A wide array of possible solutions to encoding matters is demonstrated in the TEI Guidelines which therefore should be considered a reference manual rather than a tutorial. Mastering the complete TEI encoding scheme implies a steep learning curve, but few projects require a complete knowledge of the TEI. Therefore, a manageable subset of the full TEI encoding scheme was published as TEI Lite, describing 131 elements. Originally intended as an introduction and a stepping stone to the full recommendations, TEI Lite has, since publication in 1995, become the most popular TEI DTD (Document Type Definition) and proves to meet the needs of 90% of the TEI community, 90% of the time (with about 20% of the elements) (Burnard and Sperberg-McQueen 1995).