OASIS DocBook TC2

Re: [docbook-tc] info on citation item

  • 1.  Re: [docbook-tc] info on citation item

    Posted 12-17-2003 21:42
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    Subject: Re: [docbook-tc] info on citation item


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    / "Bob Stayton" <bobs@sagehill.net> was heard to say:
    [...]
    | Improved citation support in DocBook
    | ====================================
    |
    | [This proposal is an updated version of the one discussed at the
    | DocBook TC meeting in November. The proposal was condensed
    | considerably based on the suggestions during the meeting.]
    |
    | Changes to the previous version:
    | - boiled down to the bare bones: addition of <biblioref>
    
    Are you suggesting that the other proposed changes are no longer needed?
    
    In any event, I've had a chance to look more closely at the other proposal[1]:
    
    > Improved citation support in DocBook
    > ====================================
    [...]
    > Mainframe computers have gained widespread acceptance as a replacement
    > for slide rules (Miller 1999; Doe 2000).
    >                  ^---------^
    >                  pointer to reference 1
    >                               ^------^
    >                               pointer to reference 2
    >
    >                 ^---------------------^
    >                  citation
    
    What exactly is your proposed markup for this example?
    
    > Miller,A: A survey of the applications of mainframe   < reference 1
    >           computers. Adv.Sci.Comp. 13:497, 1999.      <
    >
    > Doe, B: Mainframes and numeric mathematics. Am.J.Eng. < reference 2
    >         54:87, 2000.                                  <
    >
    > DocBook contains sufficient support to encode bibliographic references
    > (<bibliography> and related elements). However, the support for
    > pointers to bibliographic references should be extended to make
    > DocBook more versatile. The changes are proposed 1) to
    > make the formatting of citations and bibliographic references
    > according to a publisher-supplied style specification feasible and 2)
    > to allow DocBook to be used for documents that have more demanding
    > requirements for citations.
    >
    > 2. Addition of a new <biblioref> element
    > --------------------------------------------------------
    >
    > While it is possible to use the existing <xref> element in a
    > <citation> to encode pointers to entries in a <bibliography> (please
    > note the striking identity in the semantics of a pointer and <xref>),
    > the <xref> element is not suitable to carry additional bibliographic
    > information that applies only to the current citation. For example, if
    > the bibliographic reference describes a book, a citation may
    > specifically refer to a chapter or to a range of pages in that book.
    
    I'm reluctant to start adding "typed" cross references, but I see your
    point.
    
    > Think of the proposed <biblioref> as an extension of <xref> that uses
    > attributes to specify additional bibliographic
    > information. Applications are expected to process this element in a
    > way that uses both the information provided in the bibliographic
    > reference pointed to (e.g. a citation key, the number of the entry in
    > the bibliography, or an author/year representation of the reference)
    > and the additional information provided in the attributes. If a
    > <citation> contains more than one <biblioref>, processing applications
    > are expected to render them as a unit. For example, pointers to
    > consecutive entries in a numbered bibliography may be rendered as
    > "[1-3]".
    
    Can you show me an example where this would be the case, including the
    citation markup actually used that generates [1-3]?
    
    > The use of attributes is preferable to using #PCDATA in
    > <biblioref> because the formatting of the provided information should
    > be left to stylesheets. For example, a range of pages may be
    > rendered as "pages 12 through 15", "pp 12-15", or maybe as "pp 12 sq".
    >
    > Example:
    >
    > <citation><biblioref linkend="Miller1999" unit="chapter"
    > start="2" /></citation>
    
    I would have thought, actually, that the biblioref implied the
    citation if no other text was required inside the citation. But maybe
    that's just laziness on my part.
    
    > Code required:
    > Addition of elements with the following content models and attributes:
    >
    > <!ELEMENT biblioref EMPTY >
    > <!ATTLIST biblioref linkend IDREF #REQUIRED
    >                     endterm IDREF #IMPLIED
    > 		    unit NMTOKEN #REQUIRED
    >                     start NMTOKEN #REQUIRED
    >                     stop NMTOKEN #IMPLIED>
    >
    > Inclusion of <biblioref> into the content model of <citation>
    >
    > Level: essential
    >
    >
    > 3. New attribute "renderas" for the <citation> and biblioref elements
    > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
    >
    > Citations may be used in different ways by an author. This may
    > influence the processing expectations of <citation> elements. The
    > <citation> element should be extended with an attribute that allows an
    > author to select a specific processing expectation.
    >
    > 1) Citation outside of the text flow
    > This is the most common case. The citation is to be rendered outside
    > the text flow, for example in brackets or as a superscript (this is at
    > the discretion of the stylesheet or of a processing application):
    >
    > Computers require an operating system (Miller et al., 1999).
    > Computers require an operating system [1].
    >
    > 2) Citation in the text flow
    > Sometimes it is required to integrate parts of the bibliographic
    > reference into the text flow. These parts must still retain their
    > function as a pointer to a bibliographic reference:
    >
    > Miller et al. (1999) analyzed 250 common computer models and concluded that
    > all of them required an operating system.
    > Miller et al. [1] analyzed 250 common computer models and concluded that
    > all of them required an operating system.
    >
    > In this case, both "Miller et al." and "(1999)" or "[1]",
    > respectively, are citations with one pointer to a bibliographic
    > reference each. However, their integration into the text flow requires
    > that each is rendered differently and in a different way compared to 1).
    >
    > Examples:
    >
    > <citation renderas="full"><biblioref linkend="Miller1999"
    > /></citation>
    > <citation renderas="author"><biblioref linkend="Miller1999"
    > /></citation>
    > <citation renderas="year"><biblioref linkend="Miller1999"
    > /></citation>
    
    Which one of these samples generates the examples above. I would have thought
    it was something like this:
    
    <citation>
      <biblioref linkend="Miller1999" renderas="author"/>
      <biblioref linkend="Miller1999" renderas="year"/>
    </citation> analyzed...
    
    What does "full" do? What does "author" do? What does "year" do?
    
    > More complex citations, like the nested one written by Miller (1999,
    > see also Doe 1985, Myers 1990), may require the use of the renderas
    > attribute on individual <biblioref>s. Therefore it should be added to
    > the content model of this element as well.
    
    Can you show me how you'd like to markup that more complex citation?
    
    > Code required: Addition of renderas to the ATTLIST of <citation> and
    > of <biblioref> as NMTOKEN #IMPLIED
    >
    > Level: essential
    >
    > 4. Specification of navigational information in citations
    > ---------------------------------------------------------
    >
    > Add free-text caption or instructional text to citations to
    > direct the reader.
    >
    > Example: <citation refs="Smith99" caption="left figure">...
    >
    > Again, complex citation may require to attach captions to individual
    > <biblioref> elements, so this needs a caption attribute as well.
    >
    > Code required: add an attribute "caption CDATA #IMPLIED"
    >                     to <citation> and to <biblioref>.
    >
    > Alternative: add caption element type to the content model
    >                  <!ELEMENT citation %ho; (%para.char.mix;|caption)*>
    >
    > Level: important.
    
    Why does "left figure" have to be in an attribute. Why not simply
    <citation><biblioref linkend="Smiths99"/> (left figure)</citation>
    
    I have a hard time imagining a set of stylesheets smart enough to do
    the right thing with arbitrary caption text. And if we do need the
    caption text to be identified separately so that a stylesheet can
    process it, it still has to be in an element, I think, for I18N
    reasons.
    
    > 5. Add <biblioref> to the content model of element types implying quotation
    > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    >
    > Add <biblioref> to the content model of <quote>, <blockquote> and <epigraph>
    >
    > Example:
    >
    > <quote>A quote <biblioref linkend="Smith1999"><bibliospec
    > unit="page" start="22" stop="23 /></biblioref></quote>
    
    Bibliospec has crept back in, didn't you remove that?
    
    We already have "attribution" for blockquote and epigraph. I don't think
    we need anything specific for quote. You can simply put the citation in
    as you normally would, I think.
    
     <quote>A quote</quote><biblioref linkend="Smith1999" unit="page"
     start="22" stop="23 />
    
    True, the quote and the citation don't have a wrapper, but is that
    really a problem? They're presumably in the same para.
    
    > Code required:
    > Extend the content models of <blockquote> and <epigraph> to allow
    > <biblioref> elements.
    >
    > Level: important
    
                                            Be seeing you,
                                              norm
    
    [1] http://www.sagehill.net/dbtc/proposal.txt
    - --
    Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>      | Absolute faith corrupts as
    http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/ | absolutely as absolute
    Chair, DocBook Technical Committee | power.--Eric Hoffer
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