One stumbling block for the User Guide group was explaining the logic
behind the OtherAgent element. In a sense, the name of an element is
the first and most important word of its explanation. If it feels like
your explanation keeps getting off on the wrong foot right away, maybe
the name is wrong. OtherAgent begs for an explanation that includes
"The OtherAgent element is like the Agent element except ..."
Oops. What's an Agent? If there's not an Agent element, or even a
shared DC concept called Agent, the "Other" prefix will always be
shrouded in mystery. I propose that we rename or drop OtherAgent.
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A separate but related question is what element takes on the function
of OtherAgent. The User Guide group proposes combining OtherAgent and
Publisher into an element named Contributor, reasoning that
(a) in the absence of a compelling argument to keep Publisher, less is
more (fewer elements certainly make for a simpler user guide), and
(b) that only two crude categories of credit are needed in the context
of simple metadata to satisfy the attribution needs of providers:
primary credit (Author), and secondary credit (Contributor).
-John
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