What is TextLab?

TextLab is a web application that helps scholars, editors, and students analyze revisions of any written work, in manuscript or print, in order to create a fluid-text edition of that work.

How Does it Work?

TextLab’s XML editor automatically inserts TEI tags for text and image transcription markup. It then translates the XML through XSLT to create the HTML necessary to view the finished product on a web page.

What Can You Do With TextLab?

Primary Editing:

• Identify revision sites on digital images of manuscript leaves.
• Transcribe the revision texts associated with those sites as well as other unrevised inscription and metamarks.

Secondary Editing:

• Compose revision sequences and revision narratives for any given set of revision sites in manuscript.
• Store all alternative revision sequences and narratives composed by different users in the TextLab database.

Editorial Display:

• Create a diplomatic transcription and base version for each manuscript leaf.
• Complete the fluid-text editing process through TextLab’s automatic hyperlink of all alternative revision sequences and narratives to the revision sites as displayed in both the diplomatic transcription and base version, allowing easy access to variant revision hypotheses.