On Mon, 14 Jul 1997, R. Wendler wrote:
> I can hear the screams of agony already, but I have to say this: as good
> as Roy's list is (and I think it's terrific), the notion of resource type
> terms being drawn from a single controlled list is very nervous-making.
> I realize that's the way the element has been defined, and that there
> would have to be an excellent reason to change anything at this point,
> but please hear me out:
>
> For data originating in DC, a controlled list is fine. However, there
> has been a lot of discussion recently about the potential of DC as a
> switching language, lingua franca, filter, or whatever you want to call
> it, between diverse metadata formats which will very likely not share
> the DC list of controlled resource types. It is, of course, true that
> they could simply leave the element out, but the reality is more likely
> to be that people will map into the Resource Type element whatever
> terminology they carry in their local data.
>
> Would it be acceptable to have the DC list be the default, but to allow
> a scheme qualifier to be used to indicate when terms are drawn from other
> vocabularies? Or have free-text be the default -- since there are no
> guarantees in this world -- but allow both the DC list and other
> controlled terminology to be expressed via the scheme qualifier?
> This would gather like information in the same element (rather than
> forcing non-conformant form/genre terms into the subject element), and
> it would allow applications to distinguish between "true" DC resource
> types and unvouched-for terms.
>
> Just a suggestion. Am I out of my mind (as far as this particular topic
> is concerned...)?
I agree entirely with this message! I've been waiting for someone to say
this.
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Judith Pearce
National Library of Australia Email: [log in to unmask]
Canberra ACT Phone: 61-6-2621652
2602 AUSTRALIA Fax: 61-6-2571703
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