Master Encoding Guide: Record Basics

<record>
The control file contains 109,348 color-coded slips. While each slip refers to a document, the slip is not exclusive. One document may have several slips representing it. For example, one letter written from John to Abigail may exist as a letterbook copy (white), a recipient’s copy held in the Adams Family Papers archive (pink), a contemporary copy held by the National Archives (yellow), and a printed version from the Boston Chronicle (blue). This same letter may have copies in a dozen institutions, and thus garner a dozen separate yellow accession slips. The overall database, then, is a database of the slips, not of the documents. Because of this data model, all text on the slip is retained as it is written and controlled vocabulary should appear in the attributes. Thus, a recipient that reads "to JA, with 1 enclosure (copy of Lovell to Dana, 6. Jan. 1781)" will appear as it is written but the attributes will be controlled for searching and sorting purposes.

<recipient> to <person ref="JA">JA</person ref="JA">, with <enclosure ref="030001"> 1 enclosure (copy of <person ref="lovelljames">Lovell</person> to <person ref="danafrancis">Dana</person>, 6. Jan. 1781)</enclosure></recipient>.

Required Attributes

@id. Each slip is assigned a unique ID number. It is an attribute of the Record element and is required. To learn how the number is constructed and assigned, see Record ID.

@color. The color of the slip conveys a great deal of information in a quick, easy way, therefore this information will be retained. The vendor was unable to record this during data entry because they were working from black and white microfilm. The color assignments are made in the first phase of work, proofreading, and will be input during the second phase, tag refinement. There are five color choices (1pink, 2white, 3yellow, 4blue, 5goldenrod) to chose from—records will not validate without a color selected.

Optional Attributes.

@z. In the case of redating a letter or correcting authors or recipients, slips are struck through with a large Z and a reference to the newly created slip. This allows for proper tracking of a letter that may have previously been published under the incorrect information. The original slip is marked with the @z (with a value of "z") and the new cross-reference is tagged with a <zref> note tag, see Notes below. [Occasionally, editors have underlined a date and drawn a line to a note on the slip. These are not cancelled but rather cross-references.]

@r. The review tag was introduced for the vendor to flag a record that presented confusion on their part. Almost all of these questions have been resolved at the proofreading phase, however the attribute will remain an option if needed throughout the project.

@language. The large majority of documents described in the control file are written in English, however there is a need to track the number of foreign language documents. When possible, the @language will include any language other than English. The codes will mirror those used in MARC21.
Within the structure of the schema, each record contains <ref name: "record contents"> This is a cross-reference in the <record> element and the contents are detailed under <define name="record-contents">.