EML

The second paragraph describing references should be deleted.

Current:

2.4.6. The eml-methods module - Methodological information for resources

The eml-methods module describes the methods followed in the creation of the
dataset, including description of field, laboratory and processing steps,
sampling methods and units, quality control proceudures. The eml-methods module
is used to describe the actual procedures that are used in the creation or the
subsequent processing of a dataset. Likewise, eml-methods is used to describe
proccesses that have been used to define / improve the quality of a data file,
or to identify potential problems with the data file. Note that the eml-protocol
module is intended to be used to document a prescribed procedure, whereas the
eml-method module is used to describe procedures that were actually performed.
The distinction is that the use of the term "protocol" is used in the
"prescriptive" sense, and the term "method" is used in the "descriptive" sense.
This distinction allows managers to build a protocol library of well-known,
established protocols (procedures), but also document what procedure was truely
performed in relation to the established protocol. The method may have diverged
from the protocol purposefully, or perhaps incidentally, but the procedural
lineage is still preserved and understandable.

The eml-methods module, like other modules, may be "referenced" via the
<references> tag. This allows a method to be described once, and then used as a
reference in other locations within the EML document via it's ID.

Peter's comments on not having references in methods is below:

The idea was that methods entry should be unique (what I did in THIS dataset).
If it's a standardised method that you want to reference, then presumabely you
would publish it as a protocol. If the same method applies to multiple entities
in your dataset, then you would just place that methods description higher up
(in dataset, for example).