In every critico-scholarly working edition project there are, along with the musical sources, also other materials to edit and additional information on the respective context to compile. While in the earlier editions this information was accumulated partly on slips of paper in huge boxes to be “consulted” only with great expert knowledge, in more recent times, various database systems (“AskSam,” etc.) were frequently introduced for this purpose.

From a present-day perspective the format of Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) must be considered standard for the acquisition of all text genres and other textual data in the edition field. This is not a closed encoding scheme, but rather an extremely diversified “construction kit” that can be used to design an invariably appropriate format targeted to the most highly diverse projects, but which, through underlying principles, still permits a data exchange between various projects. To be found especially in the English-speaking area are numerous TEI-based projects that have already developed models for the most diverse fields of application. In the application of TEI it is thus often possible to revert to established models, although a critical analysis of the user’s own encoding requirements is always necessary.

In the framework of digital musicological editions, TEI ought to be applied in the case of compiling letters, diaries, writings, libretti, and other documents. But even general edition information, for instance, about people or places, can ideally be compiled with TEI. An enormous strength of TEI is that it is anchored in a large and active community that regularly exchanges mailing lists and acts as consultant to newcomers. Also, summer schools for dealing with TEI are repeatedly on offer. The yearly annual conferences alternately taking place in Europe and America (2011: Würzburg) provide further opportunities for staying in touch.