For an alphabetical list of elements, see the alphabetical elements page.
* = required, ** = one of this group is required.
Top-Level
Main Wrappers
Control Elements
These are unique child elements of <control> and their child elements. In some cases, a generic element such as <p> may be used, but if a tag may not contain anything unique to control (e.g. nested within <p> within <editionstmt>) then its child elements will not be listed.
All direct children of control are in required order. If order is required in any of the nested elements, that order will be reflected in the list but not noted. If an optional item may be repeated, it will be noted, no note indicates that it may only be used once. To be safe and clearer, view individual element pages.
- <control>
- <recordid>*
- <otherrecordid> (may be repeated)
- <representation> (may be repeated)
- <filedesc>*
- <titlestmt>*
- <titleproper>* (may be repeated)
- <subtitle> (may be repeated)
- <author> (may be repeated)
- <sponsor> (may be repeated)
- <editionstmt>
- <publicationstmt>
- <publisher>** (may be repeated)
- <date>** (may be repeated)
- <address>** (may be repeated)
- <num>** (may be repeated)
- <p>** (may be repeated)
- <seriesstmt>
- <titleproper>** (may be repeated)
- <num>** (may be repeated)
- <p>** (may be repeated)
- <notestmt>
- <controlnote>* (may be repeated
- <maintenancestatus>*
- <publicationstatus>
- <maintenanceagency>*
- <agencycode>
- <otheragencycode> (may be repeated)
- <agencyname>*
- <descriptivenote>
- <languagedeclaration> (may be repeated)
- <conventiondeclaration> (may be repeated)
- <localtypedeclaration> (may be repeated)
- <localcontrol> (may be repeated)
- <term>
- <datesingle>** (optional but only one of the pair may be used)
- <daterange>** (optional but only one of the pair may be used)
- <maintenancehistory>*
- <maintenanceevent>* (may be repeated)
- <eventtype>*
- <eventdatetime>*
- <agenttype>*
- <agent>*
- <eventdescription> (may be repeated)
- <sources>
- <source>*
- <sourceentry> (may be repeated)
- <objectxmlwrap>
- <descriptivenote>
Archdesc Elements
- <did>*
- <abstract> (may be repeated)
- <container> (may be repeated)
- <dao> (may be repeated)
- <daoset> (may be repeated)
- <didnote> (may be repeated)
- <langmaterial> (may be repeated)
- <language>** (may be repeated and used in tandem with <languageset>)
- <languageset>** (may be repeated and used in tandem with <language>)
- <language>* (may be repeated)
- <script>* (may be repeated)
- <descriptivenote>
- <descriptivenote>
- <materialspec> (may be repeated)
- <origination> (may be repeated)
- <corpname>** (may be repeated)
- <famname>** (may be repeated)
- <name>** (may be repeated)
- <persname>** (may be repeated)
- <physdescset> (may be repeated)
- <physdescstructured>*
- <physdescstructured>** (must contain at least two, may contain infinite)
- <physdesc> (may be repeated)
- <physdescstructured> (may be repeated)
- <quantity>*
- <unittype>*
- <physfacet> (may be repeated)
- <dimensions> (may be repeated)
- <descriptivenote>
- <physloc> (may be repeated)
- <repository> (may be repeated)
- <corpname>** (may be repeated)
- <famname>** (may be repeated)
- <name>** (may be repeated)
- <persname>** (may be repeated)
- <address>
- <unitdate> (may be repeated)
- <unitdatestructured> (may be repeated)
- One of: <datesingle>, <daterange>, <dateset>.*
- <unitid> (may be repeated)
- <unittype> (may be repeated)
- <accessrestrict> (may be repeated)
- <accruals> (may be repeated)
- <acqinfo> (may be repeated)
- <altformavail> (may be repeated)
- <appraisal> (may be repeated)
- <arrangement> (may be repeated)
- <bibliography> (may be repeated)
- <bioghist> (may be repeated)
- <controlaccess> (may be repeated)
- <custodhist> (may be repeated)
- <fileplan> (may be repeated)
- <index> (may be repeated)
- A variety of generic elements, then:
- <listhead>
- <index>**
- <indexentry>**
- <legalstatus> (may be repeated)
- <odd> (may be repeated)
- <originalsloc> (may be repeated)
- <otherfindaid> (may be repeated)
- <phystech> (may be repeated)
- <prefercite> (may be repeated)
- <processinfo> (may be repeated)
- <relatedmaterial> (may be repeated)
- <relations> (may be repeated)
- <relationentry> (may be repeated)
- <objectxmlwrap>
- One of: <datesingle>, <daterange>, <dateset>.
- <geogname>
- <descriptivenote>
- <scopecontent> (may be repeated)
- <separatedmaterial> (may be repeated)
- <userestrict> (may be repeated)
- <dsc>*** (may be repeated) (must be used if <c> elements will be used)
Access Elements
- <corpname>
- <famname>
- <function>
- <genreform>
- <geogname>
- <geographiccoordinates> (may be repeated)
- <name>
- <occupation>
- <persname>
- <subject>
- <title>
Access elements must contain and may only contain <part> elements. The one exception is <geogname> which may also contain <geographiccoordinates> after all parts (but it still must contain at least one <part>).
Date Elements
Date elements have expanded beyond just <date>. The new elements allow for a greater degree of specificity. Which type of element may be used in a situation depends on the parent element.
- <date>
- <daterange>
- <dateset>
- Must contain a minimum of two of the following, but can be two of either or one of each (and more):
- <datesingle>**
- <daterange>**
- <datesingle>
Linking Elements
Most of the linking elements in EAD 2002 were removed. We are left with:
as generic linking elements.
may be used to link to a digital archival object.
may be used to link to a representation of the archival finding aid.
is a mandatory element when citing conventions used to create the finding aid and may link to those conventions.
may link to elements that are respectively related to the material or sources from which description was drawn.
List Elements
List elements are fairly consistent except for the addition of <chronitemset> which allows for more flexibility in chronological lists. Because of the differences in what’s allowed in a list and and a definition list (one where @listtype is set to “deflist”), I’m doing a separate version for each.
For any non-deflist:
Deflist:
Chronlist:
- <chronlist>
- <head>
- <listhead>
- <chronitem>* (may be repeated)
- One of: <datesingle>, <daterange>, <dateset>.*
- Either:
- Or:
- <chronitemset>
- <geogname> (may be repeated)
- <event>* (may be repeated)
Note Elements
The <note> element in EAD 2002 was deprecated and split into the following:
Each note-type element has different rules about where it may be used and what it may contain. They don’t necessarily follow the pattern of <note>
Tabular (Table) Elements
Super-Generic Elements
These elements are quite generic and may be used within a variety of elements. Some may be used in most elements, others only in many. Many may contain each other, although only one truly dependent relationship is expressed below.