Features omitted from transcription
There are some features of the source text which for most practical purposes can be omitted from the transcription. Whether they are omitted silently (leaving no evidence of their existence) or whether there should be some indication of an omitted feature will depend on several factors:
- the informational content of the feature
- whether or not an image of the text is being supplied with the transcription.
For projects in which the transcription must serve in place of the source for all purposes—where the original is inaccessible and no image is available—the degree of detail in both transcription and documentation must naturally be much higher than in cases where the reader can readily see the page image.
We recommend omitting the following features from the transcription:
- modern handwriting including that of an editor, librarian, etc.
- library call numbers
- printed or embossed library emblems
- smudges, foxing, dead insects, and other marks or impedimenta of non-human origin (where these impede the text’s legibility, that fact should be encoded with unclear or gap)
- bookplates
If you wish to mark these omissions, use the gap element. This element carries several attributes which can be used to describe the material being omitted and the reason for the omission. For more detail, see Gap: general notes.