ABSTRACT
An electronic text is, in the first instance, a digitally formatted document. Such a document may have been produced in an electronic format, or may have been transferred from a paper copy to electronic media. Transcripts of recorded audio data, e.g. conversations, are electronic texts once they have been entered into digital format.The context in which a text has been produced has both practical and theoretical implications for research projects in this area. On the practical side, the transfer of texts into electronic format can involve a lengthy process of scanning and subsequent editing of the material. Similarly, electronic texts may include elements that cannot easily be handled through textual analysis, such as hyperlinks and images for example. As a result, there are a number of theoretical issues that arise from the transfer of data from one mode into another.These relate mainly to the way in which meaning construction relies on the integrity of a text which can be affected if any of its elements are discarded in the analysis.
