Fall 2025 Syllabus (Schedule): Classes meet M W F 2:30 –
3:20pm in Kochel 77
The Course Description page
contains a detailed explanation of course policies and the basis for grades.
Jump Down to the Schedule
The button jumps to the closest day
to today's date. Review the schedule as we get started to get a sense of how
this course will work on a daily basis.
Tools and Resources
Download and install the following software on your own personal computer(s) as
we start the course. These software tools are also available in our campus
computing labs.
- <oXygen/>. The DIGIT program has purchased a site license for
this software, which is installed in Kochel 77, Lilley Library, and other
classrooms in Burke and Witkowski where students are taking DIGIT classes
this year. The license also permits students enrolled in the course to
install the software on their home computers (for course-related use only).
When installing this on your own computers, you will need the
license key, which we have posted on our course Announcements
section of Canvas.
- Zoom: Make sure your Zoom installation is up-to-date, and
you are ready to connect. (We will use Zoom when we need it for
office/project meetings.)
- Slack: https://slack.com/help/articles/218080037-Getting-started-for-new-members).
Download and install the Slack chat client, configuring your account to use
use your Penn State email address (the official address, which looks like
xyz123@psu.edu, and not an alias based on your name that you may have set
up), so you can join our Slack workspace: DIGIT-coders.
When you receive an invitation to join this workspace you should
accept.
Resources for class:
- newtFire: My collection
of teaching resources and student projects.
- textEncoding-Hub: https://github.com/newtfire/textEncoding-Hub
Class GitHub Repository and Issues Board
- Canvas:
https://canvas.psu.edu To submit homework assignments and exams,
read private course announcements, access Zoom class meetings and video
recordings.
- No coding experience? Don’t worry! You are among friends, and this course is
designed for students without a computer science or math background. Past
students in this course with very little or no background at all with code
have designed projects (like these) and have even spoken about them at professional
conferences! By the end of this course, we hope you will be impressed at how
much you are able to make and build with your new skills and resources.
Schedule
This schedule is subject to revision. Stay alert for updates and announcements of
significant changes posted on Canvas.
Week 1 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 08-25
|
- Welcome! Introduction to the course.
- Intro to XML and
"plain" text in the oXygen XML Editor.
- Introduce XML
Exercise 1 (due Wed. 8/26):
- What happens when text-generative AI writes
markup code, and when/how we'll be working with AI in this class.
- Is typing a challenge? (Recent Wall Street Journal headline: “Gen Z-ers are Computer Whizzes. Just Don’t Ask Them to Type” (2024-08-24.
A web game to help with typing more accurately with all your fingers on a QWERTY keyboard.
|
Respond to Dr. B’s Poll (see Canvas / Penn State
email). |
W 08-27
|
- Visit from Dr. Paul Barrett and team (Waed and Daniela) from the Digital John Norton Teyoninhokarawen project at U. Guelph.
- Review and discuss coding of the letter for XML Exercise
1.
- Elements, attributes, comments, escape characters, and
"pretty-printing" in <oXygen/>.
- How file systems recognize XML
documents (File extension, and XML declaration line).
- Introduce
XML Exercise
2.
|
- Install oXygen XML Editor and add our license key if you have
not done so already.
- Read my Introduction to
XML, open a new XML file in oXygen, and experiment with
the code in the tutorial: Can you tell what makes markup
well-formed or not?
- Complete XML
Exercise 1
|
F 08-29
|
Discussion of Pierazzo's introduction of XML. Discussion
of recipe XML homework, XML data and metadata. Document sources. Coding
attributes and self-closing elements. Example of code used for
visualizing: Map
of Early Modern London Project Introduce XML
Exercise 3 |
|
Week 2 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 09-01
|
Labor Day Holiday: No classes.
|
... |
W 09-03
|
Discussion of XML homework. How to work with distinct
identifiers: @xml:id attributes and pointer attributes (#):
Prosopography lists. Self-closing elements. Introduce git and GitHub. |
|
F 09-05
|
- Introduce version control concept and
The Ballad of Booker T. assignment (due next Friday).
- GitHub and Shell orientation: Working with the Git Bash
Shell (Windows) and Terminal (Mac and Linux)
- Introduce class GitHub (textEncoding-Hub) and
how we will interact with it. Students join the class textEncoding-Hub. Intro to GitHub markdown. Markup
vs. markdown. Explore GitHub markdown for writing issues, including
code-blocks.
|
- XML Exercise 4: Metadata
- GitHub Exercise 1: GitHub accounts, orientation, and joining textEncoding-Hub
- Join DIGIT-Coders Slack: (details in Canvas).
|
Week 3 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 09-08
|
Working with git and GitHub as a code developer.
- GitHub file management:
- Navigating between and managing multiple GitHub repositories.
- Pulling, adding, committing, and
pushing to your repos.
- GitHub profile configuration: what, why, how.
- Introduce class collaboration with the John Norton Teyoninhokarawen project at U. of Guelph,
with GitHub repository.
|
- GitHub Exercise 2
- To help with this exercise:
- Watch my short (15 minute) video showing how to
git pull in changes, and the three-step
of git add , git commit , and
git push .
- Review our short list of Git Commands to pull, commit,
and push changes to your personal GitHub repo and/or to
the textEncoding-Hub.
- Set up your local Git Config in your shell, and your Personal
Access (Developer) Token for GitHub
- (Optional: good to try:): Watch / work with Set up a Git Bash Profile (short video how-to):
(This is convenient for you, and more command line
knowledge).
|
W 09-10
|
- Getting used to GitHub and getting help. Solving common problems.
- Preview
Ballad of Booker T. exercise.
|
GitHub Exercise 3: Clone and push files to textEncoding-Hub and to your personal Repo |
F 09-12
|
- Discussion of
The Ballad of Booker T. : Multiple
ways to encode a poem and manuscript information. Overlapping
hierarchies.
- Introduce XML Test
- Launch GitHub Weekly Practice Series
|
XML Exercise 5: Mark up The Ballad of Booker
T. . Push to your GitHub repo. |
Week 4 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 09-15
|
Special guests: Dr. Lauren Liebe (Behrend) and Dr. Paul Barrett (U. Guelph): Introduction of John Norton Teyoninhokarawen and the Document Data Modeling challenge with U. Guelph
Dr. B is attending the TEI Conference in Kraków
this week.
|
- Norton Journal Orientation Exercise 1
- Start weekly GitHub practice series
|
W 09-17
|
XML modeling discussion of Norton’s journal (with special guests). |
Norton Journal Orientation Exercise 2: XML |
F 09-19
|
Complete XML test. |
XML Test due |
Week 5 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 09-22
|
Well-formed vs. Valid XML. Introduction to schemas with Relax NG. |
|
W 09-24
|
Writing Relax NG: - Technical details and big picture
issues.
- Introducing datatypes, rules for mixed content, attribute value
options, datatypes.
- Practice with sequence indicators, options,
grouping.
- Demonstration: Why we do NOT use oXygen’s
Generate/Convert schema .
|
|
F 09-26
|
- Grouping and mixed content.
- What is causing the red square? Determining sources of error
- Getting / giving help on the DIGIT-Coders Slack:
- How to ask good questions and get help!
- Slack practice with code blocks / markdown
|
- Relax NG Exercise 2: Select an XML homework
assignment you completed. Inspect your encoding (and any comments you received on the assignment).
Then determine how you might want to
change it to make it more systematic and efficient. Your code
should feature attributes and apply datatypes, and mixed
content. Write Relax NG and modify your XML so that it is valid
against your schema plan.
|
Week 6 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 09-29
|
- Loose vs. tight? What is best for a schema?
- Who are schemas for? Revisiting the John Norton collaboration.
- Working with xsd:ID, xsd:IDREF, and xsd:IDREFs
list{ } content model, with review of mixed{ } .
- Dates, times, numbers and datatypes: Looking Stuff Up
- Introduce semester team projects
|
- Relax NG Exercise 3: Choose a new document (any
genre, any language, manageable size for homework, interesting
to model): Try writing a schema first, and then coding to fit
the schema. (Edit both the XML structure and the Relax NG rules
as you go.)
- Repair any broken Relax NG syntax and/or XML validation issues
on previous homework submissions.
- GitHub practice series
|
W 10-01
|
- Review of Relax NG Pretest.
- Specialized community schemas: TEI, MEI, CBML: Applying these in
projects
- Issue Relax NG Test.
- Project options discussion.
|
|
F 10-03
|
|
- TEI Orientation Exercise: Read this slide deck:
Overview of Text Encoding and the TEI and respond on our discussion
thread on the textEncoding-Hub.
- Submit repairs and revisions for any previous Relax NG assignments as needed.
|
Week 7 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 10-06
|
Form semester project teams! Initiate
project milestones, launching team GitHub repos. |
- Sign up for semester project. If you do not
meet the requirements, meet with Dr. B to help catch up /
determine options.
|
W 10-08
|
Handling text data structures, context information, and metadata the TEI way. What the TEI Header is for
How to research the TEI Guidelines and TEI Roma. Norton schema modeling collaboration.
|
- Project Milestones Series Begins: Teams set up GitHub repos
|
F 10-10
|
Norton project discussion with TEI. |
- TEI Exercise 1: Norton project data and metadata in TEI
- Relax NG Test due
|
Week 8 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 10-13
|
Schema modeling in TEI with ODD (One Document Does it all).
|
- TEI Exercise 2: Working with the teiHeader. (Read about and work with the TEI
Header chapter in the TEI Guidelines)
- U. of Illinois LibGuide: TEI in Action:
look at the examples and consider whether the code structures
make sense for your project!
|
W 10-15
|
Refining and customizing a TEI ODD schema. Deciding on attributes and customizing attribute values.
Document data modeling for a TEI project.
|
TEI
exercise 3: Working with a TEI ODD customization for the Norton project:
Experiment in TEI Roma Beta
with further customization of our starter ODD. |
F 10-17
|
TEI modeling for the Norton project. |
TEI Exercise 4: TEI and ODD work with Norton material |
Week 10 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 10-27
|
Querying XML with XPath. Searching for nodes on axes, and
setting predicates. |
XPath Exercise 1 |
W 10-29
|
- XPath Predicates as boolean filters (using
and ,
or and the not() function)
- Revisiting XML markup decisions, based on what XPath can
show.
distinct-values()
- XPath math:
count() , min , max() ,
|
XPath Exercise 2 |
F 10-31
|
XPath string functions:
- Handling only one node at a time:
contains() ,
matches() , translate() ,
replace() , string-length() .
Cutting a string in parts: tokenize() ; taking
substring-before() or
substring-after()
- Bundling up a sequences of strings:
string-join()
|
XPath Exercise 3 |
Week 11 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 11-03
|
- Review XPath string functions exercise
- Applying XPath in Project Code Inspection: Introducing
Schematron
- How Schematron is different from Relax NG. Asserts vs. reports. Associating
Schematron files with XML, Schematron workflow.
|
XPath Exercise 4 (String functions)
|
W 11-05
|
Schematron: rules and patterns. |
Schematron Exercise 1 |
F 11-07
|
Debugging Schematron homework, applying Schematron in projects. |
Schematron Exercise 2 |
Week 12 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 11-10
|
Introducing XSLT (eXtensible Stylesheets Language
Transformations). XML to XML, XML to HTML. Namespaces. Setting up
oXygen to write XSLT and saving as .xsl . Writing your first XSLT
stylesheet transformation. |
- Read Introduction
to XSLT, and watch one (or both) of the following orientation videos on
how to set up oXygen to write XSLT:
- Project Milestone
|
W 11-12
|
How XSLT template matches work. XSLT to create HTML, trimming the
tree . |
- XSLT Exercise
1: an identity transformation
- Review Introduction to XSLT, and (re)watch one (or both) of the
following orientation videos on how to set up oXygen to write XSLT:
|
F 11-14
|
XSLT to HTML: Making an HTML reading view for semester projects. |
XSLT
Exercise 2 |
Week 13 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 11-17
|
- Putting the pieces together: Workshopping XSLT, HTML, CSS.
- Modal XSLT: processing the same nodes in multiple ways.
|
|
W 11-19
|
- Internal links on an HTML page, from XSLT
- Using XPath
sort() vs. XSLT xsl:sort to sort your output.
|
- XSLT
Exercise 4: Modal XSLT over a Collection
|
F 11-21
|
- Review / discuss XSLT over collection: linking and sorting. Introduce Creative Commons. Pulling and
highlighting interesting data for project sites. Planning how to style
your output; looking stuff up.
- Issue XPath/XSLT
Take-Home Test
|
- XSLT
Exercise 5: adding internal links, sorting, and styling the
collection output with CSS
|
Week 14 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
Sun 11-23 – Sat 11-29
|
Thanksgiving Holiday
|
Have a peaceful and productive week! |
Week 15 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 12-01
|
CSS Flex and Grid for Reading View Layouts:
|
Work on XSLT test and Project Milestone |
W 12-03
|
- Accessible design considerations:
- Site Navigation
|
|
F 12-05
|
- Planning DIGIT works presentation: expectations and how to prepare
- Review project completion expectations (projects due during Finals Week)
|
- XSLT for Layout: XSLT/HTML/CSS with Images (combined with Project Milestone)
|
Week 16 |
Class topics
|
Do before class
|
M 12-08
|
- Documenting your project decisions and coding on the website
- Permissions, licensing, crediting sources, documenting your project team work
- Choose, embed, post a Creative
Commons License
- Project development sprint!
|
Penultimate Semester Project Milestone |
W 12-10
|
Project development sprint! |
Preparing for presentations and completing the projects |
F 12-12
|
Last day! DIGIT Works presentations |
You and your team share your project with the
class and DIGIT Works audience. |
Finals Week: 12/15 – 12/19 |
Due
|
W 12-17 |
Semester projects due by 11:59pm.
Send a post to me on GitHub and Canvas to indicate that your team is
finished.
|