Should `respStmt` be optional?

[scottkleinman]

Our current guidelines list respStmt as optional, which doesn't seem right to me. However, the TEI recommendations don't really prescribe a very strict format, which makes rendering problematic. We should probably devise some slightly stricter recommendation so that we can harvest the information effectively from the teiHeader.

[dorothyk98]

This sounds fine to me.

[scottkleinman]

OK, I don't have time to update the schema/guidelines right now, but here is some proposed language for respStmt:

The respStmt element is used to provide the statements of responsibility which identify the person(s) responsible for the intellectual content in the file and any corporate bodies (e.g. sponsors, funders) from which it emanates. Any number of such statements may occur within the title statement.

At a minimum, the respStmt should identify the creator of the file. Optionally include also names of others involved in the transcription or elaboration of the text, sponsors, and funding agencies. The name of the person responsible for physical data input need not normally be recorded, unless that person is also intellectually responsible for some aspect of the creation of the file.

The respStmt element should have two subcomponents: a name element identifying a responsible individual or organization, and a resp element indicating the nature of the responsibility. The name element should contain the full form of the name appropriate for public citation. For search purposes, names should be given the @type and @ref attributes as specified in the TEI name model.

The resp element should make clear the nature of the responsibility concerned. AEME recommends using a verb in the passive voice followed by an agent, as in the examples below:

• Transcribed by
• Edited by
• Transcribed and edited by

This will allow statements of responsibility to be rendered in a consistent manner.