This paper is posted at
http://www.agcrc.csiro.au/projects/3018CO/metadata/dc_tf/type_1.html
The text is as follows:
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Resource Type & Format working group
Resource Type Position Paper
The Dublin Core Resource Type (DC.Type) element is used to describe the category or genre of the content of the
resource. For the sake of interoperability, the primary value should be selected from the enumerated list presented
here.
text
image
sound
data
software
interactive
physical object
These can be defined and used as follows:
text
resources in which the content is primarily words for reading: for example - books, letters, dissertations,
poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the
genre "text".
image
the content is primarily visual in two dimensions and is not text: for
example - images, graphics, paintings, animations, diagrams. Note that "image" may include both electronic
and physical representations.
sound
the content is primarily audio: for example - music, speech, recorded sounds.
data
information encoded in lists, tables, databases, etc., which will often be in a format available for direct machine
processing: for example - spreadsheets, databases, GIS data.
software
computer programs in source or compiled form which may be available for installation non-transiently on
another machine. (For software which exists only to create an interactive environment, use interactive instead.)
interactive
resources which require interaction from the user to be understood, executed, or experienced: for example -
forms on web pages, applets, multimedia learning objects, chat services, virtual reality.
physical object
three dimensional objects or substances which are not primarily text or image or one of the other types listed
here: for example - a person, a computer, the great pyramid, a sculpture, wheat.
Notes and future work
The concept of a Compound or Mixed resource type and the concept of a Collection were both under close scrutiny
and discussion, but were rejected as values for DC.Type for Simple Dublin Core. The reasons for not including these in
the list of unqualified allowed for DC.Type metadata was due to retrieval considerations.
For Compound Resources, greater precision for searching for would be achieved by using the more specific DC.Type
descriptors - if necessary in multiple usage. For example, a multimedia program with a single URL might have
repeated DC.Types:
DC.Type = sound
DC.Type = interactive
DC.Type = text
DC.Type = image
Collection was considered but rejected because another Resource Type would often apply as its primary type.
Collection can be brought out in a Relation element. It will also be considered as a subelement or subtype of Resource
Type for qualified Dublin Core (e.g. Text.Collection).
Further refinement of the vocabulary for DC.Type will build on the above-mentioned list.
[Simon Cox, Rebecca Guenther, Diann Rusch-Feja]
[DC Type & Format working group]
1998-07-10
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__________________________________________________
Dr Simon Cox - Australian Geodynamics Cooperative Research Centre
CSIRO Exploration & Mining, PO Box 437, Nedlands, WA 6009 Australia
T: +61 8 9389 8421 F: +61 8 9389 1906 [log in to unmask]
http://www.ned.dem.csiro.au/SimonCox/
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