code: public static org.w3c.dom.Element domElement(String xmlString) {
      org.w3c.dom.Element element = null;
      try {
        ByteArrayInputStream bais = new ByteArrayInputStream(
          xmlString.getBytes(Charset.forName("UTF-8")));
        element = getFactory().newDocumentBuilder().parse(bais)
          .getDocumentElement();
      } catch (SAXException e) {
        throw new MarkLogicIOException(
          "Could not make Element from xmlString" + xmlString, e);
      } catch (IOException e) {
        throw new MarkLogicIOException(
          "Could not make Element from xmlString" + xmlString, e);
      } catch (ParserConfigurationException e) {
        throw new MarkLogicIOException(
          "Could not make Element from xmlString" + xmlString, e);
      }
      return element;
    }
docs: Construct a dom Element from a string. A utility function for creating
  DOM elements when needed for other builder functions.
  
  @param xmlString
  XML for an element.
  @return w3c.dom.Element representation the provided XML.