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New 2.0 Features

There are certain features new to the EIDR 2.0 release that may not be familiar. The more significant changes include:

Language Changes

Prior to 2.0, EIDR records included a single required field for Primary Language and an optional repeating field for Secondary Language. These have been replaced in 2.0 with Original Language and Version Language.

  • Original Language: Every record must have at least one Original Language. (Just as prior to 2.0, records required a Primary Language.) This should be the dominant spoken or written language in the original incarnation of the work. If there are multiple languages with near equal prominence, you may list more than one. Each language must be identified as Audio (if heard) or Visual (if read). Original Languages must be specified for title level records. Seasons and Episodes may inherit the Original Language(s) of their parent or may specify the Original Language directly. Edits, Clips, Manifestations, etc. inherit the Original Language(s) of their parent, which cannot be changed directly.
  • Version Language: Child records beneath the title level (Edits, Clips, and Manifestations) cannot specify new Original Languages – those are inherited from the parent record. Instead, you can specify the Version Language. This should be the dominant spoken or written language in the identified version of the work. If there are multiple languages with near equal prominence, you may list more than one. Each language must be identified as Audio (if heard) or Visual (if read).

System-Generated Titles

Seasons and Episodes are often identified by number (or date) and do not have a unique title of their own. In these cases, the Registry will generate a title automatically, based on the metadata provided with the record. For Seasons, this includes the Season Number, Release Date, and End Date. For Episodes, this includes the Distribution Number and the Release Date.

If a Season or Episode does not have a unique title (it is commonly known as something along the lines of “Season 2” or “Episode 3”), do not include a Title (Resource Name) when you submit the record. Leave that field blank (along with the Title Language and Title Class). So long as you have provided a Season or Episode number or a full date (not just a year) in the Release Date field, the Registry will generate a correct title for you. This title will be flagged as “system generated” and will be given a Title Class of either “series numeric” or “series date” depending on whether the provided number or release date was used in its generation.

New Episode Numbers

Prior to 2.0, Episodes could be identified with an Episode Number or House Sequence. In 2.0, this was changed to Distribution Number (taking the place of Episode Number), House Sequence, and Alternate Number. These fields are not limited to numbers only and can accept a variety of values, including 1, 2a, 3/4, etc.

  • Distribution Number: This is the primary identifying number for an Episode and is assumed to relate to the original distribution sequence. There is only one per Episode. It has an optional Domain field to identify who provided the number.
  • House Sequence: This is the number used by the producer or commissioning agent to identify the Episode. It may be the same as the Distribution Number or follow some other naming convention. There is only one per Episode. It has an optional Domain field to identify who provided the number.
  • Alternate Number: This is an identifying number for an Episode other than its original distribution or house numbers. There can be up to 32 per Episode. Each one has a required Domain field to identify who provided the number.

The House Sequence and Alternate Number are always optional. The Distribution Number may be required. In 2.0, Series and Seasons have a Number Required field. If this is set to “true”, then their child records must specify a Season Number (for Seasons) or a Distribution Number (for Episodes).

Manifestations

The 2.0 Manifestations replaces the earlier Encodings and Language Variants. All existing Encodings were converted into Manifestations with the release of EIDR 2.0. The data fields unique to a Manifestation are patterned after the Common Metadata schema and share many structures in common with the UltraViolet Common File Format (CFF) metadata specification. They can be very simple or very complex. Additional information is available in the Data Fields Reference available from the EIDR Help Desk.

Known Issues in the EIDR Web UI

  • IE 8 Compatibility: The View screen does not presently support IE 8 due to a JavaScript compatibility error. A fix for this is due shortly.
  • Search Conditions Are Missing after Pressing the Browser’s Back Button: On the Search Results screen, there is a menu button for “Refine Search.” Use this rather than the browser’s Back button and you will be returned to your original search criteria, which you may then modify and re-submit as a new Registry search.
  • Obscure Error Messages: When creating or modifying EIDR records, you may occasionally receive an error message that is somewhat cryptic and generally less than helpful. We apologize. In these cases, you are seeing raw errors as reported by the Registry, usually because the data you submitted were incomplete or failed a validation rule. We are always working to improve the Web UI’s own error handling so we can present you with more helpful and descriptive error messages.
  • Cannot Register/Modify…
    • Clips: Please use your company’s EIDR-integrated UI, the EIDR Register Tool (included with the EIDR SDKs), or an EIDR bulk registration Excel template.
    • Compilations: The Web UI presently supports read-only access for Compilations. Create/Modify functions are scheduled for release in November 2013.
    • Composites: Please use your company’s EIDR-integrated UI or the EIDR Register Tool (included with the EIDR SDKs).
    • Encodings: Support for Encodings ended with the EIDR 2.0 release. Please use Manifestations instead.
    • Language Variants: Support for Language Variants ended with the EIDR 2.0 release. Please use Manifestations instead.
    • Manifestations: The Web UI presently supports read-only access for Manifestations. Create/Modify functions are scheduled for release in November 2013.
  • Cannot Find Composite or Compilation on the Search Screen: These items are listed under Lightweight Relationships in the right column of the Search screen. They will eventually be moved into the Referent Type list, where they properly belong.
  • Error when Specifying a Metadata Authority: Only certain EIDR Parties are authorized to act as Metadata Authorities. Currently, the type-ahead selection list for the Metadata Authority data entry fields does not filter the Party list, so it is possible to select a Party that is not valid as a Metadata Authority. The Registry will then report an error when you submit the record. Delete the Metadata Authority or select a different Party ID and re-submit.
  • Error when Searching for Tokens: The Token query generator does not support certain combinations of search criteria. We apologize for this. Please alter your search conditions and re-submit your query.
  • Whitespace/Carriage Returns Included with Excel Copy/Paste: When you paste text copied from Excel, it will occasionally include leading/trailing whitespace characters such as a carriage return. This may hide the display of the text you pasted, for example if a trailing carriage return causes the text to scroll vertically within a data entry cell so that it is no longer visible. This extraneous text is stripped from your submission by the Registry, so it will not become part of any record you may create or modify.
  • Cannot Access Multiple Token Results Pages: If you look up the results for a batch token (the master token for an entire batch, rather than one of the individual transaction tokens from within the batch) and the results continue on to more than one page, you cannot access the subsequent pages. At this time, the most effective work-around is to use the Status Tool, included with the EIDR SDKs, to query the batch token’s complete results.
  • Redundant Entries in View XML Screen: This is a cosmetic issue where certain resolution types appear more than once on the View XML screen. This has no impact on Registry operations and does not indicate an error in the data.

Help Desk

For further assistance, please contact the EIDR Help Desk.