The following is a set of guidelines distributed to DC-7 participants for
judging DC qualifiers. Those of you who are participating in discussions of
the qualifiers on the various element working groups may find it useful in
the discussions
stu
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Criteria for Evaluating DC Qualifiers
1999-11-18
(based on guidelines distributed to break out groups at DC-7 in Frankurt)
There is a recognized need within the DCMI to articulate qualifiers that
allow additional semantic specificity to be represented within descriptions
using the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set.
There are two broad categories of Dublin Core qualifiers: Element Qualifiers
and Value Qualifiers. In order to be recognized formally as a 'Proposed
Qualifier', a qualifier should fall into one of these two categories and
should conform to the corresponding principles of good qualification.
Element working groups are tasked with delivering a list of Proposed
Qualifiers.
The list of Proposed Qualifiers should include the name and category of each
qualifier and other information as outlined below.
Categories of DC Qualifiers
1. Element Qualifiers
Element Qualifiers must refine the semantics of the element (that is, narrow
the definition of the element). For example, an illustrator (narrower) is a
type of Creator (broader).
Element Qualifiers should follow the dumb down principle, according to which
a client that does not recognize an element qualifier can simply ignore the
qualifier and yet still process and use the unqualified element value in a
way that does not do harm to the meaning of the element.
A good Element Qualifier should have
- a proposed name
- a clear definition
2. Value Qualifiers
Qualification of the values of DC elements may take the form of an
identified encoding scheme, or an indication of the controlled set of values
usable in a given context.
Encoding Schemes
Encoding schemes specify how a value is encoded in a textual string and may
be parsed.
For example, "ISO8601" makes it clear that "1999-04-12" means April 12th
rather than December 4th. In some cases, an encoding scheme may indicate
that the value informs us of some fact that has multiple components, for
example (name, surname) or the (day, month, year).
Controlled Vocabularies
Controlled Vocabularies provide a context for the interpretation of a value
(such as a controlled vocabulary or thesaurus such as MeSH, DDC, etc). In
order to be useful as interoperability qualifiers, Value Qualifiers must
have a publicly accessible schema definition.
A good value qualifier should have:
- a unique name
- a citation to further information about the scheme or controlled
vocabulary.
1999-11-18
(based on guidelines distributed to break out groups at DC-7 in Frankurt)
There is a recognized need within the DCMI to articulate qualifiers that
allow additional semantic specificity to be represented within descriptions
using the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set.
There are two broad categories of Dublin Core qualifiers: Element Qualifiers
and Value Qualifiers. In order to be recognized formally as a 'Proposed
Qualifier', a qualifier should fall into one of these two categories and
should conform to the corresponding principles of good qualification.
Element working groups are tasked with delivering a list of Proposed
Qualifiers.
The list of Proposed Qualifiers should include the name and category of each
qualifier and other information as outlined below.
Categories of DC Qualifiers
1. Element Qualifiers
Element Qualifiers must refine the semantics of the element (that is, narrow
the definition of the element). For example, an illustrator (narrower) is a
type of Creator (broader).
Element Qualifiers should follow the dumb down principle, according to which
a client that does not recognize an element qualifier can simply ignore the
qualifier and yet still process and use the unqualified element value in a
way that does not do harm to the meaning of the element.
A good Element Qualifier should have
- a proposed name
- a clear definition
2. Value Qualifiers
Qualification of the values of DC elements may take the form of an
identified encoding scheme, or an indication of the controlled set of values
usable in a given context.
Encoding Schemes
Encoding schemes specify how a value is encoded in a textual string and may
be parsed.
For example, "ISO8601" makes it clear that "1999-04-12" means April 12th
rather than December 4th. In some cases, an encoding scheme may indicate
that the value informs us of some fact that has multiple components, for
example (name, surname) or the (day, month, year).
Controlled Vocabularies
Controlled Vocabularies provide a context for the interpretation of a value
(such as a controlled vocabulary or thesaurus such as MeSH, DDC, etc). In
order to be useful as interoperability qualifiers, Value Qualifiers must
have a publicly accessible schema definition.
A good value qualifier should have:
- a unique name
- a citation to further information about the scheme or controlled
vocabulary.
Stuart Weibel
-------------------------
Senior Research Scientist
OCLC Office of Research
[log in to unmask]
http://purl.org/net/weibel
+1.614,764.6081 (voice)
+1.614.764.2344
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