It may be "post-colonialist," but the date is still based on the birth of
Christ.

Alex Pezzati
Archivist
University of Pennsylvania Museum

Quoting "O'Neill, Ken" <[log in to unmask]>:

> The generally accepted, post-colonialist standard is B.C.E - before the
> common era.
>
> Ken O'Neill, MA
> Program Coordinator
> University of Arizona Library Special Collections
> 520.621.4300
>
> "To live is to fly
>  low and high
>  so shake the dust off of your wings
>  and the sleep out of your eyes"
>                -Townes van Zandt
>
> "The opinions or statements expressed herein are my own and should not be
> taken as a position, opinion,or endorsement of the University of Arizona."
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mary Lacy [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2004 12:34 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Date normalization for B.C.?
>
> All,
> Is it possible to normalize pre-Christian era dates using ISO
> 8601? I've got a series consisting of artifacts ca. 6th century-1st
> century B.C. The standard
> (http://xml.coverpages.org/ISO-FDIS-8601.pdf) is designed
> for use with the Gregorian calendar, and cautions about its use for dates
> preceding 1582.
>
> Any advice on encoding my <unitdate> would be appreciated!
>
> Mary Lacy
> Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
> (202)707-8799 fax (202)707-6336
> [log in to unmask]
> **usual disclaimers apply**
>