Another problem, for those of us taking the long view, is that just
identifying a classification scheme by name ("DDC" "JACS" "learnDirect")
doesn't give you enough information, because it doesn't tell you which
edition of the classification scheme was used. Dewey is being updated
all the time, and DDC21 is quite different from DDC16. So some kind of
identifier for the exact edition of the classification that was used
would be very helpful.
Jane
Jane Read
Cataloguing Officer
+44 (0)1904 717500 ext. 2403
The Higher Education Academy
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-----Original Message-----
From: The CETIS Metadata Special Interest Group
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Pete Johnston
Sent: 09 March 2005 17:30
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Questions re 9. Classification: First one
I think the use of URIs for the values of the "Source" element would go
along way to addressing these problems - though of course yes, it would
be nice to have services that provide some metadata about what those
URIs identify (and/or deliver other related functions).
It seems crazy to me that (if I read it correctly) 9.2.1 Source has a
LangString datatype, with no guarantee of global uniqueness (MESH =
"Medical Subject Headings" or "My Esoteric Subject Headings" etc etc
etc), when, as Charles emphasises, disambiguation of the the value - in
a global context - is absolutely critical for semantic interoperability.
Whether that URI also de-references to a representation or description
of the vocabulary is a separate question; (it seems to me that) what
matters for Charles' purpose is that it provides a globally unique
identifier for the taxonomy (and for specific versions of taxonomies, if
those distinctions are significant).
Pete
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