MODS Holdings Information

March 23, 2006

This document describes MODS 3.3 support for holdings information.

Basic Approach

Holdings information is carried in new elements <holdingSimple> and <holdingExternal>; these are added as sub-elements of MODS element <location>. They are added to the two existing sub-elements, <physicalLocation> and <url>. <location> now has four immediately-subordinate sub-elements in version 3.3: <physicalLocation>, <url>, <holdingSimple>, and <holdingExternal>, and, at its top level, looks like:

<location> repeatable
       < physicalLocation> optional, repeatable
       < url> optional, repeatable
       <holdingSimple> optional, not repeatable
       <holdingExternal> optional, not repeatable

Rules

Syntax (occurence and dependency rules)

There may be multiple instances of element <location> within a MODS record. Any given instance of <location>:

May include any number of instances of <physicalLocation> and/or <url>.
May include holding information: <holdingSimple> and/or <holdingExternal>, one or both, but not more than one of each.
May omit holding information.
Should include at least one instance of <physicalLocation> and/or <url> if holding information is supplied.
May omit <physicalLocation> and <url> if no holding information is supplied.

Note: rule (5) means <location> can be empty. This is for compatibility with earlier versions. As a result, rule (4) cannot be enforced by the schema.

Semantics

All instances of <physicalLocation> and/or <url> within an instance of <location> are associated with the same location. <physicalLocation> and/or <url> elements associated with different locations require separate <location> elements. <physicalLocation> is only repeated if there are alternative representations of the same location, e.g. coded and textual forms.
An instance of <location>, when holding information (<holdingSimple> and/or <holdingExternal>) is included, corresponds to a single holding and is associated with the single location represented by the parent <location> element . If a different holding is to be reported, it requires a different instance of <location>.
Multiple copies (copies are described below) with different holdings require different instances of <location>.
Multiple copies for the same holding may be reported with a single instance of <location>.
When holding information is not present ((neither <holdingSimple> nor <holdingExternal>) within an instance of <location>, and location information is present, this document does not prescribe any rules that may be used to associate location with any holding information.
Because syntax rule (4) above cannot be enforced, it is syntactically legal to include holding information with no corresponding location. This document does not prescribe any semantics for that situation.

Holding Information

As stated above, holding information is reported via one or both of:

<holdingSimple>: a set of internally defined mods elements (new in version 3.3).
<holdingExternal>: defined by an external schema.

Thus <location> might look like:

<location>
    <physicalLocation>....</physicalLocation>
     <url> ..... </url>
     <holdingSimple>
             <(internal MODS holding element1)>
            <(internal MODS holding element2)>
             etc.
    </holdingSimple>
    <holdingExternal>
      <(external schema root)>
              <(external holding element1)>
              <(external holding element2)>
              ......
     </.(external schema root)>
   </holdingExternal>
</location>

The internal elements are described below. The external elements are carried in an externally defined schema via the <holdingExternal> element.

The presence of <holdingSimple> and/or <holdingExternal> is generally covered by these three scenarios:

The set of internally defined elements meets the user or profile requirements.
No external elements need be included. Only <holdingSimple> need be supplied.
The set of internal elements satisfies some but not all of the user or profile requirements.
An external schema could be defined to compliment the missing elements. Both <holdingSimple> and <holdingExternal> are supplied, the latter representing the external schema.
An existing schema meets the user/profile needs.
That schema could be used in lieu of the internal elements. Only <holdingExternal> is supplied.

Internally Defined MODS Holding Elements: <holdingSimple>

<holdingSimple> consists of a single subelement, <copyInformation>, repeatable, with several subelements. <copyInformation> is information for a single copy, and may be repeated for multiple copies of the same holding (see Semantics rule 4). <holdingSimple> is constructed as follows:

<holdingSimple> -- not repeatable
      <copyInformation> -- repeatable
             <form> -- not repeatable
             <sublocation> -- repeatable
              <shelfLocator> -- repeatable
             <electronicLocator> -- repeatable
              <otherDetail        displayLabel=…     type=... > -- repeatable
             <enumerationAndChronology        type =... > -- repeatable

These elements are described in this table:

<copyInformation>

Specifies which copy of the resource via indication of sublocation, and/or its shelfmark. Also contains a copy specific note if applicable. From MARC 852

subelements of <copyInformation>

<form>
equivalent to MARC Holdings 842 or 007/00-01. If more than one form, repeat copyInformation.
<subLocation >
The branch library or other sub-location holding a copy of the document. From MARC 852 $b, $c, $e
<shelfLocator>
Shelfmark or other location identification code for a copy. From MARC 852 $h-$m, $t
<electronicLocator>
Electronic location for a copy.
<otherDetail > (attributes: displayLabel, type)
Notes relating to a specific copy of a document. Attribute displayLabel indicates any text to be displayed with the note. Type designates the type of note. From MARC 852 $z
<enumerationAndChronology> (attribute: type)
A textual description of the enumeration and chronology of the material, eg. volume details of a periodical. From MARC Holdings 866-868 or 853-855/863-865. The attribute type is “bib” (bibliographic) (if MARC 863 or 866), “sup” (supplement) (if MARC 864 or 867), or “ind” (index) (if MARC 865 or 868).

Summary Layout

Following is a layout of the <location> element utilizing <holdingSimple>.

         < physicalLocation>
         < url>
         <holdingSimple>
                 <copyInformation>
                 <form>
                 <subLocation>
                 <shelfLocator>
                 <electronicLocator>
                 <otherDetail displayLabel=... type=... >
                 <enumerationAndChronology type=... >

Examples (hypothetical)

Example 1

<location>
              < !-- Holdings for a print copy of a serial that
                  DCPL holds in its science library. One
                 element from an external schema is used
                 for an object id. -->
    <physicalLocation>DCPL</physicalLocation>
    <holdingSimple>
         <copyInformation>
              < form>print</form>
              <subLocation>SciLib</sublocation>
              <shelfLocator> Z671.L7 c.1 </shelfLocator>
              <otherDetail>Fragile, handle with care.</otherDetail>
               <enumerationAndChronology type=”bib”>v.10-40</enumerationAndChronology>
         </copyInformation>
    </holdingSimple>
    <holdingExternal>
         <localHolds xmlns= http://copac.ac.uk/schemas/holdings/v1>
              <objId>12345</objId>
        </localHold>
   </holdingExternal>
< /location>

Example 2

< location>
            < !-- Holdings of an electronic serial that DCPL has access to.
               The resource is at the URL indicated. -->
< physicalLocation>DCPL</physicalLocation>
< url>http://www.dclibrary.org/h5678 </url>
<holdingSimple>
         <copyInformation>
             < form>electronic</form>
               <enumerationAndChronology type=”bib”>v.30-40</enumerationAndChronology>
         </copyInformation>
    </holdingSimple>
< /location>

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