Last fall, as part of the Harvard/Radcliffe Digital Finding Aids Project's
suggested revisions to EAD beta, we submitted a request that <unitloc> be
valid at any point within the finding aid. While the abolition of
<unitloc> in favor of two tags, <physloc> and <container>,
partially addresses concerns raised about the meaning of the tag, it did
not address our particular problem, which was our desire to be able to use
one of these tags *AT ANY POINT WITHIN THE FINDING AID*.
In a finding aid, physical location (such as box, i.e. <container>) may
change within the intellectual unit being described. In many finding
aids, we have folder lists arranged alphabetically or chronologically,
into which are inserted box numbers. The boxes are not part of the
intellectual arrangement, but merely necessary for retrieval. We could
not use <unitloc> earlier, because we could not validate our documents.
We cannot use either <physloc> or <container> now, because still when we
attempt to use these tags where it seems appropriate to us, the document
will not validate.
Here's the basic list:
File List
Box 1
1. [Adams, 1934]
2. Albany Literary Gazette [1934]
3. Alden
4. American Council
Box 2
5. American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Reporter [1934]
6. Amesbury Villager [1934-36]
7. etc., etc.
To give an example of what we believe SHOULD be done logically:
<DSC TYPE="IN-DEPTH">
<HEAD>File List</HEAD>
<container>Box 1</container>
<C LEVEL="FILE"><UNITID>1. </UNITID><UNITTITLE>[Adams
1934]</UNITTITLE></C>
<C LEVEL="FILE"><UNITID>2. </UNITID><UNITTITLE>Albany Literary Gazette
[1934]</UNITTITLE></C>
<C LEVEL="FILE"><UNITID>3. </UNITID><UNITTITLE>Alden</UNITTITLE></C>
<C LEVEL="FILE"><UNITID>4. </UNITID><UNITTITLE>American
Council</UNITTITLE></C>
<container>Box 2</container>
<C LEVEL="FILE"><UNITID>5. </UNITID><UNITTITLE>American and
ForeignAnti-Slavery Reporter [1934]</TITLE></UNITTITLE></C>
<C LEVEL="FILE"><UNITID>6. </UNITID><UNITTITLE>Amesbury
Villager[1934-36]</UNITTITLE></C>
<C LEVEL="FILE"><UNITID>7. </UNITID><UNITTITLE>Et
cetera...</UNITITLE></C>
</DSC>
Currently, in order to validate, we have to put each box into a
separate <C> so that the box number can go into <ODD>. Example:
<DSC TYPE="INDEPTH">
<HEAD>File List</HEAD>
<C><DID><ODD><P>Box 1</P></ODD></DID></C>
<C LEVEL="FILE"><UNITID>1. </UNITID><UNITTITLE>[Adams
1934]</UNITTITLE></C>
<C LEVEL="FILE"><UNITID>2. </UNITID><UNITTITLE>Albany Literary Gazette
[1934]</UNITTITLE></C>
ETC.ETC.
This seems contrary to the appropriate use of the <C> element, which
should be marking up intellectual order. Since both <container> and
<physloc> are obviously incidental to the intellectual order in many
instances, why can't we use them at any point within the finding aid?
Could the members of the EAD Advisory Group please tell us why our request
was not approved, and what the suggested "work-around" should be, as they
did with many of the other rejected changes? We apologize if we seem to
be flogging a dead horse, but this situation recurs over and over again in
our finding aids, and we are anxious to get it as "right" as possible the
first time around!
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Leslie A. Morris
Curator of Manuscripts in the Harvard College Library
Houghton Library, Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
e-mail: [log in to unmask] phone: 617.495.2449 fax:
617.495.1376 http://hcl.harvard.edu/houghton/mss/
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