Ontologies, Data Modeling, and TEI

This paper discusses the relationships between TEI and ontologies from the perspective of computer-based modeling, understood here as a way to establish meaning. The distinctions between creation and use of models as well as between modeling for production and modeling for understanding are presented and compared with other categorizations or models of modeling. One method of establishing meaning in TEI documents is achieved via linking mechanisms between TEI and external ontologies. How such linking can be done and what it may imply for the semantic openness and usability of TEI documents is the practical focus of this article.