Re: use of <mark> to denote notes in quoted text

I would like to speak to the notion that a blockquote should not itself 
contain the citation reference.

It seems to me that a helpful general rule of thumb for drafting HTML markup 
is simply this:

"Literary functions in HTML should follow general literary conventions 
outside of HTML wherever possible."

I think a lot of things have gone sideways and back and forth in HTML markup 
over the years because this sort of common sense approach has not been 
followed.

Now, what do we find in non-HTML publishing? Do we find the reference within 
the blockquote with much frequency, or is it an absurd anomaly abhorred by 
typographers? I think you will find there is a longstanding tradition that 
the reference can be included within the blockquote at the end of the 
quotation. This is usually set off visually in some way, but it is within 
the block quotation rather than outside of it.

For HTML, visual and semantic distinction can of course be attained by 
nesting an element within the blockquote, although frankly I am not at all a 
fan of using <cite> to refer to an author, but to a work. So we may need 
some intermediary element there.

Tim Gallant

Received on Sunday, 8 September 2013 20:19:09 UTC