MODS Version 3.1 changes

A new version of the MODS XML schema (version 3.1) now available at the MODS web site at: www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-1.xsd.

This replaces version 3.0, which was finalized in January 2004. Changes are minor in that there are additions and corrections that do not invalidate existing MODS 3.0 instances. The primary need for revision is to incorporate the changes necessary to finalize MADS version 1.0 so that MADS may reference MODS elements instead of repeating them. There are several other changes that have been discussed on the MODS list by implementors or are small additions that we would like to incorporate at this time. The new version of MODS makes the following changes.

1. Implement the reorganization for implementation of MADS, since it uses MODS
   structures.
   
2. Change <coordinates> to no longer be required under <geographic>. This was an oversight/error.
   
3. Define <part> under <mods>, not just <relatedItem>. Take out documentation (in MODS guidelines) restricting <relatedItem> to type="host".
   
4. Addition of attribute "objectPart" to <language> to indicate language of what part of the resource described (to be distinguished from the lang and xml:lang attributes, which refer to language of the value in the tag). e.g. <language objectPart="summary" authority="iso639-2b">spa</language> indicates that only the summary is in Spanish. Rationale: there is no way to indicate that the language specified is for something other than the entire text. (Note: MARC 21 uses separate subfields in field 041 for these distinctions.)

5. Add attribute "type" to dateOther to specify other kinds of dates. (Not enumerated list).
   Rationale: Everyone has their favorite date type associated with specific materials. MODS enumerates the most important ones as specified by users, but because of the importance and variety of dates associated with objects, it is desirable to allow for extensibility for other types of dates.
   
6. Changes for the emerging content standard Cataloging Cultural Objects
   
   • add attribute "type" to <genre>
     Rationale: to distinguish different aspects of genre: in CCO this includes class, work type, style.
   • add attribute "type" to <form> under <physicalDescription>
     Rationale: to be able to specify whether the form concerns materials or techniques.e.g. type="material": oil paint; type="technique": painting
   • add attribute "type" to <physicalLocation> under <location>
     Rationale: to indicate different kinds of locations, e.g. current, discovery, former, creation
7. Allow for empty elements for xlinked elements. Rationale: xlink is an attribute, so the element with which it's associated may be empty if only a link and no text is needed.
   
8. Add displayLabel attribute in <classification>. Rationale: corresponds to MARC 050$3 (materials specified), which is needed for instance for mapping to LC's American Memory records.
   
9. The base of urlType changed to xsd:anyURI, from xsd:string.
   Rationale: this enforces the URI syntax, instead of just using string.
   
10. extensionType, change
    < xsd:any processContents="skip" ....../>
    to
    <xsd:any processContents="lax" ....../>
    Rationale: changing to "lax" allows a user to define an extension and have it validate if he supplies a schema, and also allows it to avoid validating by simply not defining a schema.

This list does not include corrections under �Documentation� or other annotations, comments, etc. that are not part of the schema itself.

July 25, 2005