I transformed a list of names from a half-arsed MODS pseudo-authority format to draft MADS over the weekend. It's already a big improvement. Having a standard format for machine-readable genre lists will also come in handy. With respect to that, it would be convenient to be able to define shortcuts (à la "marcgt" and "lcsh") to third-party authority files so we can say, e.g.
<genre authority="bibtex">inproceedings</genre>
rather than, e.g.
<genre authority="http://my.domain/bibtex-auth.xml">inproceedings</genre>
for every <genre> element in the database.

An attribute on <modsCollection> might do the trick:
<modsCollection authorities="bibtex http://my.domain/bibtex-auth.xml">
where authorities is a space-separated list of shortcut/URL pairs. It's just a brainstorm; I haven't really thought this through.

A few more comments:

What are the <refs> and <otherElements> containers for?

If related records are authoritative and variants are not authoritative, the relatedType and variantType attributes on <ref> are mutually exclusive. It would be cleaner to just make two distinct elements:
<ref type="earlier | later | parent org | broader | narrower | other">
<variant type="acronym | abbreviation | translation | other">

<ref> should have XLink attributes.

--Andy

>>> [log in to unmask] 2004-06-04 09:34:04 >>>
In response to numerous requests, the Library of Congress' Network
Development and MARC Standards Office has drafted an XML schema for an
authority element set that may be used to provide metadata about agents
(people, organizations), events, and terms (topics, geographics, genres,
etc.). This Metadata Authority Description Schema (MADS) was created to
serve as a companion to the Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS).
As such, MADS has a relationship to the MARC 21 Authority format, as MODS
has to MARC 21 Bibliographic-- both carry selected data from MARC 21.
There is a high level of compatibility between the MADS and MODS schemas.
MADS is expressed using the XML schema language of the World Wide Web
Consortium. Note that once the schema is finalized, a few changes may be
made to MODS for consistency. An example is that MADS uses the term
"event" instead of "conference".

The MADS draft schema is now available for broad review to inform its
completion. Based on input from prospective users, the schema will be
revised and made available for experimentation. The review period will be
between June 4 and July 16, 2004.

The Web site is at:
http://www.loc.gov/mads
Included is the XML schema itself, a document describing the purpose of
MADS and details about definitions of the most important elements, and an
outline of elements and attributes. A mapping to the MARC 21 Authority
Format will be available shortly.

We look forward to comments from prospective users about this new schema.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^ Rebecca S. Guenther ^^
^^ Senior Networking and Standards Specialist ^^
^^ Network Development and MARC Standards Office ^^
^^ 1st and Independence Ave. SE ^^
^^ Library of Congress ^^
^^ Washington, DC 20540-4402 ^^
^^ (202) 707-5092 (voice) (202) 707-0115 (FAX) ^^
^^ [log in to unmask] ^^
^^ ^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^