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> Eric, > > Your posting propmpts me to make the following announcement a bit earlier > than I had planned but since you asked, I'm responding. At the meeting > of the EAD Roundtable during last year's SAA annual meeting, I asked if > there would be an interest in creating some prototypes for finding aids > with associated tools for authoring and publishing EAD-encoded documents > than might be shared via the EAD Help Pages. At this point, I must note > that the idea was not entirely a new one of mine as Alvin Pollack from UC > Berkeley had suggested a very similar thing several years ago. There was > general support for the idea; one speaker indicated that, in addition to > other benefits, that this might make interchange easier. Foolishly, I > agreed to undertake such a project which subsequently has taken longer to > bring to fruition than I had anticipated, a regular short-coming of mine. > > The idea is to create a series of guidelines and tools that an institution > can readily use to implement EAD. Not exactly a "turn-key" system but in > that direction. While it is still about a month away from completion, > your query prompts me to make the first public announcement of the > project's status. The final product will include the following > components: > > 1. A prototype encoding scheme for finding aids based on a number of > sources including the experiences of various institutions that implemented > EAD, recommendations from various EAD implementation projects, > recommendations in the Application Guidelines, and conversations with > other archivists during EAD workshops. > > 2. Documentation of the encoding decisions that lie behind the > prototype. > > 3. Software templates that incorporate the prototype. I have been > working on templates for Author/Editor and XMetaL. My colleague Dennis > Meissner is preparing templates for WordPerfect 2000. Templates may be > developed for other products in the future if there is an interest. > There are also keyboard macros to facilitate the input of repeating > elements such as components. > > 4. Stylesheets written in the XSL Transformation (XSLT) language that > can be used to convert the EAD documents encoded according to the > prototype into HTML for web publication. > > Several steps remain before the materials are ready for general > distribution. I am currently seeking input regarding the encoding scheme > from various institutions that have been implementing EAD. Those > comments will be incorporated into a revised prototype, at which point I > will solicit volunteers via this list, who wish to test the templates and > supply me with examples of the work that they have created. This will > provide a second round of commentary on the encoding prototype and verfiy > the templates, macros and associated documentation as well as supplying a > pool of examples for testing the stylesheets. The final step will be to > submit the materials for distribution via the EAD Help Pages. > > I want to emphasize what you may have already gleaned- this is an entirely > personal project on my part. No official endorsement from the EAD Working > Group or any other body is implied. If it proves useful to other > institutions, that will be wonderful. Beyond that, I have no immediate > expectations. > > In the meantime, I will be interested in receiving any general comments on > the purpose or contents of the project or suggestions as to > recommendations that anyone may care to pass on. > > > Michael > > Michael Fox > Head of Processing > Minnesota Historical Society > 345 Kellogg Blvd West > St. Paul MN 55102-1906 > phone: 651-296-1014 > fax: 651-296-9961 > [log in to unmask] > **NOTE NEW AREA CODE EFFECTIVE JULY 12, 1998** > > ---------- > From: ERIC STEDFELD[SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Monday, January 31, 2000 12:38 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: XML to users, or using XML and XSL to present data as HTML > > Are there good models available in the EAD user community, on how to > use XML and XSL to present data as HTML, or serve XML directly to > the end user? I have been reviewing and working with samples at the > Cornell site that deliver XML to the user via IE5, but if there are > other examples that I could also follow, especially simple ones, that > would be very helpful. Is there any kind of evolving consensus on > best practice for delivering XML-encoded finding aids to the end > user? > > Thank you for any suggestions or recommendations, > > --Eric Stedfeld > > > > Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 13:11:29 -0600 > > Reply-to: Encoded Archival Description List <[log in to unmask]> > > From: "Fox, Michael" <[log in to unmask]> > > Subject: Re: Variant rules files for Author/Editor? > > To: Multiple recipients of list EAD <[log in to unmask]> > > ... > > > > > Of course, if you are using XML syntax and the XSL stylesheet language > to > > transform and present your data as HTML, you can create tabular output > in > > your HTML automatically during the transformation process, without > having to > > explicitly hard-code your table-defining features into the finding aid > > itself. This is a simpler and cleaner approach, one that more > faithfully > > adheres to the SGML/XML principle of separating content markup from > > presentation markup. A goal towards which we strive even if we cannot > > achieve it 100%. > > > > Michael > > > > Michael Fox > > Head of Processing > > Minnesota Historical Society > > 345 Kellogg Blvd West > > St. Paul MN 55102-1906 > > phone: 651-296-1014 > > fax: 651-296-9961 > > [log in to unmask] > > **NOTE NEW AREA CODE EFFECTIVE JULY 12, 1998** > > > > > ---------- > > > From: Timothy Young[SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > > > Sent: Thursday, December 16, 1999 11:33 AM > > > To: Multiple recipients of list EAD > > > Subject: Variant rules files for Author/Editor? > > > > > > On the EAD HELP PAGES site, in the listing of > > > helper files (http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/ead/helper.html) > > > we list one set of "rls" files that can be used > > > with Author/Editor. A question has come up about > > > whether these rules files are created from a > > > tabular or non-tabular DTD. > > > > > > I know that WordPerfect needs to have a specific > > > logic file for either option. However, after looking at the > > > body of the A/E rules file, it looks like the control > > > over tabular-vs-non-tabular is retained in the core DTD. > > > Thus - there is no need for two versions of rules files. > > > > > > Can anyone verify/comment on this? > > > > > > Thanks, > > > > > > Timothy Young > > > Ex Officio - EAD RoundTable, Society of American Archivists > > > Archivist > > > Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library > > > Yale University > > > New Haven, CT 06520 > > > (203) 432-8131 > > > > > > > ===================== > Eric L. Stedfeld > Info Tech Specialist > NYU Libraries > 212 995-3545 > [log in to unmask] > >