There is an interesting semantic question, perhaps evolutionary, issue underlying this question as well as the more practical encoding issue.

What is meant by the phrase "to this exact level in the institution's website"? 

Is this really a link to another part of the finding aid or to something else?  

My understanding is that the use of <ref> and <extptr> family of elements was designed to embed the particulars of links explicitly within the EAD instance.

As far as I can see, your example, using an attribute value to drive the link, would not work since HREF is not an attribute of <cX> or any of its children.

The semantic question is this: when the elements of a description have become disaggregated within an electronic system (or the institution's website as the writer describes it), what is the finding aid and what are such linkages "going to"?  Are we stuck in an outdated print metaphor?

Michael  

-----Original Message-----
From: Encoded Archival Description List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of yoann moranville
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:18 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Links within EAD

Dear all,

I would have a question regarding the links we can use in EAD.
We "need" to use an element, within each (or at least some) <c>
elements, that provides the link to this exact level in the
institution's website.
To explain better, imagine you are on a file of a fonds
(www.website.com/myfonds.html?fileIdentifier=XX) and seeing its
description. Where would you insert that link in the EAD finding aid
(at this file level)? Some kind of permanent link in order to be used
by other projects or such.
Is there an element in EAD that would offer this possiblity?
And if not, how are you doing it - how would you do it?

Thanks,
Yoann