Hello all,
In working with finding aids encoded according to the EAD 2002 W3C Schema instead of the DTD, we've run into an issue with the unitdate/@normal attribute. The data type for the unitdate/@normal attribute doesn't seem to support open-ended date ranges (because it's based on ISO8601, which doesn't support them either, is that right?). So what's the best encoding to use for a date range that, say, starts in 1970 and continues to the present day? These aren't valid:
<unitdate normal="1970/">1970-</unitdate>
<unitdate normal="1970/9999">1970-</unitdate> (that's a hack, but I've seen it in use before)
I can think of these other options:
<unitdate normal="1970">1970-</unitdate> (treat it as a single date in the normal attribute)
<unitdate>1970-</unitdate> (leave the normal attribute off entirely)
I don't like either of those options, though. What would you do?
Jenn
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Jenn Riley
Metadata Librarian
Digital Library Program
Indiana University - Bloomington
Wells Library W501
(812) 856-5759
www.dlib.indiana.edu
Inquiring Librarian blog: www.inquiringlibrarian.blogspot.com
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