Thanks for responses. So opinion remains divided? As a new subscriber
to this list I am unable to evaluate the different responses with any
confidence. <br><br>In the Outline of elements and attributes (3.3) page is the statement:<br>
<br><div style="margin-left: 40px;">All top-level elements and all
attributes are optional, but you must have at least one element.
Subelements are optional, although in some cases you may not have empty
containers.<br></div>
<br>In the MODS User Guidelines (3) page several top level elements are
described as &quot;wrapper&quot; elements but &quot;location&quot; is not so described.<br><br>On the same site it is stated:<br><p style="margin-left: 40px;">
<em>Mandatory elements</em>. No
        element is mandatory in a MODS record, however, every MODS record requires
        at least one element. Applications may wish to develop profiles specifying
        mandatory elements as needed. </p><br>If it is illegal to use &quot;location&quot; unless it contains a subelement, how should one interpret the above statements?<br><br>Many thanks again for your help.<br><br>Neil<br>
<br><br>