<list> as used in <revisiondesc>

Since <list> is also a general element, we won’t be looking at its attributes or subelements in detail again here, just at how it can be used in <revisiondesc> in order to contrast with the <change> option.

<revisiondesc>
	<list>
		<item><date normal="20121204">December 4, 2012</date> This finding aid was edited by Ruth Tillman in order to clarify contents in eadheader.</item>
		<item><date normal="20121207">December 7, 2012</date> I needed a second option.</item>
		</item>
	</list>
</revisiondesc>

The only major difference you’ll notice is that while <change> can handle <date> inside it, <list> can only take the subelements: <defitem>, <head>, <item>, and <listhead>. <item>, on the other hand, can have quite a lot of information inside of it, including a <date&gt; element.

Does anything make using <list> better?

  1. You only have to declare the <list> element once, everything else goes inside separate <item>s.
  2. It may be easier to handle in your XSLT (you may already have a template written for handling lists).

Why, on the other hand, might you want to use <change>?

  1. By keeping <date> separate from <item> (although you could put it inside), it may be easier for you to handle it in XSL.

Ultimately they can both contain the same information, it’s just put together a bit differently. Your choice will depend on your repository guidelines and your XSL coder.

We’re not going to add <list> to our EAD file because it’s better form to only use one type of element to indicate revisions.