Date:         Thu, 5 Dec 2002 09:28:56 -0800
Reply-To:     Metadata Object Description Schema List <[log in to unmask]>
Sender:       Metadata Object Description Schema List <[log in to unmask]>
From:         Karen Coyle <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Purposes of MODS (was: Title element and subtitles)
Comments: To: Metadata Object Description Schema List <[log in to unmask]>
In-Reply-To:  <[log in to unmask]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 04:08 PM 12/3/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>Karen keeps asking this question about what MODS is for and I'll try again
>to answer it.

Rebecca, thank you for your clear and complete answer. I think if we keep
in mind that MODS is experimental we'll actually do more interesting
development than if we think of it as a "standard" in the traditional
sense. Given its experimental nature, though, would it make sense to
encourage people to add elements to MODS that they need in their own
situations and share the results with the community? This would require an
open-source-like environment where everyone can contribute "code" to the
structure. It might turn out to be messy, but it might also provide us with
some interesting new ideas. Perhaps one of our more XML-enabled colleagues
could provide a mechanism to carry "provisional MODS" fields in records.

This may be too complicated, but I like the idea of getting to try out
metadata before it gets "standardized."
*************************
Karen Coyle
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http://www.kcoyle.net