In our discussions about the agent elements, we started with the premise
that the current set -- creator, publisher, contributor -- is likely to be
unworkable in practice. Unworkable, to me, means that there will
be great difficulty when large numbers of untrained people attempt
to apply them, their application will be inconsistent across many
different applications, and their use in resource discovery will
lead to poor results. The basic problem is that these three
elements aren't simple, their meanings as individual terms and
as a set are obscure; as a consequence, they are not simple to
use and they do not fit their task very well.
Point two: if the above is true, we are unlikely to have a second
opportunity after this one to make changes in the 15 element
set. It will be too late with too much system/people/record
creation having been done. We are barely at the beginning right
now, and if changes are advisable, they must be made now or
never.
There were three approaches suggested.
1. carefully refine definitions of existing elements
2. reduce to two elements: contributor and publisher, and define
them carefully
3. reduce to one element
The third approach was recommended because many thought that
if changes were to be made, why not go all the way and provide
what probably should have been prov ided in the first place.
The first was rejected because it was generally felt that it would
not accomplish its objective: to provide a Dublin Core that
could accomplish its purpose of resource discovery effectively;
that the distinctions would be too subtle, too complex for
either appliers or users.
The second approach represents the middle road -- reduce to two
elements, contributor and publisher -- and should be given careful
consideration.
It is likely to go a long way toward a fix and does the least damage to the
starting set of 15 elements.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tipler, John [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 1998 6:06 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: FW: Proposal on Agents to replace
> Creator/Publisher/Contributor
>
>
> Leif said:
>
> .......
> > To change general principles of Dublin Core now will only lead to
> > confusion. Dublin Core is not perfect - and at the simple level it will
> > never
> > be perfect.
> >
> ....
> > and most important:
> > * A major change in Dublin Core Simple will erode the general
> > implementation of Dublin Core.
> >
> I strongly support his comments and vote NO to this proposal.
>
> We [DPI] are trying to develop standards for using metadata on our
> site with a view to using it for cataloguing, resource discovery [of
> course]
> and for document management including registration, version control and
> archiving. While I can accept some change [improvements] at this stage of
> development of a new system, to introduce such a radical change, would be
> unhelpful in the extreme and will certainly put me on the back foot in the
> role of DC champion in this organisation. We are about to invest serious
> money in consultancies to build infrastructure to run our site and the
> last
> thing I want to do is tell the consultants and my manager that one of the
> cornerstones of our document registration systems is standing on
> quicksand.
>
>
>
> John Tipler
> Senior Project Officer (Information Framework)
> Web Services, Client Information Services
> Rural Industry Business Services
> Floor 1, Primary Industries Bldg, Ann Street,
> Brisbane Qld 4000
> Ph 617-3239 6685 Fax 617-3239 0860
>
>
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