Lannotteet

Lannotteet is a term used in digital humanities and linguistics to describe a class of annotations that are layered on top of primary texts without altering the original content. The concept emphasizes separation between the source material and interpretive notes, allowing multiple annotation sets to coexist on the same text. In practice, lannotteet support comparative studies, versioning, and parallel editorial interpretations.

Annotations under this concept can include linguistic tags, glosses, topical notes, cross-references, and structural alignments. They are commonly stored as stand-off annotations—data structures that reference locations in the base text rather than embedding notes directly inside it. Common formats include JSON-LD, XML-based schemas, or database records, and they may link to the base text via stable identifiers or URI anchors.

The approach gained prominence with digital editions and corpus annotation projects in the late 1990s and 2000s, as scholars sought reproducible ways to annotate texts without compromising the original edition. Lannotteet enable layer-aware workflows, collaborative annotation, and long-term preservation of interpretive work alongside the source data.

Challenges include achieving interoperability across annotation schemes, ensuring provenance and citation of contributors, and maintaining stable links to dynamic texts. Best practices emphasize explicit schemas, versioning, open licensing, and the use of widely adopted standards such as the Web Annotation Data Model and TEI for description.

Related concepts include stand-off annotation, TEI, W3C Web Annotation, and digital editions.