On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 2:17 PM, Bess Sadler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> +1. Potential options could include using an XML database like eXist,
>> or using our approach at Yale (where EAD finding aids are stored as
>> datastreams in Fedora objects). I've been eager to look at rethinking
>> our approach, especially given the availability of the Hydra codebase.
>
> Absolutely. Also, this is one example i can think of where fedora disseminators make perfect sense. Fedora can serve as your repository, and then each guide can be accessed as
>
> http://your.repository.edu/fedora/get/YOUR_EAD_IDENTIFIER
>
> and each section can be grabbed via
>
> http://your.repository.edu/fedora/get/YOUR_EAD_IDENTIFIER/bioghist (or whatever naming scheme makes sense to those with stronger opinions about EAD than I do)

That's interesting, although I'm not sure how those disseminators
would operate. Are you predicting some sort of XSL transform that just
extracts that element?

> What I'd love to see is each item represented and described independently in the repository, and then a full XML serialization of the EAD would just be constructed on the fly, bringing in as serialization time any objects that belong in a given section of the document.
>
> Institutionally, the biggest problem with EAD is version control and workflow for keeping the documents up to date. I think splitting things up into separate objects and only contructing the full EAD document as needed is a good potential solution to this.

In theory this is a good idea, but Manuscripts and Archives at Yale
(along with a sizable number of other institutions) use a
database-backed collection management system like Archivists' Toolkit
or Archon to create archival description. The resulting EAD is then an
export from these systems. For us, we're not doing any major massaging
of the data or contents other than an XSL transform to make it conform
to a University-wide best practice schema.

I'd be interested to see how this would work though - it think t's a
potentially great implementation.

On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 2:23 PM, Adam Wead <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Mark,
>
> How are you creating the EAD docs in Fedora?  At present, we're using archivist's toolkit to dump out ead xml files and then I index them in solr, with blacklight displaying the entire document as well.  It's messy and it would be nice to make a more efficient connection between the three (BL, Fedora and Solr).  I'd love to show everyone what I have, but they keep us on a private network here.

Adam - we're doing the same, essentially, except Fedora serves as the
data store for the exported EAD. I've been considering potential
implementations that would allow uploads of EAD datastreams using a
Hydra-based web application, and then using Solrizer to manipulate the
EAD into an update document or set thereof. I just haven't had time to
commit to looking into this.

Mark A. Matienzo
Digital Archivist, Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library