Janus: EAD elements and the stylesheet

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When displaying data for the user, Janus takes EAD data and transforms them into HTML using stylesheets. This page attempts to show how the basic EAD elements are transformed by a stylesheet to show information at fonds level. The example chosen is the original deposit of the papers of Dawson Turner held in Trinity College Library, Cambridge. Please note that some tags are empty, but included for information. Readers are directed to the EAD Applications Guidelines for further information.

Metadata

The first few lines of any EAD file contain the metadata that identify the file as an EAD file, give it a unique identifier and explain how and when it was encoded, and by whom. This information does not appear when a user browses the catalogue, but is important for verification, data exchange, version control, authorship details and the like. Here is the relevant section from the Dawson Turner catalogue:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE ead PUBLIC "-//Society of American Archivists//DTD
ead.dtd (Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 1.0)//EN" "ead.dtd">
<ead>
<eadheader>
<eadid>GBR/EAD/0016/TURNER</eadid>
<filedesc>
<titlestmt>
<titleproper>
Papers of Dawson Turner (1775-1858), botanist, banker and
antiquary
</titleproper>
</titlestmt>
<editionstmt>
<edition>1.1</edition>
</editionstmt>
<publicationstmt>
<publisher>Trinity College Library, Cambridge</publisher>
</publicationstmt>
</filedesc>
<profiledesc>
<creation>
Ruth Bridgen and Jonathan Smith
<date>17 April 2003</date>
</creation>
<langusage>
<language>english</language>
<language></language>
<language></language>
</langusage>
</profiledesc>
</eadheader>

Basic catalogue information

Following the metadata, the remaining information in the EAD file is made up of the type of catalogue details familiar in an archival list, progressing from the general to the specific. The most basic information for describing the fonds (or in some cases sub-fonds) is contained within the <did> element at fonds level and includes the name of the repository where the archives are held, the collection level reference (in the form GBR/[NRA repository code]/reference), the title of the archive, the covering dates, extent and medium and the origination of the material. In the case of the Dawson Turner catalogue it looks like this.

<archdesc level="fonds">
<did>
<repository>Trinity College Library, Cambridge</repository>
<unitid>GBR/0016/TURNER1</unitid>
<unitid label="former reference">O.13-14</unitid>
<unittitle>
Papers of Dawson Turner (1775-1858), banker, botanist and antiquary
</unittitle>
<unitdate>1790-1857</unitdate>
<physdesc>
<extent>83 volumes</extent>
<genreform></genreform>
</physdesc>
<origination>Dawson Turner</origination>
<dao></dao>
</did>

More detailed information about the archive

The next elements in the EAD file contain more detailed information about the archive being described, an administrative or biographical description, a collection level description of the scope of the material and any details of the source of accession. In the example below note that elements such as <bioghist> may contain lengthy, multi-paragraph entries and the paragraph tags ( & ) are required.

<bioghist>

Dawson Turner was born on 18 October 1775 in Great Yarmouth, the son
of James Turner, banker, and his wife Elizabeth Cotman. In 1793 he
came up to Cambridge and entered Pembroke College where his uncle
was Master. However, he did not graduate and left the University the
following year joining his father's bank in 1796. Supported by his
inheritance, Turner was able to indulge his interests. His early
passion was botany with special reference to cryptogams, publishing
a number of books on the subject Throughout his life he corresponded
with many of the great botanists of the day. His further two great
passions were painting - his wife and children took lessons from
John Sell Cotman - and antiquarian studies, pursuing the latter
subject with some vigour from 1820 onwards. He died in 1858.

</bioghist>
<scopecontent>

In-letters, 1790-1857. Correspondents include Sir Joseph Banks,
William Borrer, John Sell Cotman, W J Hooker, Joseph Hume, Sir
Francis Palgrave and William Upcott.

</scopecontent>
<arrangement>

Turner collected and bound together his incoming letters in a number
of series. These volumes form the series of "general correspondence"
and are arranged chronologically.

</arrangement>
<admininfo>
<acqinfo>

These volumes were given to Trinity College in 1890 by Ellen
Jacobsen, widow of the Bishop of Chester, Turner's last surviving
daughter.

</acqinfo>
<custodhist>

</custodhist>
<appraisal>

</appraisal>
<accruals>

</accruals>

To this is added details from the legalstatus attribute in the <archdesc> tag and it is rendered as

Content and context

Dawson Turner was born on 18 October 1775 in Great Yarmouth, the son of James Turner, banker, and his wife Elizabeth Cotman. In 1793 he came up to Cambridge and entered Pembroke College where his uncle was Master. However, he did not graduate and left the University the following year joining his father's bank in 1796. Supported by his inheritance, Turner was able to indulge his interests. His early passion was botany with special reference to cryptogams, publishing a number of books on the subject Throughout his life he corresponded with many of the great botanists of the day. His further two great passions were painting - his wife and children took lessons from John Sell Cotman - and antiquarian studies, pursuing the latter subject with some vigour from 1820 onwards. He died in 1858.

In-letters, 1790-1857. Correspondents include Sir Joseph Banks, William Borrer, John Sell Cotman, W J Hooker, Joseph Hume, Sir Francis Palgrave and William Upcott.

These volumes were given to Trinity College in 1890 by Ellen Jacobsen, widow of the Bishop of Chester, Turner's last surviving daughter.

Turner collected and bound together his incoming letters in a number of series. These volumes form the series of "general correspondence" and are arranged chronologically.

Restrictions on access/use and citation

The next elements of the EAD file contain data on restrictions on access and of use and also on how the archivist would prefer the material to be cited in any publication. It looks like this

<accessrestrict>

</accessrestrict>
<userestrict>

For permission to publish materials from the Dawson Turner papers
please contact The Librarian, Trinity College Library, Cambridge,
CB2 1TQ

</userestrict>
<altformavail>

Trinity College Library holds microfilms of these volumes for
reprographic purposes

</altformavail>
<prefercite>
Trinity College Library, Cambridge: Dawson Turner Papers.
</prefercite>
</admininfo>

Access and Use

For permission to publish materials from the Dawson Turner papers please contact The Librarian, Trinity College Library, Cambridge, CB2 1TQ

Please cite as Trinity College Library, Cambridge: Dawson Turner Papers.

Miscellaneous other information

The next section of the EAD file contains a number of elements for notes and other data relating to the archive including information on any materials separated from or related to the archive, together with any relevant bibliographical information.

<note>

</note>
<odd>

</odd>
<add>
<otherfindaid>

A contemporary personal name index of this correspondence is
available and is the prime finding aid.

</otherfindaid>
<relatedmaterial>

</relatedmaterial>
<separatedmaterial>

According to Warren R Dawson there were at least five further
series of correspondence kept and bound by Turner in the same way.
These he names as letters on business, letters on local affairs in
Yarmouth, letters from members of the family, letters from certain
friends that were numerous enough to merit volumes of their own
and lettes of condolence on the death of Mrs Turner. Additionally,
it is clear that some letters have been cut from the volumes at
some time. Many of these excised letters are included in two
subsequent deposits of Turner papers at Trinity College Library.

</separatedmaterial>
<bibliography>

For a short biography of Turner see Warren R Dawson, "Dawson
Turner FRS" in the Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of
Natural History, vol 3:6, Dec 1958.

</bibliography>
</add>

Further information

For a short biography of Turner see Warren R Dawson, "Dawson Turner FRS" in the Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History, vol 3:6, Dec 1958.

A contemporary personal name index of this correspondence is available and is the prime finding aid.

Trinity College Library holds microfilms of these volumes for reprographic purposes

Access points

Access points, constructed using NCA rules, the UNESCO Thesaurus and the Getty Thesaurus form the final section of the fonds level EAD description. These allow readers to be more specific in their searches by using profiled searching to access information on particular individuals, families, subjects and geographical areas. There is only a simple name access point for our sample fonds, the Dawson Turner papers, which looks like this

<controlaccess>
<persname source="ncarules">
Turner, Dawson (1775-1858), banker, botanist and antiquary
</persname>
</controlaccess>
<dsc type="combined">
<c>
<did>
<unitid>O.13</unitid>
<unittitle>Correspondence </unittitle>
<unitdate>1790-Jun 1827</unitdate>
<physdesc>32 vols</physdesc>
</did>
<c>
<did>
<unitid>O.13.1</unitid>
<unittitle>Correspondence</unittitle>
<unitdate>Jan-Dec 1790-1801</unitdate>
<physdesc>1 vol</physdesc>
</did>
</c>
<c>
<did>
<unitid>O.13.2</unitid>
<unittitle>Correspondence</unittitle>
<unitdate>Jan-Dec 1802-1803</unitdate>
<physdesc>1 vol</physdesc>
</did>
</c>
<c>

Navigational aids

Janus employs a number of navigational aids to help readers navigate around the site. Firstly, at the top of each page there is a banner which allows access to the main areas of the site. Below this it the title of the repository or the collection currently being browsed. Below that is a navigational bar which allows the browser to access any of the levels above that at which he or she is browsing which changes relative to the page being browsed. While the fonds level information of the Dawson Turner papers is being displayed, the banner and the bar appear thus

Papers of Dawson Turner (1775-1858), banker, botanist and antiquary

In addition to the higher levels of description displayed in the bar above the catalogue, Janus also displays brief data of sibling material on the left of the page, allowing users to browse descriptions of parallel material within the hierarchy of the catalogue. So, when Janus displays the fonds-level entry for the dawson Turner papers, it also displays a list of other fonds held by Trinity College Library (with the one in current use highlighted in green). A truncated version looks like this:

So when all of these elements are stitched together, the page should look like this.

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