SGML Conversion of the Oral History Archives of World War II

The Oral History Archives of World War II represents a unique and valuable resource for historical research. The collection of oral histories contains information on a wealth of topics from the military and political history of the War to the experience of New Jersey and Rutgers during the 1940's. As is the case with many oral history collections, it may go underutilized as a resource for historical study. There are reasons why this is so. First, conventional oral history collections are often only accessible within the confines of the holding library. This places severe limitations on possible who have to accommodate their plans to the library's hours. Secondly, even when researchers diligently prepare their visits and make efficient use of their time with the materials, the typically printed and bound transcripts often present an overwhelming mass of text to search through in order to find relevant information.

Converting the transcripts to HTML and making them available on the World Wide Web somewhat solves the first problem. Interested researchers no longer have to adjust their schedules to library hours in order to consult the transcripts. This has been done with the World War II oral histories at Rutgers. About thirty of the transcripts have been converted to HTML and posted on the World Wide Web. However, the second problem still remains. A large volume of information remains to be sifted through. Interested users still have essentially the same daunting task ahead of them, mitigated only slightly by the fact that they may now perform the prodigious sifting in the comfort of the own homes, at their own convenience.

The goal of the SGML Conversion Project is to go beyond simple HTML access by providing enhanced network access to electronic copies of transcripts in the Oral History Archives of World War II collection. Like HTML. SGML can be used to provide network access to textual data, but it can also describe the data more richly than can HTML, thereby enabling more precise retrieval of desired information.

HTML offered a solution to the limitations to physical access to the collection, but did little to improve intellectual access. SGML and the Text Encoding Initiative provide a means to greatly enhance intellectual access to the collection, by describing textual features and, such as names, in detail sufficient for precise retrieval. Perhaps the most significant contribution to improved access to the oral history collection offered by TEI is in the area of name and subject authority control. Instead of being treated as plain text, the TEI tagset for names and dates allows for the indication of personal, corporate, and place names and control of their various forms.