This is a topic of some current interest to me. I'm working on making
a couple of large and heavily-referencing texts web-accessible.
There's also a bit of a SemWeb slant to it, so I'm keen to make as
much as possibel machine-processable, not just human-styled through
the CSS.
I'm also authoring in XHTML because (as I keep saying) this allows me
to use XML tools on it. The pages have embedded reference material,
and some XSLT pulls this out and automatically builds the navigable
table of contents and the references list.
Feedback and ideas are very welcome.
Here's an example fragment (no URL - it's not yet published)
<p>
<cite class="ref-book"
id="ref-edwards-civil_war_guns-1978"
title="Edwards, Civil War Guns"
<span class="author" >Edwards. William B.</span>
<span class="title" >Civil War Guns</span>.
<span class="publisher" >Castle Books</span>.
<span class="publication-date" >1978</span>.</cite>
</p>
<p>
On <q cite="#ref-edwards-civil_war_guns-1978" class="ref-page" >page
192</q>
is a notation that Remington-Beals handgun grips for commercial sale
were
to be varnished while those for the military were to be oil-finished.
<q cite="#ref-edwards-civil_war_guns-1978" class="ref-page" >Page
200</q>
contains notes that Staff had begun to make .58 caliber Springfields
for
the government. New power-driven stocking machines were installed and
the
only hand labor involved was the final sanding and oiling of the
stocks. On
<q cite="#ref-edwards-civil_war_guns-1978" class="ref-page" >page
303</q>,
in discussing the rifles of Christian Sharps, it is stated that the
buttstock
is to be of well-oiled walnut.
</p>