I agree that it would be a good idea to step back from the question and
think about the task. This sounds like a union catalogue, and what is
more one that could grow rather large. From a long term planning and
maintenance view you might consider a structure that could allow
distributed maintenance of the data (by those institutions that want to
do so) in the future.

If that is a possibility I would suggest looking at the Archives Hub  -
www.archiveshub.ac.uk - which has been working towards this for some
years. It is EAD rather than TEI based, but having worked with both you
may find EAD worth considering unless you are doing REALLY detailed
listing. There is the consideration that similar catalogues will be
online in EAD, so it will be easier to link your data in with them for
cross-searching. One constant problem for archival research is that all
the material you are looking for is never neatly in one place, so being
part of a larger body of data is always useful.

The Archives Hub started out with different institutions submitting
their data (descriptions of collections at first, then links to more
detailed catalogues) to a central server. Next a Wiki interface was
created so that data could be edited from the institution. The current
phase is the creation of a distributed hub. This consists of a central
server and a series of local distributed servers which can be set up
with a few CDs. This gives any institution that wants to run a website
the freedom to do so, and to maintain their data locally, while those
not wishing to do so can leave their data on the central hub. The
central hub manages all the searches and synchronises the system. The
staff at the Hub would be able to give you more information on how this
might fit your problem.

Best regards
Richard Higgins
--
# Richard Higgins
# Durham University Library
# Archives & Special Collections
# Palace Green
# Durham
# DH1 3RN
# E-Mail: [log in to unmask]