OSIS Past, Present

1
OSISPast, Present Future

• A Bible Society Translation Publishing
  Perspective
• Daud Soesilo Kees de Blois
• (with input from Bob Batzinger)

2
Publishing Cycle

• Market research / Needs assessment
• Product development
• Translation preparation, research training
• Text processing, editorial process
• Prepress typesetting
• Production
• Distribution
• Product evaluation

3
Market Research

• Research (focus groups) on
• Target audience (young / old, churched /
  unchurched)
• Most effective media (print, audio, video, CD)
• Content (text helps)
• Text (new or existing translation)
• Format (color, lay-out, illustrations)
• Size of edition

4
Preparation Research

• Language reduced to writing? (linguistic
  analysis)
• Stable orthography?
• Socio-linguistic survey of language and its use
• Authors/translators/artists available?
• Hardware/software (incl. resources)

5
Training

• Selection of translators (by national Bible
  Society on recommendation of translation staff)
• Training in
• Translation theory practice
• Biblical backgrounds
• Authoring skills
• Team skills
• Understanding publishing process
• Time management
• Computer skills

6
Translation Editorial Process

• Exegetical preparation
• First draft by team member
• Ideally straight text with SFM-encoding
• Internal review (peer revision)
• Input from external reviewers
• Running consistency checks (content format)
• Consultant checks (ideally at all stages)
• Trial publications comprehension testing
• Evaluation
• Revision

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Prepress Typesetting (print media)

• Preprocessing of manuscripts (proper tagging,
  consistency of text format)
• Conversion tags to proprietary formats for
  typesetting
• Pagemaking in proprietary software (in house or
  outsourced)
• Inserting footnotes
• Output PDF, camera-ready-copy or film

8
Production

• Despatch CRC/film to printer
• Printing binding
• Shipment of product
• Transportation to warehouse/distribution centers

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Distribution

• Program focused (Bible Society, churches,
  parachurch groups, literacy agency)
• Sale via bookshops (Bible Society, church,
  commercial)

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Product Evaluation

• Assess reception
• Sales of product
• Evaluation of use in programs
• Questionnaires
• Completion of publishing cycle

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Publishing Process Stakeholders
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Translation Process current pre-OSIS reality
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Standard Format Markers

• Generating textbases with SFMs (Standard Format
  Mark-up)

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Standard Format Markers

• System of back-slash codes
• Developed by SIL
• Adapted / customized by UBS
• In use since eighties
• Regional variations
• UBS working on pre-OSIS global standard

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Sample text (unformatted)with text, references
and notes

• Example of TEV in Paratext (unformatted view)

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Sample text (unformatted)

• \id MRK 42MRK.TEV Todays English Version (ABS)
  May 2000
• \h Mark
• \st The Gospel according to
• \mt MARK
• \c 1
• \s The Preaching of John the Baptist
• \r (Matthew 3.1-12 Luke 3.1-18 John 1.19-28)
• \p
• \v 1 This is the Good News about Jesus Christ,
  the Son of God. \f a \rf 1.1\rf \itw Some
  manuscripts do not have\itw the Son of God.\f
• \v 2
• \x \rf 1.2\rf Mal 3.1.
• \x It began as the prophet Isaiah had written
• \q ltltGod said, ltI will send my messenger ahead of
  you
• \q2 to open the way for you.gt
• \q
• \v 3

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Sample text (formatted) with text, references
and notes

• Example of TEV in Paratext, (formatted view)

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Sample text (formatted)

• MRK 42MRK.TEV Todays English Version (ABS) May
  2000
• The Gospel according to
• MARK
• 1
• The Preaching of John the Baptist
• (Matthew 3.1-12 Luke 3.1-18 John 1.19-28)
• 1 This is the Good News about Jesus Christ, the
  Son of God. a 2 1.2 It began as the prophet
  Isaiah had written
• God said, I will send my messenger ahead of you
  
• to open the way for you.
• 3 1.3 Someone is shouting in the desert,
• Get the road ready for the Lord
• make a straight path for him to travel!
• a1.1 Some manuscripts do not have the Son of
  God.
• 1.2 Mal 3.1.
• 1.3 Isa 40.3 (LXX).

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Focus on format marking

• Allows for rapid development of formatted
  material
• Encourages inconsistent and incomplete attempts
  at markingdocument features
• Makes it difficult for marking document structure
  (hierarchy, nesting)

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Tools to handle SFM-text

• Editorial checking tools based on SFM mark-up
  developed
• Successfully implemented across the globe

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SFM-input for typesetting

• SF-Marked up text-bases serve as direct input for
  typesetting in TeX
• SF-Marked up text-bases can be converted into
  input for typesetting in proprietary DTP systems
  (Ventura, PageMaker, Quark Xpress)
• Custom conversion scripts (CC, Perl, TeX) handle
  desired implementation of SFMs

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Challenges Pre-OSIS Approach (1)

• Most exegetical and translation tools only
  available in proprietary formats
• Linking between references often problematic
• User needs to operate several applications at once

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Challenges (2)

• ii. Non-Roman scripts in the pre-Unicode approach

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Challenges (3)

• iii. Problems of keeping generic text-bases
  updated, when last-minute editorial changes are
  implemented in proprietary formats

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Challenges (4)

• Problems of regional and agency-specific
  variations in SFM mark-up
• (within UBS an effort is being made to establish
  a global standard)

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Translation / Publishing Process(OSIS
implemented)
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Advantages (1)

• Facilitate the interchange of textbases between
  agencies, publishers and software developers

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Advantages (2)

• Potential for web publishing of Scripture text
  and resources

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Advantages(3)
Facilitates publishing in a wide variety of
formats and media resources
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Where do we go from here?
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Implement OSIS 1.0

• An XML schema marking structure and data types
  for Scripture (for both source texts and
  translations)

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XML-Compliant Software

• Develop user-friendly software tools for
  inputting, editing checking Scripture text
  compliant with the OSIS schema (Paratext,
  FieldWorks)

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Converting Textbases

• Write scripts for conversion of SFM textbases to
  OSIS markup

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Mark-up for Reference Tools

• Develop schemas for existing and new scholarly
  help reference tools to be linked up with
  Scripture text

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Displaying Reference Tools in Browser

• Develop support for displaying scholarly help and
  reference tools in a browser window which links
  to Scripture texts selected by various attributes
  

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OSIS 1.0A Major Step Forward!!