OAC EAD Web Templates Guide [PDF]

Contents:

1. General Instructions for Data Entry
2. Notes on Cutting-and-Pasting Text into Templates
3. High Level Description Form: Required Fields
4. High Level Description Form: Optional Fields
5. Major Subdivisions Form
6. Completing the Templates
7. Attaching Template Files
8. Validating Template Files

1. General Instructions for Data Entry

• The template is divided into two component forms:
  
  • 1. High Level Description Form: Use this form to encode single-level descriptive outputs at any level, typically large accumulations such as collections, record groups, fonds, or record series. It can, however, only describe materials at one explicitly articulated level and does not support multilevel encoding of subsequent lower levels. This level of encoding conforms to the OAC BPG EAD "OAC Basic" encoding scheme, the minimal scheme allowable for finding aids added to the OAC database.
  
  
  
  • 2. Major Subdivisions Form: This form is linked off of the High Level Description Form. Use this additional form, if desired, to encode major subdivisions such as series through subseries, record groups through subgroups, or files and items.
    
  For instructions on attaching EAD files produced by both forms, see Section 7, Attaching Template Files. The template does note support the creation of extensive file-/item-level container lists. These must be created using a different encoding tool and cut and pasted into the EAD file.
• The template cannot be used to save files that are in process, nor can it be used to edit existing EAD files. Encoders must either recreate the file using the template, or use a text editor or SGML/XML authoring tool to directly edit the EAD file.
• Blank fields will not be encoded by the template.
• You may include EAD tagging directly in data entered into template fields.
• EAD files produced by the template should be validated and checked for OAC BPG EAD-compliance using a XML parser, in addition to the OAC Ingest Tool and/or OAC BPG Validator. See the EAD Toolkit for validation tools.

2. Notes on Cutting-and-Pasting Text into Templates

Copied text should be formatted into simple ASCII text prior to pasting into the template. The following kinds of characters and special formatting will not be rendered properly if directly cut-and-pasted into the template (consider globally replacing these characters in your source finding aid prior to cutting-and-pasting into the template):

• Smart quotes (i.e., hooked quotes), super- and subscripts, and small fraction signs. Replace these characters with simple ASCII text.
  
  
• Bulleted and numbered lists. Use the EAD <list> tag with TYPE attribute set accordingly, and nested <item> tags within <list>.

  Example:

  <list type=marked>

  <item>Smart quotes (i.e. hooked quotes), super- and subscripts, and small fraction signs.</item>

  <item>Bulleted and numbered lists.</item>

  [etc.]

  </list>

• Bold, underline, and italic formatting. Use the EAD <emph> tag with RENDER attribute set accordingly.

  Example:

  ... see the EAD <emph render="italic">Tag Library</emph> for more information...

• Special symbols, graphics, characters with diacritics, and non-Latin characters.
  
  
  • Encode directly in UTF-8 Unicode or use Unicode decimal or hexadecimal character references (for hexadecimal character references, see Unicode Website code charts).
  • Note that all decimal character references should begin with an ampersand and pound sign, and end with a semicolon (use the syntax "&#D;", where D is a decimal number). Note that all hexadecimal character references should begin with an ampersand, pound sign, and lower- or uppercase "x", and end with a semicolon (use the syntax "&#xH;" or "&#XH;", where H is a hexadecimal number).

    Example:

    ... The papers are especially rich on trends in high school and university education among Russian &#x00E9;migr&#x00E9;s...

    [NOTE: "&#x00E9;" UTF-8 Unicode hexadecimal character reference used to encode the letter "é" in the word "émigrés," derived from the Unicode Website's Latin-1 Supplement code chart]

• Ampersands and left and right angle brackets. These characters are reserved for markup delimiters when using XML, and need to be replaced with the following character entities:

  Ampersand (&) = &amp;
  Left angle bracket (<) = &lt;
  Right angle bracket (>) = &gt;
  

  Example:

  ... the Contributing Members Benefits &amp; Obligations Statement contains information for OAC affiliates...

  [NOTE: "&amp" character entity used to replace ampersand in "Contributing Members Benefits & Obligations Statement"]