ADD CARD KEYBOARDING INSTRUCTIONS

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For other MEC files, see the MEC Index page.

1. BASICS

One person should enter cards at a time.
They should be entered strictly in the order in which they appear in the box. Add a comment to the record if you think your card is out of order (in the yellow COMMENTS field).
One or more records may appear on a single card, or a single record may stretch out to two or more cards.
Everything on the card should be entered, except a few punctuation marks that are effectively field delimiters. (Mostly double colons "::" and most examples of brackets "[]")
Retain the capitalization, punctuation, and underlining of the card. Render underlining by curly brackets:
```
     { = <u>      } = </u>
```
When the end of underlining coincides with a punctuation mark, include the mark inside the underlining:
```
      {Barth.}
```
Render special characters as SGML/HTML-type character entities. Here are the most common:

ä	ä
ë	ë
ö	ö
ü	ü
Ü	Ü
é	é
É	É
è	è
â	â
ç	ç
æ	æ
Æ	Æ
ð	ð
þ	þ
Þ	Þ
3-like "yogh"	&yogh;
This means that you should also enter the ampersand as an entity:
&	&

Spacing matters, especially in the DATE, WORK, and ABBR fields (and in the USE and NOTE fields, when dates, works, or abbreviations are referred to). See below for the canonical spacing patterns.
When you've finished entering a card, put a cross in the upper- right-hand corner of the card.
Have fun!

2. THE CARDS AND THE FIELDS

The cards are various and not completely predictable. If you meet one that doesn't fit the pattern, or contains something odd, do the best you can to get the information in, and add a comment of your own in the comments field. Most of the cards, however, should contain nothing that doesn't fit nicely into the fields that are offered.

All cards should start with at least a partial MED "stencil" (bibliographic short form). This consists of:
1. A date or pair of dates, or something standing in place of a date. These should go in the DATE field. Examples:
```
          1400
         a1400
        ?a1400
         a1500(?a1450)
         c1225(?OE)            
         1200(OE)
         -?-(?a1400)
         v.d.(a1400)
         ?v.d.(v.d.)
         ?c1200(?1173-4)
```
  Notice that there are *no spaces* in dates, and no periods after "ante" or "circa" (a1400 c1400).
2. Optionally, you will next find the name of a medieval English author, sometimes in abbreviated form. If you find one, it goes in the AUTHOR field, if not, skip to the WORK field. Most records will not have authors.
```
      
      Examples: Chaucer
                Lydg.
                Hoccl.
                Trev.
                ?Nassyngton
                Mannyng
                Malory
                Audelay
                ?C.d'Orl.  [="ascribed to Charles of Orleans"]
```
  - If it looks like an author but is underlined, it is NOT an author. E.g.:
```
                Wycl.Friars  ["Wycl." means "Wycliffite"]
                Orm.         ["Orm." means "Ormulum"] 
                Cato(1)
```
  - If it appears elsewhere than the beginning of the material after the date, it is NOT an author. E.g.:
```
                Doc.Jocelin                   [Jocelin is not an author]
                Recipe in James Cat.   [James is not an author]
```
  - The only things that can come before an author's name (aside from date) are "*" and "?" Include these as part of the author's name if that's where they appear.
3. The rest of the stencil (except the optional MS abbreviation in parentheses at the end) should be typed in the WORK field.
  If the card uses "-----" to indicate "Ibid.," just enter ----- (five dashes) in the WORK field.
  Spaces are used in WORK only to separate two words that, if not spaced, would result in two lower-case letters, or a lower- and upper-case letter from different words, being adjacent. If there is intervening punctuation, there is no space. If there is a parenthesis, there is no space. If one of the words is abbreviated in caps, and the next word starts in caps, there is no space. E.g.:
```
      Recipe Painting(1) in Archaeol.J.1     (3 spaces)
            ^           ^  ^

      Doc.in Bateson B.Cust.1;2              (2 spaces)
            ^       ^

      Will Masey in LCRS 30                  (4 spaces)
          ^     ^  ^    ^

      PUsurer(3)                             (0 spaces)
      Rev.HWoman                             (0 spaces)
      Rev.Jul.Norwich                        (0 spaces)
      Ripley CAlch.                          (1 space)  
            ^
```
4. If a manuscript abbreviation follows in parentheses, it is recorded in the ABBR field, WITHOUT INCLUDING THE PARENS. Many cards will not have an abbr field. If there is one, it will always appear in parens, and always immediately before the double colon. Examples:
```
      (Trin-C)    ...record as...   Trin-C
      (Bod 754)   ...record as...   Bod 754
      (Corp-C)    ...record as...   Corp-C
```
  Sometimes an editor's name appears in the parens following a colon. There should be no spaces before or after the colon:
```
      (Sln:Brown)       ...record as...   Sln:Brown
      (Lamb 6:Brie)     ...record as...   Lamb 6:Brie
      (Hrl 2256:Kingsf.)...record as...   Hrl 2256:Kingsf.
```
  If parens appear *within* the abbreviation, keep them:
```
      (Hrl 413(2))      ...record as...   Hrl 413(2)
```
These are the stencil fields, running across the top of the entry screen. After that....
1. After the stencil is usually a double colon (::). Observe this as marking the end of the stencil fields and beginning of the SOURCE field, but do not enter it anywhere.
2. In the SOURCE field enter the complete bibliographic information about the source edition from which the work denoted by the stencil is quoted, EXCEPT the page references, which go in the REF field. Examples:
```
    + P. Landon, The arms of the University of Oxford. (1910).
    + Kolbing, op.cit.
    + Dan Michel's Ayenbite of inwyt, ed. R. Morris, EETS 23(1866).
```
  Some SOURCEs are descriptions, or statements about the source, rather than editions:
```
    + S. Lysons, Copy of an entry on the clause roll 31 Henr.VI (1817).
    + Film of the Scale of perfection in MS Hrl.6579; in poss. of MED.
    + Narrationes concerning penitence in MS Wor.F.172; transcr.
      W. H. Hulme; in poss. of MED.
```
  In entering names ("P. F. Schaffner"), put a space after each initial:
```
  
           W. H. Hulme, R. Morris, R. J. Robbins, etc.
             ^  ^         ^          ^  ^
```
  End the SOURCE field with a period, even if the card omits it.
3. The REF field contains the reference (usually the pages) in the source at which the work may be found. Not all sources have REFs. Examples:
```
     67-98
     23-45, left cols.
     odd pages 45-75
     45-75, lower half
     appendix B, 435*-57*
     passim
```
  End the REF field with a period, even if the card omits it.
4. Look for a statement [in brackets] that describes how the stencil was used in different parts of the dictionary. This belongs in the USE field--but don't enter the brackets themselves.
```
  
     Examples:

     In A-Sn dated a1450.
     In L-R, stencil refers to A. H. Smith, {Big Book of Middle English}, 2, 
       325-60.
```
  CONFUSING BIT ABOUT BRACKETS:
  - Many cards have short bibliographic references in brackets immediately after the SOURCE or SOURCE+REF. These are not USE notes and should be put in the NOTES field, with the brackets omitted. Examples:
```
          [BR 1234]  ...place in NOTES as BR 1234
          [W 6.34]   ...place in NOTES as W 6.34
```
  - Some other kinds of notes, especially "Vrr." notes, include bracketed use notes *within* them. These should be left in the NOTES field, not the USE field, with the brackets retained. See the third example below under NOTES.
5. Everything else on the card goes in the NOTES field. Feel free to add blank lines betwen paragraphs in the NOTES field if that makes things clearer, especially if the notes are separated on the card.
  The most elaborate examples will probably be "Vrr." notes. Since these contain dates and abbreviations like those at the head of the record, they should be treated the same way as regards spacing: no spaces in dates, no spaces around colons in abbreviations. E.g. a1500 (Magd-O:Lester)
  N.B. "Vrr." notes will often contain bracketed use notes. Keep them here in the NOTES field and retain the brackets.
  Examples of NOTES:
```
  + Final bib replace all CG entries with this.
  + P. 45b of 1959 bib.
  + Vrr.: a1500 (Ashm); ?a1500 (Git) from Dyboski 
    & Arend, op.cit., fns. [in A-G, these are taken from Jones,
    op.cit., vrr. in notes].
```
6. YOUR own comments, flags, or whatever, belong in the COMMENTS field.
pfs 1 Dec 97

ADD CARD KEYBOARDING INSTRUCTIONS

1. BASICS

2. THE CARDS AND THE FIELDS

CONFUSING BIT ABOUT BRACKETS: