persNamer

persNamer: Connecting TEI to the Virtual International Authority File

persNamer is a specialized Python tool that streamlines the integration of authoritative person data from VIAF (Virtual International Authority File) into TEI XML documents. By converting VIAF identifiers into ready-to-use TEI markup, persNamer significantly reduces the manual work involved in creating structured person entries for digital scholarly editions.

The Challenge of Authority Control in TEI

Digital scholarly editions often require precise identification of historical persons, including their standardized names and life dates. Maintaining consistent authority control across a project requires:

1. Identifying persons in historical texts
2. Finding authoritative data about them
3. Creating properly formatted TEI entries
4. Ensuring consistent references throughout the project

These steps are typically manual, time-consuming, and prone to inconsistency.

How persNamer Works

persNamer automates this workflow by:

1. Fetching VIAF Data: Given a VIAF identifier, the tool retrieves RDF data using HTTP content negotiation
2. Extracting Key Information: Parses the RDF to extract the preferred name, birth date, and death date
3. Generating TEI Markup: Creates two essential XML snippets:
   • An authority file entry (<person> element with a generated xml:id, <persName>, <birth>, <death>, and <idno type="VIAF">)
   • A separate annotation tag (<persName> with a ref attribute referencing the authority entry)

This dual output allows editors to maintain a centralized authority file while easily inserting annotation tags into their TEI texts.

Key Features

• Standardized ID Generation: Creates consistent XML IDs in the format pers-[familyname]-[givenname initial] (e.g., pers-deteligny-c)
• RDF Parsing: Uses rdflib to extract information from various RDF properties (e.g., rdfs:label, schema:name, viaf:mainHead)
• Command-Line Interface: Simple execution with a VIAF number as the only required argument
• Verbose Output: Provides detailed processing information alongside the final XML output

Example Usage

python persNamer.py 314802260

This command produces:

<person xml:id="pers-deteligny-c">
  <persName>Charles deTéligny</persName>
  <birth>1535</birth>
  <death>1572-08-24</death>
  <idno type="VIAF">314802260</idno>
</person>

<persName ref="#pers-deteligny-c">Charles deTéligny</persName>

Application in Digital Humanities

persNamer is particularly valuable for:

• Digital scholarly editions requiring authority control
• TEI encoding projects working with historical figures
• Linked data initiatives connecting documents to authority records
• Ensuring consistency across large TEI corpora
• Teaching authority control concepts in digital humanities courses

Implementation

persNamer is implemented in Python and depends on:

• requests for HTTP requests
• rdflib for RDF parsing
• lxml for XML handling

Find the source code and documentation at the GitHub Repository.