Schema View Ontology View

Identifiers Structure

Manuscript identifiers and more than one identifier for a manuscript or a part of manuscript

Facilitating the finding of manuscripts is a priority, and, therefore, all known identifiers must be added to <msIdentifier>↗. Widespread variants of identifiers - such as Arabic instead of Roman numerals in the shelfmark - can also be added wherever this seems reasonable.

The element <idno>↗ should contain the usual name or abbreviation of the collection and the number of the manuscript. Together with the name of the place at which the manuscript is kept and the name of the library, this is currently used to refer to the manuscript on the web app. As always, keep in mind that the XML should not be adapted to suit a particular visualization need.

If there are other possible identifiers, add them with the following elements inside <msIdentifier>↗


                    <msIdentifier>
                        <repository ref="INS0317Frank"></repository>
                        <idno>Frankfurt Ms. or. 133</idno>
                        <altIdentifier>
                            <idno>Goldschmidt 3</idno>
                        </altIdentifier>
                        <altIdentifier>
                            <idno>Rüpp. II, 3</idno>
                        </altIdentifier>
                    </msIdentifier>

Example 1

Though HMML and EMIP are currently indicated for practical reasons as the repositories of most manuscripts photographed in these collections, these do no constitute actual repositories. In the course of editing these manuscripts, it is therefore advisable to substitute these IDs by the manuscripts' real repositories. The reference to EMML and EMIP should remain in <collection>↗, and all shelfmarks should of course be given in <altIdentifier>↗s, as in this example from EMML 6952:


                    <msIdentifier>
                        <repository ref="INS0912BetaGabreel"></repository>
                        <collection>Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library</collection>
                        <idno>EMML no. 6952</idno>
                    </msIdentifier>

Example 2

Identifiers within the manuscript record

Each <msPart>↗, <msItem>↗ and <msFrag>↗ should have an @xml:id with a letter (respectively p, i or f) and a progressive number. For nested <msPart>↗s numeration should restart and use a full stop for the second level.


        <msDesc xml:id="ms">
            <msIdentifier>
                <repository ref="INS0030Addaqaharsi"></repository>
                <idno>MR-023</idno>
            </msIdentifier>
            <msPart xml:id="p1">
                <msIdentifier><idno></idno></msIdentifier>
                <msContents></msContents>
                <msPart xml:id="p1.1">
                    <msIdentifier><idno></idno></msIdentifier>
                    <msContents></msContents>
                </msPart>
                <msPart xml:id="p1.2">
                    <msIdentifier><idno></idno></msIdentifier>
                    <msContents></msContents>
                </msPart>
                <msPart xml:id="p1.3">
                    <msIdentifier><idno></idno></msIdentifier>
                    <msContents></msContents>
                </msPart>
            </msPart>
            <msPart xml:id="p2">
                <msIdentifier>
                    <idno></idno>
                </msIdentifier>
            </msPart>
        </msDesc>

Example 3

<msItem>↗s will have an ID formed of the <msPart>↗ or <msFrag>↗, underscore and the item ID, like p1.1_i1 


        <msPart xml:id="p1.1">
            <msIdentifier>
                <idno>  </idno>
            </msIdentifier>
            <msContents>
                <msItem xml:id="p1.1_i1">
                    <locus></locus>
                    <title></title>
                    <msItem xml:id="p1.1_i1.1">
                        <locus></locus>
                        <title></title>
                    </msItem>
                    <msItem xml:id="p1.1_i1.2">
                        <locus></locus>
                        <title></title>
                    </msItem>
                </msItem>
                <msItem xml:id="p1.1_i2">
                    <locus></locus>
                    <title></title>
                </msItem>
            </msContents>
        </msPart>

Example 4

See also Entities ID Structure.

This page is referred to in the following pages

Revisions of this page

  • Pietro Maria Liuzzo on 2018-04-30: first version of guidelines from Wiki
  • Dorothea Reule on 2019-04-09: Added paragraph on EMML/EMIP repositories