيد الشريف الجرجاني </persName> <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">Ḥāshiyat al-risālah al-shamsīyah <title xml:lang="ara">حاشية الرسالة الشمسية <listBibl> record in catalogue >no. 814                                <bibl type="text-relations">Gloss on the <title xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc">al-Risālah al-shamsīyah (<title xml:lang="ara">الرسالة الشمسية ) of <persName xml:lang="ara-Latn-x-lc" key="nr93027510">Qazwīnī, ʻAlī ibn ʻUmar, 1203 or 4-1276 or 7(<persName xml:lang="ara">نمجم                                           الدين علي الكاتبى القزوينى</persName>). </persName> </listBibl> <textLang mainLang="ara">Arabic</textLang> </msItem>

The attribute
In the Islamic tradition a date may be given in the sum of the alphanumeric value of letters as which is called a chronogram. In the first example below the date refers to the compilation of the text which explains its placement under   Please see. In the second example the date refers to the copying of the text and is placed in   Please see.

Examples
Compiled in <date rend="chronogram" calendar="Hijri-qamari" when="1046">1046 as shown in the chronogram at the end <locus from="761b" to="761b">761b which runs:<foreign xml:lang="per">از پی تاريخش بی قال و قيل گفت خرد منتخب بی بديل

In the colophon <locus from="458a" to="458a">f. 458a the date of completion is given <date rend="colophon" calendar="Hijri-qamari" when="1066">1066 <date calendar="Gregorian" when="1656" >1656 . The chronogram <locus from="458a" to="458a">f. 458a giving the date of completion<date rend="chronogram" calendar="Hijri-qamari" when="1017">1017 <date calendar="Gregorian" when="1608">1608-9.

Dates in Chronograms
A chronogram is a date given in letters as the sum of their alphanumeric values. A feature often found in Islamic manuscripts. In the first example below the date refers to the compilation of the text which explains its placement under   Please see. In the second example the date refers to the copying of the text and is placed in   Please see.

Examples for Chronograms
Compiled in <date rend="chronogram" calendar="Hijri-qamari" when="1046">1046 as shown in the chronogram at the end <locus from="761b" to="761b">761b which runs:<foreign xml:lang="per">از پی تاريخش بی قال و قيل گفت خرد منتخب بی بديل

In the colophon <locus from="458a" to="458a">f. 458a the date of completion is given <date rend="colophon" calendar="Hijri-qamari" when="1066">1066 <date calendar="Gregorian" when="1656" >1656 . The chronogram <locus from="458a" to="458a">f. 458a giving the date of completion<date rend="chronogram" calendar="Hijri-qamari" when="1017">1017 <date calendar="Gregorian" when="1608">1608-9.