An excellent example of SGML's capability can be found in IATH's "William
Blake Archive," which features SGML-encodings of the writings and pictorial
works of English poet and painter William Blake (1757-1827).
The SGML markup allows users to create complex database queries of the
Archive's contents, with the results returned quickly to the user. This
complex database capability is another benefit of SGML's content markup tags.
(Users need only an ordinary HTML web browser to query the archive -- the
SGML content is processed "behind the scenes," and the results returned in
HTML format.)
The William Blake Archive is a hypermedia archive sponsored by the Library
of Congress and supported by the Getty Grant Program, Sun Microsystems, and
Inso Corp., with additional support from other groups.
The Blake Archive is summarized as follows (in "SGML: Academic Projects" at
http://www.sil.org/sgml/acadapps.html).
"The Blake Archive is an electronic archive based on the illuminated books
of William Blake, heavily supplemented by his paintings, drawings, and
commercial illustrations.
"The Archive will be a powerful reference tool, offering high-quality
reproductions of an important body of work not currently available, and
making that work accessible and usable in new ways that can deepen
interdisciplinary understanding in this area of interest.
"Once archived digitally, tagged (indexed for retrieval by a standard
marking system that will be adapted for the purpose), and annotated, the
images can be examined like ordinary color reproductions, but they can also
be enlarged, computer enhanced, juxtaposed in numerous combinations, and
otherwise manipulated to investigate features (such as the etched basis of
the designs and texts) that have heretofore been imperceptible without
close first-hand security of the original works, which are housed in
international collections at widely separated locations. SGML is used to
tag images and texts in the archive, including the SGML edition of
David Erdman's "Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake.""
