I’m so glad this post is getting into a deeper discussion about new approaches and technical possibilities with annotations… So many great questions, ideas, suggestions here.
Ok, @korm asked for specific suggestions about the kind of annotation function we’d ideally like DTP to create. Based on my experience, and tinkering w/ the various scripts, here’s my take…
I’d like some such an annotation document to first be created though a blend of (1) the DTP Annotation template – through its creation of basic parameters the title and ID of source document (as well as the comment icon that it graphs into the source file), time and date in which the annotation document was created (I don’t need the “user” part of the template is necessary) and (2) the “Make annotation files for each citation plus notes+tags” script [url]Make an Annotation with Links, Notes, Tags v2] which, in its most recent version, includes a brilliant interface via Pashua for creating an annotation note, and setting up a useful Tagging taxonomy that relates to the annotation file, and flexibility for placing the note in a particular area.
And then…
The Annotation document would have the functions of the “QuoteHighlight&Annotate script” [url]QuoteHighlight&Annotate script] so that DTP users are able to copy multiple quotes and easily link to them in the source documents. (I think the current way of doing this in DTP’s annotation template is far too clunky, and the script really excels at this.) As I said, @Frederiko has been helping me w/ annotation scripts, and he said there might be a way to add / create more of the Text links for that script, so that it actively highlights the quoted/selected text when you click on the link (again, he credited @korm for it’s creation). This is an incredibly valuable feature that enables DTP uses to save much time by quickly zipping to that exact part of the text, and flashing it with a quick highlight. Also, as I said in my previous post, it seems that the “QuoteHighlight&Annotate script” handles UTF-8 conversion problems better than the “…citation plus notes+tags” script.
The only dilemma I haven’t solved w/ is: in general, I’d like to have one annotation linked to one source document, so that I can have all of my notes and quotes located in the same space, but I can also see that it would sometimes be useful to create a separate and distinct note per annotated section (which was the original purpose behind the creation of the “Make annotation files for each citation plus notes+tags” script). In my case, I could imagine doing this for follow up research or new source or if I wanted to create a sidebar issue. So, I suppose my dilemma is that I’d like to ideal have the ability to create would be great to still have the ability to create such a separate and distinct annotation note per an annotated section while also being able to somehow link it to the main, annotation document. That might be a bridge too far, but you asked what we’d ideally like annotation scripts / functions to look like, and there you go…
I hope this has been helpful. I’m happy to provide more info if anyone would like…
Thank you again!