XML Publishing

One of the goals of digitalculturebooks is to create replicable and scalable models for publishing new XML-encoded scholarship. The most prominent component of our system architecture is DLXS, which includes open-source middleware and a licensed version of XPAT, a powerful search engine for electronic text in XML format. Our electronic resources are not simply websites created using conventional web development tools: they are interfaces to text and images stored in non-proprietary formats in the University of Michigan's digital library architecture. The University of Michigan has a distinguished history in custodianship of digital resources, successfully maintaining them through changes in technology, and we likewise pledge to maintain our publications.

Features of XML-encoded books

Search Terms in Results List

Search terms are highlighted in yellow in search results list. To help identify relevance of hit, highlighted terms appear in context with 100 characters before and after the term.

Search Terms Highlighted in Text

Search terms are highlighted in yellow on the text page. When you click an item in a search-results list, you are taken to the section of text which contains the matched terms. The highlighted terms help you to quickly identify where the search terms appear within the text. (In each instance the next / previous highlighted search term may be accessed by clicking on an arrow link.)

Page Breaks from Print Book

For books also published in print that include back-of-the-book indexes, the page breaks from the print version are included within the text for reference, e.g. [Page 4].

Notes in Pop-up Window

If you click on a note reference number, the note text will appear in a pop-up box. The entire notes section can also be accessed through the TOC or from a link in the note pop-up box.

List of Illustrations

The List of Illustrations includes a list of all figures and hyperlinks to where each figure appears within the text.

Pop-up of Larger Image

If you click on an image within a book, a pop-up window with a larger image appears. Images can appear interspersed within the text or in a separate section.

Increased Number of Images

Some e-books contain additional images not included in the print book. Many born-digital titles include a large number of color images.

Zoomable Image Viewer

The Image Viewer feature allows users to zoom in on and pan across images. The Image Viewer is used in books that contain high-resolution images.

Color Images

Simple color images appear in JPEG format. High-resolution images can be viewed with the Image Viewer which uses SID compressed files created from high resolution TIFF files.

Links

Internal Index to Page Breaks

Page numbers in the index are linked to a page in the text. As we bring born-digital books online the index can link to paragraph numbers or be replaced by our robust search engine.

Internal Text to Figures, Tables, Lists, Chapters, Sections

Text can be linked to any figure, table, or list within the book, as well as to the beginning of chapters and sections.

External Websites and Scholarly Resources

Text can be linked to any external website or scholarly resource, such as an image or transcription database, archive, journal article, e-book, etc.

External Image Resources

Images can be linked to external image resources maintained by an author or third party. Linking to images on an external site might be used if an author or institution wants to provide additional resources, such as Luna's InSight software, or when a third party wishes to maintain high-resolution files on a local server for copyright control and maintenance.

Supplemental or Archival Material

Supplemental Text and Images

Supplemental material such as translations or other additional text (and images) can be added.

Digital Archives

Digital archival material (e.g., in the form of a database) can either form part of or, if housed elsewhere, be linked to or from an XML title.