Hi,

We are in the process of rolling out an XSLT that tests several dsc
conditions, the two main cases are

1. hierarchical collections (typically archival F/A's)
2. linear collections (library special collections descriptions)

The test for case one is whether there are any direct dsc children with
a series, subseries, or class @level. If so, a table of contents is
displayed at top and items displayed at bottom, eg:

http://appsbb.ucd.ie:8080/fedora/get/ivrla10-:15/ivrla10-:collectionContentbDef/getLayout/

For case two, if there are only files or items directly below the dsc,
sorting is done on the unittitle and a 'fake' unitid is generated on output:

http://appsbb.ucd.ie:8080/fedora/get/ivrla10-:426/ivrla10-:collectionContentbDef/getLayout/

(Both links are to the development server and may or may not display.)

Originally the idea was to rely on the dsc/@type to determine
'linearity', but since there were a few more than 2 cases I just used a
test of the actual structure. That metadata still remains in each EAD,
but maybe just as descriptive metadata. I think this approach would work
at levels lower than the dsc as well. The XSLT for the dsc section is here:

http://appsbb.ucd.ie:8080/fedora/get/ivrla10-:15/FindingAidStrcuctureXSL
[sic]

Look for the first xsl:choose statement and you can follow the logic
from there. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Good luck,

Joseph Greene
Irish Virtual Research Library and Archive Project (HII),
James Joyce Library,
UCD,
Belfield,
Dublin 4.

(t) 01 716 7506
(e) [log in to unmask]
(w) www.ucd.ie/ivrla

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jennie A. Levine" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 12:29 pm
Subject: Sorting alphabetically (i.e. by unittitle)
To: [log in to unmask]

> We have several collections for which it makes sense to sort the dsc
> items alphabetically by text in the <unittitle>. At present, our
> materials display reflecting a physical arrangement, which is
> reflected
> in how we code our <c0x>.
>
> Because we have a system that automatically generates an XML EAD file
> from a database, all of our EADs are essentially coded the same. We're
> looking for a solution that would allow us to display the finding aids
> based on an attribute somewhere in the XML (ideally at the <c01
> level="series"> and <c02 level=subseries">) that would indicate how to
> display each series within a finding aid.
>
> Our programmer is running into a roadblock with the XSL based on
> how we
> code the <dsc type="in-depth"> I thought I would see if anyone
> else has
> been successful in either a) having two or more style sheets that they
> could potentially use to display the same XML in different ways and/or
> b) displaying <dsc> c0s based based on an alphabetical (i.e.
> non-linear/physical) premise.
>
> Examples would be lovely, and I can provide more information about
> how
> we code now, if people are interested. What I understand from the
> programmer is that because we depend on the structure of the EAD to
> let
> <c03> inherit information from <c02> and <c01>, rather than
> repeating
> certain information at each level, it could make the XSL cumbersome
> and
> bear-like. He is not entirely sure it's NOT possible, but I said I
> would
> look around for examples while he worked on it.
>
> Jennie
>
> --
> Jennie A. Levine
> Curator for Historical Manuscripts
> Archives and Manuscripts Department
> 2208 C Hornbake Library
> University of Maryland
> College Park, MD 20742
> (301)314-2712
> (301)314-2709 FAX
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.lib.umd.edu/histmss
>