Actually I wouldn't use XML::DOM these days, nor XML::XPath either. XML::LibXML is better maintained and much, much more powerful. The code would be very similar, as XML::LibXML supports the DOM API. If you want to stick to XML::DOM, maybe because you can't install libxml2 on which XML::LibXML is based, have a look at XML::DOM::XPath, that will make XML::DOM a little easier to use.