matter
written works (especially in books or magazines)
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
recalled by Codex without web access - no source was read
Researched by: Codex
Purpose and description
Enable an agent to recognise written matter as communicative content, assess its editorial and textual state, and determine appropriate uses without confusing the writing with its publication or carrier.
Matter, in the publishing sense, is written material considered collectively as the textual content of a publication, especially a book or magazine, rather than its physical carrier.
It can be Identify and delimit written content within a book, magazine, manuscript, or digital publication.; Separate constituent contributions and label their editorial roles while preserving their order and dependencies.; Compare textual versions and flag omissions, corrections, translations, or substantive revisions.; Trace passages to attributed contributors and supporting source witnesses.; Assess editorial readiness and route unresolved passages for review.; Evaluate whether a specified quotation, adaptation, translation, or republication has adequate supporting permission evidence..
Distinguishing features
The referent is writing that communicates something, rather than the topic discussed or the physical substance carrying the marks.
Changing paper, binding, or file format can preserve the same written matter; changing wording requires assessment of a textual version relationship.
An instance has a declared content boundary, such as an article, manuscript, or selected body of contributions, rather than merely a book-shaped container.
Labels such as front matter, body matter, and back matter identify editorial roles within a containing publication; they do not alone establish independent works.
The same body of writing can appear in several publications, while one publication can contain several separately attributable works.
Scope
+ A written work or explicitly bounded body of written content
+ The arrangement and editorial roles of constituent passages or contributions
+ Relationships between a work, its textual expressions, and publications containing it
+ Authorship, contribution attribution, and textual provenance
+ Editorial readiness, completeness, and constraints on using the writing
- Physical matter, substances, and materials
- A subject matter or topic considered independently of the writing about it
- Books, magazines, files, and individual copies as carriers or publication products
- Printing equipment, typesetting systems, and production infrastructure
- Authors, publishers, and rights holders as independently modelled people or organisations
- Standalone illustrations, recordings, and other non-written works
Characteristics
- Content boundary
- single work | contribution | excerpt | editorial assembly | other declared boundary Establishes what the agent is identifying, assessing, or proposing to reuse.
- Editorial role
- front matter | body matter | back matter | mixed | not applicable | undetermined Distinguishes the writing's function in a publication from its identity as content.
- Textual extent
- words or characters, with counting convention and included components stated Supports assessment of completeness, editorial workload, and space requirements without treating page count as intrinsic.
- Language of expression
- declared language or languages; undetermined Supports reading, translation, and comparison of textual expressions.
- Textual relationship
- expression of | revision of | translation of | excerpt from | compilation of | relationship unresolved Helps distinguish a related text from an unrelated work or an unchanged reproduction.
- Contribution attribution
- person or organisation linked to a defined span or component and an attributed role Makes responsibility for authorship, translation, and editorial intervention inspectable.
- Editorial state
- draft | under review | revised | approved for a stated use | superseded | unknown Indicates whether a particular text is ready for the intended editorial action.
- Textual integrity
- complete against stated reference | intentionally excerpted | incomplete | transcription uncertain | unassessed Prevents missing or corrupted passages from being treated as intentional wording.
- Publication occurrence
- containing publication or edition, with content locator and occurrence-specific details Allows the same writing to be located across publications without equating it with an edition or copy.
- Use assessment
- supported for specified action and context | conditional | restricted | unresolved Keeps permission evidence tied to the actual text, proposed use, and relevant conditions.
Analytical facets
- substance
- information
- origin
- conceptual
- agency
- inert
- mobility
- not-applicable
- scale
- not-applicable
- affordances
- readable
Also called
+55
Where this came from
oewn:2024 · CC BY 4.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 6 bundles · 11 layers · 19 findings · 30 questions.
Written content identity Establishes which writing the instance denotes and how it differs from its subject and carrier.
Matter is a broad content term whose referent must be bounded before an agent can compare or act on it.
Referent and boundary
Identifies the writing included in the instance.
Declared text boundary
Record whether the instance denotes a whole work, contribution, excerpt, or editorial assembly, including explicit inclusions and exclusions.
- Which beginning, ending, and constituent components delimit this body of writing? boundary
- Does matter here denote an independently identified work or a grouping of writing for an editorial purpose? definition
Content and carrier
Separates the identity of the writing from publications and copies that carry it.
Publication occurrence links
Link the writing to its containing publications and locators while distinguishing content identifiers from identifiers assigned to editions or copies.
- Which publication occurrences contain this writing, and where does it appear within each? provenance
- Does each supplied identifier identify the writing, a containing edition, or an individual item? boundary
Editorial composition Describes how written components function together within the selected content boundary.
Book and magazine matter often combines separately meaningful contributions with supporting editorial text.
Components and roles
Identifies components and their roles in the containing publication.
Editorial role map
Distinguish main contributions from introductions, notes, captions, indexes, advertisements, and other included writing without assuming every component is a separate work.
- Which included components serve as main text, supporting text, or navigational text? definition
- Which components require separate work identities or attribution, and what supports that distinction? boundary
Sequence and dependencies
Captures reading order and relationships needed to interpret components correctly.
Textual assembly dependencies
Record order, continuations, note anchors, and references to other components or external illustrations that affect interpretation.
- What sequence and cross-references must be preserved for the writing to remain intelligible? boundary
- What accompanying text or linked material must be retained or explained when a passage is extracted? action
Textual lineage and attribution Records responsibility for the writing and relationships among its textual forms.
Authorship, editing, translation, and republication can affect different portions and versions of the same matter.
Contributor responsibility
Associates contributors with the text and interventions attributed to them.
Attributed contributions
Record credited or evidenced authorship, translation, compilation, and editing at the relevant component level, preserving uncertainty.
- Who is attributed with writing, translating, compiling, or editing each component? provenance
- Which credits, records, or textual witnesses support those attributions? provenance
Versions and expressions
Distinguishes revisions and translations from unchanged appearances in new carriers.
Textual lineage
Record evidenced relationships between texts and the criteria used to treat a change as a correction, revision, translation, adaptation, or new work.
- From which earlier text or source witness was this version derived? provenance
- Which changes affect wording or meaning, and which affect only presentation? boundary
- Which version should govern the proposed reading, quotation, or editorial task? action
Textual integrity and readiness Assesses whether the available text is complete, faithfully represented, and ready for its intended editorial use.
Written matter may be unfinished, intentionally excerpted, or damaged during transcription even when its carrier is available.
Completeness and fidelity
Assesses the available writing against a declared boundary and reference.
Text integrity assessment
Identify missing passages, illegible text, transcription uncertainty, and intentional omissions, with the comparison basis stated.
- Against which manuscript, edition, or other witness was completeness and transcription fidelity assessed? provenance
- Which passages are missing or uncertain, and what extent is affected under the stated counting method? measurement
Editorial disposition
Records review status and unresolved issues for a particular version and intended use.
Publication readiness
Associate editorial decisions with an exact text version and distinguish approval from unresolved corrections or review requests.
- What editorial decision applies to this version, for which intended publication or use? provenance
- Which corrections or reviews must be completed before that use can proceed? action
Text reuse and constraints Connects proposed uses of the writing to applicable evidence, attribution requirements, and component-level constraints.
A publication may combine writing with different reuse conditions, and access to a copy does not establish permission for every use.
Rights evidence and coverage
Identifies which writing and contributor interests are covered by available rights information.
Component rights coverage
Link notices, licences, permissions, or other documented assessments to the exact text and components they address.
- What evidence addresses use of this text, and which version and components does it cover? provenance
- Which quotations, translations, or separately contributed passages require their own assessment? boundary
Proposed use assessment
Evaluates a specific action using its extent, context, and documented conditions.
Use-specific conditions
Record the proposed quotation, adaptation, translation, or republication and any supported conditions or unresolved permission questions.
- What writing will be used, through which action, for which audience, territory, and period? action
- What attribution, permission, or further assessment is required by the evidence available for that use? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Check these first
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- This is recall-based and no sources were consulted.
- Matter is a broad publishing term rather than a sharply bounded bibliographic entity; check whether the registry intends all written material or specifically published reading material.
- Front, body and back matter are functional divisions of publications, not an exhaustive classification of written works.
- Which of these check these first hold for the sense of matter this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Kinds and varieties
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Front matter
- Main text or body matter
- Back matter or end matter
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of matter this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- ISBN - 13 digits, beginning with 978 or 979 - Identifies a particular monographic publication edition and product form, not written matter in general.
- ISSN - Eight characters conventionally displayed as XXXX-XXXX; the check character may be X - Identifies a serial publication, such as a magazine, rather than its individual texts.
- DOI - 10.<registrant>/<suffix> - May identify an article, chapter or other registered content object; assignment is not universal.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of matter this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- IFLA Library Reference Model, issued by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions: distinguishes work, expression, manifestation and item.
- ISO 2108, issued by ISO: International Standard Book Number.
- ISO 3297, issued by ISO: International Standard Serial Number.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of matter this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Organising book content into preliminary material, main text and supplementary material.
- Commissioning, editing and proofreading text for books and magazines.
- Planning typesetting, pagination and publication length.
- Reusing or adapting text across print and digital editions.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of matter this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Text length - No general range; depends on publication and scope - words
- Typeset extent - Layout-dependent; the same text can occupy different numbers of pages - pages
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of matter this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Confusing textual content with a particular edition, digital file or physical copy.
- Introducing omissions, duplications or transcription errors during editing and production.
- Publishing the wrong revision or failing to distinguish authorial changes from editorial changes.
- Reusing text without resolving attribution or permissions.
- Breaking references, notes or reading order when repaginating or converting formats.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of matter this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Spelling, punctuation and editorial conventions vary by language, region and publisher.
- The ordering and naming of preliminary and supplementary sections vary across publishing traditions.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of matter this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Recalled without web access and unsourced; every item is a lead to verify.
- Literary work - A work is a distinct intellectual or artistic creation; matter is a collective term for content and can include several works or ancillary text.
- Expression - An expression is a particular realisation of a work, such as a translation; matter does not specify that bibliographic level.
- Edition - An edition groups publication versions according to editorial and publishing practice; matter denotes their textual material.
- Book - A book can denote a publication or physical object; matter denotes the written content it carries.
- Subject matter - Subject matter is what a text is about; written matter is the text itself.
- Physical matter - Physical matter is material substance; this sense concerns written content.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of matter this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
What the second pass must settle
- Does the registry intend matter to include unpublished manuscripts and digital-only writing, or specifically writing prepared for books and magazines?
- Should instances ordinarily represent independently identifiable works, or may editorial aggregates such as all front matter be primary instances?
- Which existing Vercy models already own written works, textual expressions, or editorial assemblies, and should this entry link to one of them?
- Which work and expression identity criteria should govern corrections, revised editions, translations, and adaptations?
- How should mixed components such as equations, tables, captions, and advertising copy be bounded when they combine writing with other communicative forms?