Reduce the number of elements: factor them by nature to make them generic

[ArchivageNumeriqueSIAF]

Creator of issue

1. Louis Vignaud
2. Archives de France (SIAF)
3. louis.vignaud@culture.gouv.fr
4. @ArchivageNumeriqueSIAF

The issue relates to

• [ ] EAC-CPF schema issue
• [ ] EAC-CPF Tag Library issue
• [x] EAD schema issue
• [ ] EAD Tag Library issue
• [ ] Schema issue
• [ ] Tag Library issue
• [ ] Suggestions for all schemas
• [ ] Suggestions for all Tag Libraries
• [ ] Other

Wanted change/feature

• Considering that certain elements are of the same "nature/type" (e.g.: name, role, type, etc.) but used in different contexts to qualify other elements or entities (e.g.: agent, location, etc.), we could factor them to simplify the standard by reducing amount of elements.
• We can often compare these items to ATTRIBUTES inside an OBJECT, in an entity/relationship model.
• Here are some proposals for grouping elements, on the basis of a supposedly identical or similar nature.

Reporting a bug

Example :

<agent> <name>Mary Shelley</name> </agent>

<place> <name>Sydney (Australia)</name> </place>

Suggested Solution

• Nature "name" Generic expression replacing : agencyName, agentName, placeName

• Nature "note" Generic expression replacing : descriptiveNote, identificationDataNote, publicationNote

• Nature "role" Generic expression replacing : agentRole, placeRole, targetRole

• Nature "type" Generic expression replacing : agentType, placeType, targetType, unitType, relationType

• On the sidelines, here are two special cases :

• Legal context / Legal status May cover present elements : accessConditions, legalStatus, rightsDeclaration, useConditions

• Block / Wrapper / Container May cover present elements : objectXMLWrap, formattingExtension, container

Context

• Naming these items ? Since TYPE is already used to express attributes in the current XSD schema, how should we name this property : NATURE, TYPE, etc. ?

• XML element or attribute ? Two implementations are possible to represent the "type" in its context of use: via an XML attribute or via an XML element.

Example n°1 (by an attribute) :
<agent role=...> ... </agent>

Example n°2 (by an element) : <agent> <role> ... </role> </agent>

• DOM and Xpath To the extent that the shared elements would be named identically in the XML document, to reach them it would be necessary to express the full DOM tree (Xpath) and no longer the local name as today.

Example : Xpath = "agent/name" VERSUS Xpath = "agentName"

[kerstarno]

Will be discussed by TS-EAS during their meeting on 12/13 August 2024 at the SAA Annual Meeting.

Review together with #125, which kind of suggests the contrary approach, and #134.

[BrigitteMichel]

Point of attention regarding TYPE or ROLE. The controlled value lists, which are widely used for these 2 informations (Type and Role), depend on the concerned EAD element: it is also necessary to plan to manage separate lists