newbie question on elements..

[JustSomeGuy]

What are the rules when placing text between keys...
(If I may call them so.)

<BookTitle>1 < 2</BookTitle>

Must this be in single/double quotes..

 

[Patrick TJ McPhee]

% (If I may call them so.)
%
% <BookTitle>1 < 2</BookTitle>

This is not well-formed.

% Must this be in single/double quotes..

No. You can escape using a CDATA section

<BookTitle><![CDATA[1 < 2]]></BookTitle>

but it's more common to use the pre-defined entity references &lt;

<BookTitle>1 &lt; 2</BookTitle>