A question for the collective wisdom:  how do you encode material in
non-standard containers?  We have a set list of "accepted" terms for
primary <container> element (Box, Package, Oversize, Mapcase, etc) and
secondary (Folder, Drawer, Reel, etc).  Occasionally we have items that
are in something weird -- a metal box, for example, or a camera case, or
a canvas bag, or a tube, or...

Is it better to only use the <container> element for a consistent list
of standard container types, and put the oddities in the abstract or
other descriptive element?  Or should one use the <container> element
always, even for strange things?  I can see arguments for both
approaches and wondered what others have done.

Thanks

Michele

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Michele Combs
Manuscripts Librarian
Special Collections Research Center
E.S. Bird Library
Syracuse University
222 Waverly Ave.
Syracuse, NY  13244
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