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We are currently exploring the possible use of MODS in the context of METS, and to this end are attempting the map the elements in the database we use for our digitizing projects to MODS. A question has come up with respect to MODS provision for dates in the publicationInfo element. MODS requires that a distinction be made between date created, date issued, and date captured. At present, we do not have the information available in our database that would enable us to make this distinction reliably. (And it is not clear to me how a reliable mapping from MARC to MODS would be made. Couldn't a 260$c represent either a date created or date issued depending, for example, on whether the material was manuscript or printed?) Furthermore, we support alternate dates in addition to the primary date; and these may not always fit tidily into one of the three MODS categories. What would be the recommended encoding for our situation? Has any thought been given to providing just a generic date (<otherDate> ?) element under <publicationInfo> as an alternative to the more specific <dateIssued>, <dateCreated> and <dateCaptured> elements? Thanks, Rick Beaubien ----------------------------------------------------- Rick Beaubien Lead Software Engineer: Research and Development Library Systems Office Rm 386 Doe Library University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-6000 510-643-9776