[osis-core] Functional requirements document

[Kees F. de Blois]

Dear colleagues,

It was great to see most of you at the Denver conference. I am glad it went
well in many ways. Trust you had a happy thanksgiving.

I would like to share a few observations re. requirements document that we
discussed at the conference. I enjoyed reading it.
Just a couple of comments:

1. Overview

The last paragraph is more or less a repeat of the first. Do we need to say
it twice?

A more basic issue: Wouldn't it be a bit too ambitious to specify a basic
XML format in OSIS 1.0 that includes lay commentaries? First of all, there
is the time frame. We need to deliver at least a draft before the spring
conference. To do a model for common and study bible editions already
presents quite a challenge, I think. While bible editions tend to share a
common structure, this may be much less the case in lay commentaries. And
how do we define lay commentaries? And should lay commentaries be our first
priority for non-biblical texts? This may be important from the perspective
of the publishing world, but much less so from that of SBL and the world of
Bible scholars and translators, for whom scholarly commentaries are more
helpful.
Would it make sense to focus on biblical source texts and translations for
OSIS 1.0?

5. LTS4

Why a SHOULD rather than a MUST in this case? Is this too complex and time
consuming? What were your considerations for the SHOULD?

6. Note 4

Again I would vote for a MUST if this is realistic. I am working on
text-critical material in a Paratext environment right now and would value a
standard to work from in the near future.

7. Phrase Level Requirements

First paragraph (small detail): what do you mean by 'authoring of biblical
texts by human authors'? An open canon :)? I suppose the focus here is on
Bible translators and the authors of study material....., correct?

For whatever it is worth...

All the best as you prepare for another meeting in January. Wished I could
be with you.

Take care,


Kees

=======================================
Kees F. de Blois
UBS Translation Consultant
Coordinator Translation Computer Resource Group
Grintweg 82
4401 NG YERSEKE, the Netherlands
Tel: +31-113-576093; Fax: +31-113-576095
E-mail: kdeblois@biblesocieties.org