Diane,
Your suggestion is so sensible that I will go ahead and make this
change unless anyone objects.
Tom
On Tue, 12 Jun 2001, Diane I. Hillmann wrote:
> This looks good, but I have one suggestion. I'd suggest that in the
> Mission Statement, we end the first sentence after "vocabularies." Using
> the term 'grammatical principle' twice in the first two sentences seems a
> bit over the top, and I think it fits better in the second ... ;-)
>
> I'm about to head to San Francisco for ALA (Thurs., early), but will try to
> get the process document into English from its current outline form by the
> end of the month. This will only work if everyone sends me any comments or
> corrections by then ...
>
> Diane
>
> At 01:15 PM 6/12/2001 +0200, you wrote:
> >Dear all,
> >
> >I am working through Beth's meeting notes line-by-line. In the
> >meantime, here is the revised statement of mission and principles.
> >Please read it through carefully and drop me a line with any comments
> >you may have.
> >
> >Tom
> >
> >--------
> >
> >DCMI USAGE BOARD: MISSION AND PRINCIPLES
> >
> >Version: Tue Jun 12 11:37:23 MET DST 2001
> >
> >MISSION
> >
> >The mission of the DCMI Usage Board is to ensure an orderly evolution
> >of metadata vocabularies grounded in grammatical principle. The Usage
> >Board evaluates proposed vocabulary terms (or changes to existing
> >terms) in light of grammatical principle, semantic clarity, and overlap
> >with existing terms. To proposals that are accepted it assigns a
> >specific status. The Usage Committee strives for consensus, justifying
> >its decisions and interpretations in terms both of principle and of
> >empirical practice.
> >
> >PUBLICATION POLICY
> >
> >The Usage Board makes available its proceedings and decisions in a
> >publicly available space on the DCMI Web site.
> >
> >PROCESS
> >
> >The Usage Board process is described in a separate document [1].
> >
> >SCOPE
> >
> >The scope of the Usage Board is the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set
> >[2], plus additional vocabulary terms deemed useful for discovering
> >resources across domains.
> >
> >GRAMMAR
> >
> >Dublin Core may be seen as a small language for making a particular
> >class of statements about resources. Like natural languages, it has a
> >vocabulary of word-like terms, the two classes of which -- elements and
> >qualifiers -- function within statements like nouns and adjectives; and
> >it has a syntax for arranging elements and qualifiers into statements
> >according to a simple pattern. Optional qualifiers may make the
> >meaning of a property more definite, as in "Resource has dc:date
> >dcq:revised '2000-06-13'." This grammar is described more fully in
> >[3].
> >
> >VOCABULARY TERMS IN GENERAL
> >
> >Vocabulary terms in Dublin Core refer to elements, qualifiers, or terms
> >in controlled vocabularies maintained by DCMI. Vocabulary terms are
> >uniquely defined in namespaces [4].
> >
> >Strictly speaking, a Dublin Core element or qualifier is a unique
> >identifier formed by a name (e.g., title) prefixed by the URI of the
> >namespace in which it is defined, as in
> >http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/title. In this context, a namespace is
> >a vocabulary that has been formally published, usually on the Web; it
> >describes elements and qualifiers with natural-language labels,
> >definitions, and other relevant documentation.
> >
> >ELEMENTS
> >
> >An element is a property of a resource.
> >
> >QUALIFIERS
> >
> >Qualifiers modify the properties of Dublin Core statements by
> >specifying, in the manner of natural-language adjectives, "what kind"
> >of subject, date, or relation. Qualifiers currently fall into two
> >classes:
> >
> > -- Element Refinement. An element refinement is a qualifier that makes
> > the meaning of an element narrower or more specific. A refined
> > element shares the meaning of the unqualified element, but with a
> > more restricted scope. A client that does not understand a specific
> > element refinement term should be able to ignore the qualifier and
> > treat the metadata value as if it were an unqualified (broader)
> > element. The definitions of element refinement terms for qualifiers
> > must be publicly available.
> >
> > -- Encoding Scheme. Encoding schemes are pointers to contextual
> > information or parsing rules that aid in the interpretation of
> > an element value. These schemes include controlled
> > vocabularies and formal notations or parsing rules. A value
> > expressed using an encoding scheme will thus be a token
> > selected from a controlled vocabulary (e.g., a term from a
> > classification system or set of subject headings) or a string
> > formatted in accordance with a formal notation (e.g.,
> > "2000-01-01" as the standard expression of a date). If an
> > encoding scheme is not understood by a client or agent, the
> > value may still be useful to a human reader. The definitive
> > description of an encoding scheme for qualifiers must be
> > clearly identified and available for public use.
> >
> >DUMB-DOWN PRINCIPLE
> >
> >The qualification of Dublin Core properties is guided by a rule known
> >colloquially as the Dumb-Down Principle. According to this rule, a
> >client should be able to ignore any qualifier and use the value as if
> >it were unqualified. While this may result in some loss of specificity,
> >the remaining element value (minus the qualifier) must continue to be
> >generally correct and useful for discovery. Qualification is therefore
> >supposed only to refine, not extend the semantic scope of a property.
> >
> >APPROPRIATE VALUES
> >
> >Best practice for a particular element or qualifier may vary by
> >context. Definitions may provide some guidance; other information may
> >be found in the User's Guide [5].
> >
> >REFERENCES (to be completed)
> >
> >[1] Process document URL
> >[2] DCMES URL
> >[3] Grammar paper, once it has been copied to DCMI Web site
> >[4] Namespace policy document, when available
> >[5] User's Guide
> >
> >_______________________________________________________________________________
> >Dr. Thomas
> >Baker [log in to unmask]
> >GMD Library
> >Schloss
> >Birlinghoven +49-2241-14-2352
> >53754 Sankt Augustin, Germany fax
> >+49-2241-14-2619
>
_______________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Thomas Baker [log in to unmask]
GMD Library
Schloss Birlinghoven +49-2241-14-2352
53754 Sankt Augustin, Germany fax +49-2241-14-2619
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