Encoded Archival Description Tag Library, Version 2002

EAD Elements

<filedesc> File Description

Description:

A required subelement of the <eadheader> that bundles much of the bibliographic information about the finding aid, including its author, title, subtitle, and sponsor (all in the <titlestmt>), as well as the edition, publisher, publishing series, and related notes (encoded separately).

This element has been modeled on a Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) DTD element and includes the following subelements, in this order: a required <titlestmt>, an optional <editionstmt>, an optional <publicationstmt>, an optional <seriesstmt>, and an optional <notestmt>. The <filedesc> provides information that is helpful for citing a finding aid in a bibliography or footnote. Institutions that catalog finding aids separately from the archival materials being described might use the <filedesc> elements to build a basic bibliographic record for the finding aid.

Do not confuse with the <profiledesc> element, which describes the encoding of the finding aid. Do not confuse with <archdesc> elements, which refer to the materials being described rather than the finding aid itself.

May contain:

editionstmt, notestmt, publicationstmt, seriesstmt, titlestmt

May occur within:

eadheader

Attributes:

Examples:

1.
    <eadheader>
        <eadid>[. . .]</eadid>
        <filedesc>
            <titlestmt>
                <titleproper>Guide to the Bank of Willows Records,
                    <date>1880-1905</date>
                </titleproper>
            </titlestmt>
            <publicationstmt>
                &hdr-cst-spcoll;
                <date>&copy; 1999</date>
                <p>The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.</p>
            </publicationstmt>
        </filedesc>
        <profiledesc>[. . .]</profiledesc>
    </eadheader>
2.
    <filedesc>
        <titlestmt>
            <titleproper>Inventory of the Otis Turner Papers, 1978-1990</titleproper>
            <author>Processed by Hanna Bailey</author>
        </titlestmt>
        <publicationstmt>
            &hdrscm;
            <p>&copy;
            <date>2000</date>
            The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. All rights reserved.</p>
        </publicationstmt>
    </filedesc>