Hi Nathan,

A 5 MB EAD XML file will result in an HTML file of at least that size, so
certainly 5 MB will result in a long load time for people on a slower DSL
connection, or God forbid, dialup (does dialup still exist?).

A few questions first:
Are your finding aids transformed into HTML files that are served up
statically or generated dynamically?
Is it your list of components (<dsc>) that is so large?

You may be able to find your way around the filesize issue using Ajax to
dynamically load content only when the user asks for it.  There may also be
an alternate way of encoding your finding aid in order to reduce its
filesize, either by using XInclude or EAD pointers to external content.
XIncludes in conjunction with Ajax calls can alleviate problems in rendering
in the public interface as well as make it possible to view the XML files in
Notepad/Dreamweaver again.

Ethan

On Mon, Dec 6, 2010 at 2:49 PM, Nathan Tallman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi Cod4Libers,
>
> I've got a LARGE finding aid that was generated from EAD.  It's over 5 MB
> and has caused even Notepad++ and Dreamweaver to crash.  My main concern is
> client-side load time.  The collection is our most heavily used and the
> finding aid will see a lot of traffic.  I'm fairly adept with HTML, but I
> can't think of anything.  Does anyone have any tricks or tips to decrease
> the load time?  The finding aid can be viewed at <
> http://www.americanjewisharchives.com/aja/FindingAids/ms0361.html>.
>
> Thanks,
> Nathan Tallman
> Associate Archivist
> American Jewish Archives
>