Earlier this month, a group of archivists and technologists met in Toronto
to draft specifications for Encoded Archival Context, a Document Type
Definition for corporate body, person, and family description, including
support for control of names, links to other bodies, persons, and families,
and links to "content stuff," in particular though not limited to archival
resources.  Richard Szary at Yale University, who organized this meeting
with Wendy Duff, Anne Van Camp, and me, will be distributing more
information about the meeting and ongoing work in the near future. I might
also add that there is interest in developing a third schema or DTD for
functions and activities, though this remains only in discussion at this
point. One challenge at a time, especially given that function and activity
description is likely to prove especially challenging.

The archivists and technologist present at the Toronto meeting were
internationally representative. EAC, as its name suggests, is intended to
complement and be compatible with EAD.

Daniel


At 09:58 AM 3/26/01 -0500, you wrote:
>Now that we're in the period of considering modifications to the EAD DTD,
>I'd like to post some thought.s  They are more along the lines of
>"fantasies" because I'm not sure of their practicality at the present time.
>
>At the recent annual meeting of the Music Library Association, Antonio M.
>Calvo, a member of the faculty of the library school at UC-San Jose, had a
>poster session in which he proposed enhancing (sounds safer than "doing
>away with") MARC to XML, showing how it can enhance the nature of
>authorities.  The name of his project is Nomen, and you can see a very
>brief presentation at:  http://senna.sjsu.edu/lmain/Nomen/
>
>After seeing his presentation, and considering the New York Public
>Library's implementation of EAD using the Advanced Revelation database, an
>idea occured to me.
>
>It seems to me that the EAD DTD is designed to be "flat," or in only two
>dimensions.  You mark up your document, in order to display it.  When we
>need outside information incorporated into the finding aid, we can utilize
>entities.  Ok, fine.
>
>But shouldn't we be aiming for something else - of expanding the DTD so
>that it incorporate other things.  Inspired by Calvo's concern (though not
>necessary his method), why couldn't we set up an interlocking DTD for
>names, so as to achieve relational name authority system along with EAD?
>Of course, other relational DTDs could be considered as well, but it seems
>to me that names (personal and corporate) is a priority.
>
>I recognize that something as broad and vast like has to take quite a while
>to consider.  Yet I hope it is a direction the working group consider.
>
>Bob Kosovsky, Librarian
>Music Division -- The New York Public Library
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Daniel V. Pitti         Project Director
Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities
Alderman Library        University of Virginia  Charlottesville, Virginia 22903
Phone: 804 924-6594     Fax: 804 982-2363       Email: [log in to unmask]
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu