21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government1 The Dublin Core Makx Dekkers, Managing Director, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government2 Dublin Core Objectives Metadata for discovery of electronic resources across domains –Simplicity –Semantic interoperability –Extensibility –Modularity –International cross-domain consensus

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government3 Strong points Simple language to make statements about resources Supports both current (HTML) and emerging (RDF/XML) technologies Wide-spread adoption (e.g. archives, education, government, industry) Standard (CEN CWA13874, ANSI Z39.85)

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government4 But:… It does not meet all possible metadata requirements (e.g. administrative issues, rights, security) It is a standard, so it binds you It has a flat metadata model - simple but restrictive

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government5 DC-Simple Creator Contributor Publisher Title Identifier Type Date Format Language Rights Source Relation Fifteen elements (‘properties’) Subject Description Coverage

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government6 Qualifiers Element refinement: –Makes the meaning of an element narrower or more specific Value encoding scheme: –Says that the value is: A term from a controlled vocabulary or A string formatted in a standard way

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government7 Dublin Core Grammar ResourcehasSubject"Languages -- Grammar" LCSH ResourcehasDate" " Revised ISO8601

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government8 Dublin Core usage Lingua franca across systems Native resource description or metadata publication format Generally: Core plus Embedded in resource or link to separate database Evolving encoding using RDF/XML

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government9 DCMI - Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Open forum International orientation Consensus-driven Anyone can be involved Platform for cross-domain understanding Also: domain-focused working groups

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government10 New terms Working Groups can develop proposals for new terms (elements, qualifiers, vocabularies) DCMI Usage Board evaluates proposals according to grammatical principles Recommended terms will be available in the DCMI Registry

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government11 Example extensions Element: Audience –An entity for whom the resource is intended Refinement for Relation: ConformsTo –A reference to an established standard to which the resource conforms Education WG proposed, Usage Board endorsed, May 2001

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government12 Practical approach Bring together stakeholder community in working group Investigate common requirements Analyse how to use existing elements and qualifiers If necessary, elaborate domain-specific extension proposals

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government13 Contacts Government Working Group – –Chairs: Andrew Wilson, Palle Aagaard Dublin Core Metadata Initiative – Makx Dekkers,

21 June 2001Managing Information Resources for e-Government14 The Dublin Core Makx Dekkers, Managing Director, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative “None of us is as smart as all of us”