Dear MODS and MADS implementers,
The MODS/MADS Editorial Committee has been considering changes to MADS
that will be incorporated into a new version 2.0 release. The changes
approved so far are posted on the MADS web site, at
<http://www.loc.gov/standards/mads/changes-2-0.html>. The list of further
changes for the Committee to review include:
1) A number of additions to support elements introduced by RDA, and that
have been incorporated into the MARC Authority format
2) A mechanism for indicating in a machine-readable way whether a heading
is subdividable geographically according to the rules governing the use of
that heading.
Discussions within the committee have led to a realization that in order
to add a large number of new data elements that are intended to represent
metadata about an entity, rather than solely serving as a structured part
of an authorized or variant heading, will probably require some more
significant restructuring of MADS than we feel it's appropriate to take on
at this point. Some of the changes already approved for MADS 2.0 are of a
high priority to release, such as better support for multiple languages
and scripts, and defining all elements in the MADS namespace rather that
borrowing some from MODS. The Editorial Committee has therefore decided to
table the introduction of the new data elements from RDA at this point,
and proceed with the already approved changes plus a mechanism for
indicating if a heading is subdividable in version 2.0.
We expect to have a draft 2.0 MADS Schema for review soon; however we
would like to extend to the community one more opportunity to request
smaller-scale changes that could be incorporated into MADS 2.0. If you are
a MADS implementer and have suggestions for how MADS might be improved to
better meet your needs, please post that information on this list. We look
forward to hearing from you.
Jenn Riley (Chair, MODS/MADS Editorial Committee)
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Jenn Riley
Head, Carolina Digital Library and Archives
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
http://cdla.unc.edu/
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(919) 843-5910
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