Metadata Vocabularies in Subject Gateways for Japanese Regional Public Libraries Shigeo Sugimoto Research Center for Knowledge Communities Graduate School of Library, Information and Media Studies University of Tsukuba

Some Japanese Governmental Activities, Metadata Vocabularies, and a Model for Sharing Metadata Schemas Shigeo Sugimoto Research Center for Knowledge Communities Graduate School of Library, Information and Media Studies University of Tsukuba

DC in Japanese Industrial Standard Simple Dublin Core has been accepted as a National Standard in March 2005 by JIS. JIS X 0836 Translation of ISO Key issue for translation –Choice of Japanese terms for Labels, which should be domain neutral –Example: Subject element –Straightforward translation of subject –Library oriented terms, possibility of confusion with the meaning of Title keyword –Domain Neural –chosen for JIS X 0836

Some Activities in Japan Preservation –Web Archiving: National Diet Library (NDL) –Governmental Resources: NDL and National Archives of Japan NDL –National Deposit Library –Appointed as the central organization for national Web archiving Revision of Law for legal deposit National Archives of Japan –Archiving of government resources Born digital resources Definition of Governmental Resource –Central repository for government documents

Digital Okayama Dai-Hyakka (DODH) DODH –Regional portal by the Okayama Prefectural Library –Metadata creation by librarians and non-professionals, e.g. school teachers, students, and volunteers. A Key Issue: Subject Classification –Choice of subject vocabularies –Small set of subject terms usable for the non- professionals designed in accordance with regional needs.

Basic Ideas in DODH Basic Question: Is comprehensive/conventional subject vocabulary really useful? Use domain specific vocabularies in addition to a comprehensive and widely used by libraries –Three vocabularies NDC (Nippon Decimal Classification) –Very widely used by Japanese libraries Kids Vocabulary –Designed for children and child resources –Multiple labels in accordance with user ages Prefectural Resource Vocabulary –Developed by the government of Okayama prefecture for their resources

Basic Ideas in DODH Maintenance of subject vocabularies –Librarians major concern on domain specific vocabularies This is still an open question. –Need software tools to maintain vocabularies Metadata Schema Registry Semantic Web technology

Some Issues on Subject Vocabularies Comprehensive and conventional subject vocabularies are not always useful for domain-specific resources. –Regional governments vocabularies for classifying resources Comparison between the three subject vocabularies –Mappings between all pairs of these three vocabularies show the characteristics of vocabularies and requirements for classifying resources from different perspectives.

Classification Vocabularies of Four Prefectural Governments in Japan IbarakiKagawaKanagawaOkayama Number of Top Level terms Max Depth 2223 Total Number of Terms means that terms to express names of regions or organizations are excluded.

Okayama Ibaraki Kanagawa Kagawa Tokyo

NDC total #Kids terms #NDC in KV #Pref terms #NDC in PV Distribution of Terms in the NDC term space - Okayamas Case - NDC: 000=Generalities, 100=Philosophy, 200=History, 300=Social Sciences, 400=Natural Sciences, 500=Technology, 600=Industry, 700=The Arts, 800=Language, 900=Literature #NDC in KV/PV: the number of NDC terms in x00 used in the KV/PV mapping

Subject Vocabularies - Okayamas Case - NDC PVKV Social Science Technology Natural Science Arts Industries Comprehensive Educational and Learning Resources Resources for Government and Social Activities General Resources

Discussions Interoperability vs. Domain Specificity –Reasonably small and domain-specific vocabulary is advantageous for domain-specific applications. –Domain-specificity is, in general, disadvantageous for interoperability Maintainability of Vocabularies –Long-term maintenance of vocabularies is expensive. Reusability and customizability –Neighboring communities would need to share a vocabulary in part. Need a good model to solve these issues

A Model for Reusing Metadata Schemas termA: Mandatory termC: Optional Repeatable termX: Mandatory Repeatable termZ: Mandatory if applicable termX termY termZ Metadata Vocabulary 2 (Metadata Element Set) Metadata Vocabulary 1 (Metadata Element Set) term A termB termC A structural view of application profile

A Model for Reusing Metadata Schemas termA: Mandatory termC: Optional Repeatable termX: Mandatory Repeatable termZ: Mandatory if applicable Application Profile: Terms used in an application and structural constraints termX termY termZ Metadata Vocabulary 2 (Metadata Element Set) Metadata Vocabulary 1 (Metadata Element Set) term A termB termC an example. bar Description in a syntax defined in an application Application Profile Abstract Syntax and Concrete Syntax

A Model for Reusing Metadata Schemas Layered Model of Metadata Schema Layer 1 Semantics Layer 2 Abstract Syntax Layer 3 Concrete Syntax DCMES (Elements and Qualifiers) IEEE-LOM ULIS element extension DCMI Library Application Profile Open Archives Initiative Schema IPL Asia Schema ULIS Core Schema XML implementation in an XML Schema An Oracle implementation RDF implementation A Layered Model split semantics and syntax into layers

A Model for Reusing Metadata Schemas Layer 1 Layer 2 Layer 3 DCMI Registry DCMES Terms (Elements and Qualifiers) ULIS element extension ULIS-DL Subject Vocabulary Tsukuba Registry Application Profile AApplication Profile B Layered Model and Metadata Schema Registry

A Model for Reusing Metadata Schemas Layer 1 Layer 2 Layer 3 DCMI Registry DCMES Terms (Elements and Qualifiers) ULIS element extension ULIS-DL Subject Vocabulary Tsukuba Registry XML Schema for AXML Schema for B Layered Model and Metadata Schema Registry

A Model for Reusing Metadata Schemas Layer 1 Layer 2 Layer 3 DCMI Registry 1.Use registries to share, reuse, customize and maintain vocabularies 2.Develop software tools to support these functions. Tsukuba Registry Layered Model and Metadata Schema Registry

Discussions Need good model and software tools –DCAM provides the basic architecture of metadata elements and metadata descriptions –The layered model presented is designed in order to enhance reusability/customizability of metadata schemas by splitting semantic and syntactic features of metadata schemas. Metadata Schema Registry as a key component to share metadata schemas –Collaborating registries to collect community-specific schemas and to share the schemas among communities –Software tools attached to a registry, e.g. Vocabulary maintenance tool attached to a registry, Metadata application software generator