The Text Encoding Initiative

This paper describes the goals and work of the Text Encoding Initiative, an international cooperative project to develop and disseminate guidelines for the encoding and interchange of electronic text for research purposes. It begins by outlining some basic problems which arise in the attempt to represent textual material in computers, and some problems which arise in the attempt to encourage the sharing and reuse of electronic textual resources. These problems provide the necessary background for a brief review of the origins and organization of the Text Encoding Initiative itself. Next, the paper describes the rationale for the the decision of the TEI to use the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) as the basis for its work. Finally, the work accomplished by the TEI is described in general terms, and some attempt made to clarify what the project has and has not accomplished.