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DC-GENERAL  October 1997

DC-GENERAL October 1997

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Subject:

Qualifiers, Sub-elements, Types and the Meaning of Life

From:

Misha Wolf <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

dc-general

Date:

Wed, 22 Oct 1997 18:39:35 +0000 (GMT)

Content-Type:

TEXT/PLAIN

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

TEXT/PLAIN (148 lines)

This is a brief note on the above topic.  I'm sending it to the meta2 list 
rather than to one of the numerous working group lists as it has general 
relevance, though it is especially related to the work of the Data Model 
and Sub-elements working groups.

1.  Qualifiers at Canberra
---------------------------

At Canberra we agreed to divide the Qualifiers into:

   (a)  Language
   (b)  Scheme
   (c)  Type (aka Sub-element Name)

For details, see "The 4th Dublin Core Metadata Workshop Report" (at 
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june97/metadata/06weibel.html).

This so exhausted us, we didn't have the time to discuss what constitues a 
legal Type/Sub-element from a *topological* or *data model* point of view.
We did, of course, discuss legality from a *semantic* point of view, in 
particular the "... criterion of a sub-element narrowing the semantics 
of the element which it modifies".

2.  Qualifiers at Helsinki
---------------------------

Following a day during which a lot of time was lost due to different groups 
using the same word ("record") to mean different things, Stu asked us not 
to use the word "qualifier", but to spell out *which* qualifier we are 
talking about.  The aim was to improve communication, not to ban future use 
of the word "qualifier".

3.  Qualifiers since Helsinki
------------------------------

The Language and Scheme qualifiers may turn out to be generically applicable 
sub-elements for which we have devised a minimised representation in HTML.
This affects their representation in RDF and is one of the questions before 
the Data Model working group.

Sub-elements are, from a data model point of view, more difficult, as they 
have been, unintentionally, abused.  An example of a sub-element which does 
not fit any plausible data model is (please forgive my syntax):

   DC.Creator.PersonalName="Misha Wolf"
   DC.Creator.PersonalName.Address="85 Fleet Street"

Another very dodgy example is:

   DC.Date.Created="1997"

It is my view that the above result from a desire to, *at all costs*, 
minimise the amount of typing required to enter the metadata manually and 
that the "correct" metadata would look rather like this:

   DC.Creator.Name="Misha Wolf"
   DC.Creator.Address="85 Fleet Street"
   DC.Creator.Type="Person"
   
and:

   DC.Date.Value="1997"
   DC.Date.Type="Created"

Obviously, one could minimise DC.Creator.Name to DC.Creator and 
DC.Date.Value to DC.Date.  I have no problem with that.

Note that the sub-element called "Type" is not the same thing as the 
qualifier we previously called "Type" and now call "Sub-element".  I know 
it's confusing.  Let me give a less confusing example.  At Helsinki we 
agreed on two sub-elements for DC.Relation, namely:

   DC.Relation.Type
   DC.Relation.Identifier

In this example, it is clear that "Type" refers to a type of Relation.  
Similarly, in the previous examples, "Type" referred to a type of Creator 
and to a type of Date, respectively.

All of this is much clearer when written out using XML (no, this isn't RDF):

   <DC:Creator>
      <Name>Misha Wolf</Name>
      <Address>85 Fleet Street</Address>
      <Type>Person</Type>
   </DC:Creator>

   <DC:Date>
      <Value>1997</Value>
      <Type>Created</Type>
   </DC:Date>

   <DC:Relation>
      <Type>Some-relation-type</Type>
      <Identifier>http://www.somewhere.org/abc</Identifier>
   </DC:Relation>

You can now add Scheme information, if required:

   <DC:Date>
      <Value>1997</Value>
      <Scheme>ISO-8601</SCheme>
      <Type>Created</Type>
   </DC:Date>

and even:

   <DC:Date>
      <Value>1997</Value>
      <Scheme>ISO-8601</SCheme>
      <Type>
         <Value>Created</Value>
         <Scheme>DC:DateType</Scheme>
      </Type>
   </DC:Date>

and:

   <DC:Creator>
      <Name>Misha Wolf</Name>
      <Address>85 Fleet Street</Address>
      <Type>
         <Value>Person</Value>
         <Scheme>DC:CreatorType</Scheme>
      </Type>
      <Role>
         <Value>Something-or-other</Value>
         <Scheme>AAT-POR</Scheme>
      </Role>
   </DC:Creator>

Ooops!  I just remembered saying it was a brief note, so I'd better stop.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Misha Wolf            Email: [log in to unmask]     85 Fleet Street
  Standards Manager     Voice: +44 171 542 6722           London EC4P 4AJ
  Reuters Limited       Fax  : +44 171 542 8314           UK
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
12th International Unicode Conference, 8-9 Apr 1998, Tokyo, www.unicode.org
   7th World Wide Web Conference, 14-18 Apr 1998, Brisbane, www7.conf.au

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual  sender,
except  where  the  sender  specifically  states them to be the views of
Reuters Ltd.


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