Hi Mikael!
> > We aren't actually putting the place in the CV. That is
> > impossible to do. Rather we are putting a description of
> > the place in our dc:subject.
> > In fact, we're using Getty's description of the
> > place, aren't we?
>
> All metadata implies at least one level of indirection
> already (except for literal strings). So, the indirection you
> are asking for is already implicit in the model.
...
> In both cases, the referred value *is* New Zealand, but
> referenced in different ways.
I am wondering if this "implied level of indirection" shouldn't be made
explicit and would thus make life and understanding easier.
For me, it would be easier to follow the concepts if we had
- objects in the real word ("outside" of the description)
- references (pointers) to these objects.
If you define a resource as a reference to or an identifier of some object
(material or not, "New Zealand", "Philosophy", a particular stone or human,
or an XML-based expression), then the relations described in the DCAM become
relations of these identifiers. There may still be problems to be dealt with
in the relation between the identifier and the identified, but this would be
out of scope for the DCAM. (In some sense, there are more or less precise
identifiers of objects, like the name of an author (bad) or a reference to
her authority file (good).)
But this would remove the ambiguity mentioned by Joseph Tennis: If New
Zealand is a resource, how can it be the value of a statement.
Actually, I think with such a concept of "resource" we might get rid of the
"described" in front of the resource, which I find cumbersome and circular:
described resource
A resource that is described by a description.
description
One or more statements about one, and only one, described resource.
If a resource is a pointer to an object, then this by itself would be (some
sort of) a description (but outside the DCAM). In any case, this would allow
this resource to be part of any appropriate statement in the DCAM.
On the other hand, if you define
resource: Anything that might be identified.
then you cannot say anything about it before you identify it: If you have a
heap of sand, you cannot say anything (create a statement) about a
particular grain of sand before you _identify_ it (e.g. paint it blue and
refer to the "blue grain").
All the best
Thomas
––
Dr. Thomas Fischer
Metadata and Databases
Göttingen State and University Library
37070 Göttingen
Germany
Tel.: +49 551 393883
and +43 662 621498
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