Text annotation

<p>Text annotation is the practice and the result of adding a note or <a href="/facts/Gloss_(annotation)/f7MlXzqo">gloss</a> to a text, which may include highlights or underlining, comments, footnotes, tags, and links. Text annotations can include notes written for a reader's private purposes, as well as shared annotations written for the purposes of collaborative writing and <a href="/facts/Collaborative_editing/vSHol8DM">editing</a>, commentary, or social reading and sharing. In some fields, text annotation is comparable to metadata insofar as it is added post hoc and provides information about a text without fundamentally altering that original text.  Text annotations are sometimes referred to as <a href="/facts/Marginalia/HHGWChQn">marginalia</a>, though some reserve this term specifically for hand-written notes made in the margins of books or manuscripts. Annotations have been found to be useful and help to develop knowledge of English literature.
</p><p>Annotations can be both private and socially shared, including hand-written and information technology-based annotation. Annotations are different than notetaking because annotations must be physically written or added on the actual original piece. This can be writing within the page of a book or highlighting a line, or, if the piece is digital, a comment or saved highlight or underline within the document. For information on annotation of Web content, including images and other non-textual content, see also <a href="/facts/Web_annotation/W5lqCQhy">Web annotation</a>.
</p>

Text annotation open-in-new

Text annotation