TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR VOICES OF DEMOCRACY SUBMISSIONS

Last Updated 7 June 2006

Interpretive and textual documents submitted as elements of VOD units should comply insofar as possible with the following specifications.

Interpretive Documents (Narrative and Instructional Content)

A. The substance of interpretive documents should follow the advice provided in "Guidelines for Preparing Units" (http://www.voicesofdemocracy.com/contributortools/selcomun.html).

B. The format of interpretive documents should follow these basic principles.

  1. Electronic files should be submitted in Word.doc format. If that format is not available to the unit author, then the alternative format is wordprocessor.rtf (accompanied by a pdf version of the file--to retrieve special characters or other formatting that does not translate from wordprocessor.rtf to Word.doc).
  2. All submissions should be double-spaced and the text entered in Times New Roman 12 pt. typeface.
  3. Use of special characters or characters with diacritical marks should be noted by the author in a document accompanying unit files submitted. This is to ensure that such characters can be checked for correct rendering in html files published on the VOD website.
  4. Within the text of unit files submitted, first-lines of paragraphs and other materials should not be indented using the 'tab' key on the standard keyboard. (Tabs disrupt translation from Word.doc to the html format used on the VOD website.) To enter indents, use the horizontal ruler at the top of the document. (If you do not see a horizontal ruler a the top of the document in your word processor, search 'help' on 'indent' and follow the instructions for making visible and using the horizontal ruler.)
  5. Within the text of unit files submitted, double and single quotation marks should be entered with authomatic "smart quotes" turned off in the word processor. (To turn off "smart quotes" in Word, select 'Tools" in the main Word menu at the top of the screen; from there select 'Autocorrect'; then select 'Autoformat as You Type' and deselect 'Replace as you type'--"straight quotes" with "smart quotes.")
  6. Within the text of unit files submitted, distinguish sharply between the hyphen (-, also 'en dash'), which occurs in compound words, separation of characters, and between numbers (e.g., thermo-nuclear, a-t-o-m, and 1953-54) versus the dash (--), which marks breaks in thought, explanations, and amplifications (for example, "suggested--and I quote--'that . . ."; "the United States pledges before you--and therefore before the world"; "The United States would be more than willing--it would be proud." Typographically, enter hypens (and en dashes) simply with one strike on the hyphen key; enter dashes with two strikes on the hyphen key. Place no spaces before or after dashes. Hyphens should alsways be connected without a space to the letter that precedes them.
  7. Within the text of unit files submitted, indications of emphasis, titles, and the like, should always be indicated by italics. Underlining of words should be used only when necessary and then very sparingly.
  8. Within the text of unit files submitted, the speech that is interpreted by the unit should be cited parenthetically by paragraph (as numbered in the edition of the speech text associated with the unit). With or prior to the first use of parenthetical paragraph number citations, an endnote should explain the parentetical citation convention (e.g., Here and elsewhere passages in "Atoms for Peace" are cited with reference to paragraph numbers in the text of the speech that accompanies this essay.).
  9. Within the text of unit files submitted, all documentation of sources (except the speech that is interpreted by the unit) should be carried out in endnotes (always use 'insert'-->'footnote' to enter endnotes into the text). Endnotes should be formatted consisent with advice in The Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003).

Textual Documents

A. The substance of textual documents should follow the advice presented in "Notes on Authentication of Rhetorical Discourses" (http://www.voicesofdemocracy.com/contributortools/textauth2.html). Every authenticated text submitted should contain four elements: (a) the speech text, (2) a complete bibliographic list of sources used in establishing the text, (3) a brief statement of editorial procedures, and (4) notes that explain any deviations from the copy-text and editorial procedures.

B. Accompanying substantial elements of an authenticated text, the following information items should also be provided by the unit author. Some of these items may overlap with information furnished elsewhere; however, for efficient processing of texts, these items must be provided (by item number) along with the text submission.

  1. Speech Title exactly as it to be printed (this may be the popular or formal title)
  2. Exact Date and Place of Speech Delivery (if known); if delivered more than once, then the date and place of the version of the speech used as the copy-text
  3. Complete Name of Speaker, with year of birth and year of death (if known)
  4. Complete name of editor or compiler of electronic text, with indication of role (for the purposes of VOD, you are an editor if you have made an independent evaluation of text sources, you are a compiler if you are following another editor's critical edition of the text); for example: Jane Doe Smith, editor.
  5. Date of electronic edition (give exact date submitted)
  6. For the version or published edition followed by the editor, an indication that the electronic version of the text has been collated with that source version/edition and proofread. Also, any corrections of the source version/edition should be listed. Corrections in the list should pertain to matters not otherwise reported in textual notes. If your copy-text is a printed text, report corrections with reference to the page and line of the copy text, for example: p. 21 l. 16 parf (now reads) part. If your copy-text is a video or audio recording, report corrections with reference to paragraph number and one word on either side of the correction, for example: paragraph 2: a parf of (now reads) a part of.
  7. Indication of any normalization of the text (usually spelling or pronunciation), for example: The word pronounced 'noo-kya-ler' in the videorecording has been spelled 'nuclear' in all instances.
  8. Indication of how double and single quotations are marked in the text.
  9. If applicable, indication of how end-of-line hyphenated words in the source have been treated in the electronic text.
  10. Indication of the languages in which the speech is expressed and percentage of use for each language. Normally this will be as follows: English 100%; however, some speeches may involve two or more languages, e.g., Kennedy's speech, "Ich bin ein Berliner," or Benjamin Franklin's speech on adoption of the Constitution. To estimate percentages of language use in any speech, simply divide the number of words in any language by the number of words in the speech.
  11. Indication of the Library of Congress Subject Headings at the general level (e.g., Political Science) and special level (e.g., Presidents--United States--messages) along with the Library of Congress Classification (e.g., J82). A simple way to establish Library of Congress Subject Headings and Classification is to follow those already adopted in a printed source from which you have derived your text. For example, a printed source for Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" (8 December 1953) is Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower. Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President: January 20 to December 31, 1953. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1960. One Library of Congress Classification of this book is given as "J82" in WorldCat. Likewise, "Presidents--United States--messages" may be found in WorldCat as a special level Subject Heading for the work. The general level Subject Heading that includes this special level heading is "Political Science" (for basic Library of Congress Subject Heading information see http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html and http://fantasia.cse.msstate.edu/lcshdb/index.cgi). It should perhaps be noted that professional librarians do not always locate Library of Congress Classifications within the same category as special level Subject Headings reported for the work; moreover, Subject Headings and Classifications may be reported differently in different library catalogs. If your text has never appeared in a printed source that is cataloged using Library of Congress Subject Headings and Classification, you should consult Library of Congress Subject Headings, [most recently] 5 vols., 29th ed. (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 2006). This work will allow you to establish plausible Library of Congress Subject Headings for your text. To determine a Library of Congress Classification for such a text, consider the range of classification numbers that are relevant to the text, then check the final decision on a classification number against identical Library of Congress Classifications in WorldCat.
  12. Indication of editing functions performed (e.g., data entry, proof-reading), by whom (complete name), and when performed (complete [inclusive] date[s]); for example: John Q. Public, data entry and proof-reading of electronic copy-text, 21-22 January 2005; Jane Doe Smith, collation of electronic copy-text with other versions, 26 January 2005; Terry Rowe, editing of electronic text, 27 January 2005; Jane Doe Smith, proof-reading of edited electronic text, 28 January 2005.

C. The format of textual documents should follow these basic principles.

  1. Use format principles 1-6 from the interpretive documents list.
  2. Within textual documents submitted, indications of emphasis, titles, and the like, should always be indicated by italics. Underlining of words should never be used.
  3. Within textual documents, footnotes should never be used.