Hi all,

I've just about completed a new XForms-based interface for querying
geonames.org to populate the <geogname> element in EAD.  An XML
representation of a geographical place returned by the geonames APIs
includes its name, e.g., Springfield, country name, and several levels
administrative names (Sangamon County, Illinois).  Is there some sort of
official way of textually representing a place?  In LCSH, one finds:

1 Springfield (Bucks County, Pa.)
2 Springfield (Bucks County, Pa. : Township)
3 Springfield (Burlington County, N.J.)

Why 1 and 2 are distinct terms in LCSH, I don't know.  The mode for dealing
with American place names seems to be "[name of place] ([administrative name
- lower level], [administrative name - upper level])".  For a European city,
we find "Berlin (Germany)"

Are these examples in LCSH the most common way to textually record places,
or are there other examples I should look at?

Thanks,
Ethan