2.  Identification  <msIdentifier>

The element <msIdentifier> groups information from the holding institution that serves to uniquely identify one manuscript.

The element may be used in an encoded description of a manuscript for the following

four purposes:  (1) to identify the manuscript that is being described in its current home, or (2) to identify any/each of its constituent parts, or (3) to identify other manuscripts cited internally to the primary description, or (4) to identify the currently described manuscript when it was under previous ownership.

The element <msIdentifier> is the only required element in <msDescription>; thus, it must occur at least once in its capacity to pinpoint the manuscript being described.  A type attribute with the default value of "primary" will signal this use.  However, when it functions as the unique identifier for the <msPart> of a manuscript, <msIdentifier> can occur again and as often as needed; it is then distinguished by the appropriate attribute.  When used as a citation, <msIdentifier> can occur any number of times in any context; an attribute will also signal this particular purpose.  In discussions of the history of the manuscript being described, one may want to give its former home(s); in this case the value on the attribute will be "former."

<msIdentifier type ="primary">  [N.B.  This is the default.]
<msIdentifier type ="msPart">
<msIdentifier type ="cited">
<msIdentifier type ="former">

Internal to <msIdentifier> are eight optional subelements; at least one of these must be present, without restriction as to the choice of subelement.  The eight subelements are all repeatable and may occur in any order.

The eight subelements may be defined as follows:

<country>  contains the name of a geo-political unit larger than or administratively superior to a <region> (standard TEI element)
<region>  contains the name of a smaller geo-political unit, intermediate between <country> and <settlement> (standard TEI element)
<settlement> contains the name of the smallest component of a placename expressed as a hierarchy of geo-political or administrative units (standard TEI element)
<institution>  contains the name of an organization such as a university, within which a repository is located
<repository> contains the name of an organization such as a library that holds a given manuscript.
<collection> contains the name of a collection that holds a given manuscript.
<idno> supplies the alphanumeric sequence, usually termed "call number" or "shelfmark" or "press mark" or "accession number," that is used to identify a manuscript (standard TEI element, here with specific application).  This element may carry a type attribute with the values of "alternate," when an institution accepts two forms of call number for a given manuscript
<altName>   contains the "ocelli nominum" or the altNames, the CLA volume and entry numbers, or the sigla, etc. whereby manuscripts are often designated, instead of or in addition to their call numbers

DISCUSSION

It is clear that the standards proposed in this document are solely intended to provide guidance for markup of a description; they do not propose to teach correct methodology in the cataloguing of medieval and renaissance manuscripts.  Nevertheless, the fact that we are developing this markup specifically for an electronic environment prompts us to remind cataloguers and researchers alike of the prime importance of correct citation of manuscripts (in <msIdentifier>).  Just as a telephone number is rendered useless if any of its numbers are omitted or transposed or otherwise changed, inaccuracies in <msIdentifier>, and in particular in <idno>, will potentially not retrieve the intended description (at least with the present capacities of search engines).  Ultimately, the data contained in <msIdentifier> can be considered correct only if it represents the holding institution's preferred form of citation.

Although <msIdentifier> contains geographical information, it should be understood as a quasi-, if not entirely "legal" statement of ownership.  For example, the manuscripts that belong to Peterhouse, even if they are housed and studied at the Cambridge University Library, would have their Peterhouse "address" in <msIdentifier> while issues of CUL access and availability would be presented in the <adminInfo> element discussed below.  Holding institutions will also presumably prefer to use (and probably not display) parts of <adminInfo> for the actual physical location of the manuscript, such as "High security storage facility, vault G" or "locked cage" or "Map Case, 13-7."

Order of the subelements is intentionally not prescribed here, since it is desirable to ensure maximum flexibility, in particular internal to general prose (as opposed to the database-like situation of the formal citation of a manuscript in the heading of a description or in a list of Manuscripts Cited); see Examples 5,  6 and 7 below.  However, given the principle of inheritance, whereby elements absorb the information that precedes them, it is clear that order should move from the largest to the smallest unit whenever possible.

The distinction between <institution> and <repository> may not always exist, nor is it possible here to propose use of one element over the other; presumably local decisions will apply as to which element seems more appropriate.  As examples, consider the following two situations:

            <settlement>Ros&aacute;</settlement>
            <institution? repository ?>I.RI.GEM</ ?>

where I.RI.GEM is a commercial school that teaches goldsmithing and owns medieval manuscripts; or:

            <settlement>New York</settlement>
            <institution? repository ?>Metropolitan Museum of Art</ ?>

whose multifarious holdings all bear the same type of accession number as identification.

The distinction between <collection> and <idno> may or may not be adhered to by a given holding institution, depending upon local interpretation or intention.  For example,

            <collection>fr.</collection><idno>2810</idno>

may be considered as gratuitous, extraneous markup by cataloguers at the Biblioth&egrave;que nationale de France, where the concept of

            <idno>fr. 2810</idno>

as a unit may be felt to better determine the identity of the manuscript in question.  Other examples are the Rawlinson collection in the Bodleian Library, or the Ellesmere collection in the Huntington Library, where separate tagging of "Rawlinson" and "Ellesmere" as collections would lead users to incorrect forms of citation; correct markup in these cases is:

            <repository>Bodleian Library</repository>
            <idno>MS. Rawl. Poet. d. 149</idno>

and:

            <repository>Huntington Library</repository>
            <idno>EL 26 C 9</idno>

It will fall to the cataloguer's good judgment or the holding institution's collection management policy to choose the more appropriate of the two possible markup approaches in the case of a "manuscript" in multiple "parts" (each with its own extant or assignable call number) in those cases when the "manuscript" is in fact more akin to a collection than an item.  For example:  the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley holds a "Paleography Collection" under the call number of "UCB 130"; one could catalogue the entire set of 164 single leaves as one "manuscript" and treat each single leaf as a "part" using its specific subset call number tagged as <msIdentifier type ="msPart">, or each of these leaves could be catalogued as an individual item with the subset call number tagged as <msIdentifier type ="primary">.  Example 4 allots one "primary" entry for the Maurdramnus Bible and treats its five constituent volumes as "parts"; as noted, one could also convincingly catalogue each of the five codices as a "primary" record in its own right, with a comment in the <origin> tag that ties the five together.

EXAMPLES

Example 1 (reflecting the standard minimal format for citation of a manuscript):

<msIdentifier>

            <settlement>Arezzo</settlement>
            <repository>Biblioteca comunale</repository>
            <idno>MS 52</idno>

</msIdentifier>

Example 2 (fullest option):

<msIdentifier>

            <country>USA</country>
            <region>New Jersey</region>
            <settlement>Princeton</settlement>
            <institution>Princeton University</institution>
            <repository>Princeton University Library</repository>
            <collection>Scheide Library</collection>
            <idno>MS 71/Idno>
            <altName>Blickling Homiliary</altName>
</msIdentifier>

Example 3 (where there are two legal owners of the same manuscript):

<msIdentifier>

            <settlement>Wolfenb&uuml;ttel</settlement>
            <repository>Herzog August Bibliothek</repository>
            <idno>Cod. Guelf. 105 Noviss. 2<hi rend="superscript">o</hi></idno>
            <altName>Gospels of Henry the Lion</altName>

</msIdentifier>

<msIdentifier>

            <settlement>Munich</settlement>
            <repository>Bayerische Staatsbibliothek</repository>
            <idno>clm 30055</idno>

<altName>Gospels of Henry the Lion</altName>

</msIdentifier>

Example 4 (where one manuscript has multiple parts, each with its own call number);

<msDescription>

<msIdentifier>

<settlement>Amiens</settlement>
<repository>Biblioth&egrave;que Municipale</repository>
<altName>Maurdramnus Bible</altName>

</msIdentifier>

<msPart>

<msIdentifier type ="msPart"><idno>MS 6</idno></msIdentifier>

</msPart>

<msPart>

<msIdentifier type ="msPart"><idno>MS 7</idno></msIdentifier>

</msPart>

<msPart>

<msIdentifier type ="msPart"><idno>MS 9</idno></msIdentifier>

</msPart>

<msPart>

<msIdentifier type ="msPart"><idno>MS 11</idno></msIdentifier>

</msPart>

<msPart>

<msIdentifier type ="msPart"><idno>MS 12</idno></msIdentifier>

</msPart>

</msDescription>

Example 5 (where another manuscript is cited internally to a description of a manuscript in the course of a prose discussion that may present the elements in varied order):

            <msDescription>. . . Written in an anglicana formata script by the scribe who also copied the <msIdentifier type ="cited"><altName>Hengwrt Chaucer</altName>, held by the <repository>National Library of Wales</repository> in <settlement>Aberystwyth</settlement> as <idno>MS 392</idno> of the <collection>Peniarth</collection> ></msIdentifier> . . .</msDescription>

Example 6 (when common usage determines the format of a citation, perhaps most frequently internal to expository prose):

            <p> . . .  another copy of this text may be found in <institution>Corpus Christi College</institution> <settlement>Cambridge</settlement> … </p>

Example 7 (when a manuscript's previous owner, personal or institutional, is being discussed):

            <history>…Belonged to the Cistercian abbey of <msIdentifier type="former"><institution>St. Mary</institution> at <settlement>Holme Cultram</settlement>, <region>Cumberland</region> . . . in the upper margin, the pressmark, s. XV, "<idno>liber lxxvi<hi rend=superscript>us</hi></idno>"</msIdentifier>. . . </history>

Example 8 (when an institution has changed its call number system but retains a record, displayed or not to public view, of the earlier call number, especially in the situation when manuscripts have been cited in print with the previous number):

<msIdentifier>

            <settlement>Berkeley</settlement>
            <institution>University of California</institution>
            <repository>Bancroft Library</repository>
            <idno>UCB 16</idno>

< /msIdentifier>

. . . <history>  . . . Former Bancroft call number, <msIdentifier type="former"><idno> 2MS BS1145 I8</idno>.</msIdentifier>
< /history>

Example 9 (when the repository only has one ms, or only one of any significance, with no call number but known under multiple altNames):

<msIdentifier>

            <settlement>Rossano</settlement>
            <repository>Biblioteca arcivescovile</repository>
            <altName>Codex Rossanensis</altName>
            <altName>Codex aureus</altName>
            <altName>Codex purpureus</altName>
            <altName>Rossano Gospels</altName>

</msIdentifier>

Example 10 (when there is more than one identifying number; on occasion the holding institution may choose to display only the preferred form of citation but retain the other for searching/internal purposes; the secondary choice may carry a type attribute with value "alternate"):

<msIdentifier>

            <settlement>Oxford</settlement>
            <repository>Bodleian Library</repository>
            <idno>MS. Bodley 406</idno>
            <idno type="alternate">S.C. 2297</idno>

</msIdentifier>

Example 11 (when a collection legally exists in more than one city):

<msIdentifier>

            <settlement>London</settlement>
            <settlement>Oslo</settlement>
            <collection>The Schøyen Collection</collection>
            <idno>MS 1</idno>

</msIdentifier>

Example 12 (when the manuscript's present location is unknown to current scholarship, and the manuscript is only known from photographs):

<msIdentifier>

            <settlement>Present location unknown</settlement>
            <altName>Seilern Hours</altName>

</msIdentifier>

Example 13 (when, e.g.,  a research project is at an early stage, and the precise identification of "the Grosseteste in Berlin" has yet to be retrieved by the scholar):

</msIdentifier>

            <settlement>Berlin</settlement>

</msIdentifier>

<author>Grosseteste</author>

Example 14 (when, e.g., the Greek siglum is used to indicate a no longer extant codex in the transmission of Livy):

<msIdentifier>

            <altName><! -- Greek siglum, in this case a lambda --></altName>

</msIdentifier>

<author>Livy</author>