The Michael Sperberg-McQueen Digital Nachlass

Michael was one of the original creators of the TEI and we were only one of the many communities he influenced and improved over the course of his life. Since his death in 2024, a group of his friends have been working to ensure that his work will be appropriately memorialized. The University of Cologne is setting up a project to archive Michael's work:

At the time of his sudden death in 2024, Sperberg-McQueen left behind a digital corpus of theoretical writings, technical documentation, prototypes, scholarly correspondence, and research notes. Amongst these materials are writings of considerable significance both for the history of technologies such as SGML and XML, and for ongoing research in the digital humanities.

The Michael Sperberg-McQueen Digital Nachlass aims to ensure the preservation of Sperberg-McQueen’s digital legacy in all its forms by creating an accessible archive, built to modern standards of digital preservation. All materials will be digitized according to international best practices, providing multiple access layers.

The TEI Consortium will accept donations toward this effort either via our Donations page, or if you wish to donate by check or bank transfer, email the TEI-C Treasurer for details on how to donate. All donations will be routed to the Digital Nachlass project at Cologne. The TEI Consortium is registered as 501(c)3 charitable organization in the USA. Receipts for donations will be made available to donors in accordance with IRS regulations.