CIMI: Consortium for the Interchange of Museum Information

Dublin Core (DC) Metadata Testbed

Lynn Ann Underwood July 1999Museum Records ManagerSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum

What is CIMI?

“A group of institutions and organizations that encourages an open standards-based approach to the management and delivery of digital museum information.”

Formed 1990.Recent Projects:

Z39.50 IIM (Integrated Information Management) Dublin Core (DC) Metadata Testbed

Metadata? What Are We Talking About?

Metadata is a fashionable term. Used to describe People, Places, & Objects (Resources). Structured data about data.

Cataloguing, indexing, documentation is one type of Metadata.

Commonly associated with electronic and networked information. Databases & Web Pages

CIMI’s definition acknowledges museums document objects/items, collections, programs, staff, etc..

Purpose for CIMI is information retrieval.

How is Metadata Used?

Information Retrieval Fielded searching facilitates resource

discovery. Document AdministrationRights ManagementSales & ServiceSecurity & AuthenticationArchival Status

Metadata as part of a Resource Description Community

A resource description community is characterized by common semantic, structural and syntactic conventions used for the exchange of information.

Through the use of detailed standards MARC & AACR2 the library community promotes interoperability.

While the art community formed the Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) and the Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA), specifically the art museum community can use these in addition to metadata to share resources.

Why Use Dublin Core?

A useful tool to refine web searching.Repurpose information that already exists. It is easier to adopt an interdisciplinary

standard already in use. Interoperability: Allows different communities

(libraries, archives, businesses, museums, etc.) to search for data using a common basis.

Establishes a basis for next-generation projects.

InteroperabilitySemantics

The meaning of the elements

Structure human-readable machine-parseable

Syntax grammars to convey

semantics and structure

HTMLMARCRDF(XML)

ResourceDescriptionCommunities(e.g. DC, AACR2)

The Dublin Core

TitleCreatorSubjectDescriptionPublisherContributorDate Type

FormatIdentifierSource LanguageRelationCoverage Rights

DC “Simple”

“Simple” or unqualified DC is comprised of the 15 elements with no further content definition.

Current “simple” definitions are based on IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) RFC 2413 document.

The CIMI working group resisted the temptation to move directly to qualified DC.

Instead CIMI rigorously tested DC “Simple” and it is considered the primary application testing “Simple”.

This process heightened the group’s awareness for the need for qualifiers (element & value).

DC Qualified

Qualified adds descriptive precision in retrieving a resource. This is achieved through the development of a substructure. For instance “Role” is a desired term to further describe, or “qualify”, the CREATOR element. Creator=Name.Creator Role=Artist

Qualified also allows for terms to be drawn from controlled vocabularies (LCSH, AAT) or classification schemes (DDC). The use of hierarchies provides further definition (semantic specificity). Guggenheim family -- art patronage

Caution of using DC Qualified is that elements must degrade gracefully to preserve interoperability.

DC Qualified DC Qualified is a currently under development by

DC Working groups.

Working Groups: DC- Agents (Creator, Contributor, Publisher) DC-Coverage DC-Date DC-Format DC-Relation (Source, Relation) DC-Subdesc (Subject Description, Language) DC-Title (Title, Identifier) DC-Type *no working group for rights

DC Requirements

All 15 DC elements are optional.

All 15 DC elements may be repeated.

Proposed changes to the 15 core elements must be made through the framework of the DC working group.

DC Requirements1:1 Principal

“...one object (or collection), resource, or instantiation can only be described within a single metadata record.”

1:1 is not formally adopted.This principal, along with the DC Type

field, assists with description of the resource.

RDF (Resource Description Framework) reinforces the 1:1 rule.

XML: eXtensible Markup Language

Based on SGML.

Encoding syntax.

Tools under development.

RDF: Resource Discovery Framework

A scaleable or “extensible” data model.It provides a framework for exchanging

different types of metadata. Types of Metadata (GLIS, INDECES, IMS)

Intended to be machine generated and understandable.

The Request for Comment (RFC) was announced in March 1999

The Dublin Core Serves as a Filter

A User A ResourceDublin Core‘filter’

DC.title

DC.creator

DC.subject

DC...

mapping/ crosswalk

Using DC “Simple”, we can map data from detailed records directly to the Dublin Core.

Creator

Subject

Coverage...

Artist’s NameType of Work

Period depictedPlace depicted

...

SurnameForename

Title...

Why DC for Museums

Museum community requires a method to access databases with different underlying schemas because the community historically lacks content standards.

Web provides museums with an opportunity to share with other museums, libraries, archives, individuals, through the use of commonly understood semantics.

What is Museum Specific?

Emphasis on attributes of physical objects.

Associate physical object with persons, places, and events.

Need to describe items, collections, institutions, people, and events.

Need to account for surrogates such as photographs.

Museum Metadata Model

Collectionof Works

Work/Object

Work/Object

Lecture onWork

Photograph

RelatedDocument

Digital Audio ofLecture

Sample of Scan

Scan ofPhotograph

Digital form ofr elated document

Extensive CatalogRecord

Collectionof Works

Work/Object

Work/Object

Lecture onWork

Photograph

RelatedDocument

Metadata recordabout thecollection

Metadata recordabout the related

document

Metadata recordabout the

work

Metadata recordabout the lecture

on the work

Metadata recordabout the

photograph

Metadata recordabout the scan ofthe photograph

Metadata recordabout the sample

of the scan

Digital Audio ofLecture

Sample of Scan

Scan ofPhotograph

Digital form ofr elated document

Extensive CatalogRecord

Collectionof Works

Work/Object

Work/Object

Lecture onWork

Photograph

RelatedDocument

CIMI Assumptions for Museums DC is appropriate for use in describing both

physical and digital resources. DC is easy to learn and simple to use: Is it usable

by non-cataloguers? Information can be meaningfully and efficiently

extracted from existing museum systems in order to populate DC records.

The creation of a DC record to describe a museum is cost-effective.

DC aids the discovery of resources more than access to the underlying Collection Management System might.

CIMI Identifies DC Challenges for Museums

Tension: functionality and simplicity. Tension: extensibility and

interoperability.Human and machine creation and

use.Community-specific functionality,

creation, administration, access.

Testbed Participants

Involvement of over 18 participants both 1998 & 1999. Access Providers Software Vendors Technical Support Personnel Content Providers

Cultural HeritageArtNatural History

Guggenheim Records

The Guggenheim has approximately 5,600 records in an Access database.

Of the 15 DC Elements only a handful could be mapped.

Guggenheim Records

Due to the fact that Guggenheim records scarcely populated the 15 DC elements, my methodology to test DC elements was to build 134 records from scratch.

This process of creating more robust records helped identify documentation projects, such as the addition of subject terms, etc.

It also helped address information integration issues within the museum.

Guggenheim Records

Creating Object, Collection, Institution, & Event records required information to be brought together from different departments. For object records I combined information from the

database with data from the curatorial and registrar files. Data for collection records was drawn from electronic

and paper files in addition to our web site. Institution records were created using our web site and

print catalogue information. For event records I used exhibition publications,

brochures, and our web site.

Guggenheim Contribution

The 134 full or “rich” records describe individual artworks, collections, the museum, and events.

Also contributed were over 5,600+ collection records exported from the collection database.

Intended to be an exporting routine, most museums may find, as we did, that their DC records are not very robust.

By providing the testbed with both rich and sparse records further user testing will benefit.

Testbed Products

Guide to Best Practice: Dublin Core http://www.cimi.org/documents/meta_bestprac>VO31.html

Drafted Winter 1998 Peer Review Spring 1999 Published Summer 1999

Over 300,000 record repository Contains museums, collections, artifacts DC “Simple” records both created by hand or

exported from legacy systems.

Outcomes

DC is (sort of) easy to use.

DC works for museum information.

DC is a machete, not a Scalpel.

Further evaluation is necessary.

Need to express more complexity.

Can be mapped to other standards.

Community will require guidance.

15 “simple” elements will work for museum data.

Lose ability to express complexities (dates).

Non-intuitive fielding of information (materials, methods, techniques, and creators of surrogates.)

Outcomes: CIMI Institute

Responses included: Need for more concrete examples, DC, XML, RDF.

Would like guidance on how to implement including storage strategies for archiving, retrievablity and architecture.

Fuller description of tools.

More discussion on cost.

Practical examples from the end user’s perspective. What does this look like to the user who is searching for the resource (delivery mechanism).

Summary

DC is useful for museum information needs.

Qualification of DC is developing.Web Infrastructure is developing

(HTML, XML, RDF).Tools are beginning to appear and

evolve.Interoperability testbeds are underway.

WWW Infrastructure Evolving

Resource Description Framework (RDF) will allow rich metadata semantics for documents http://www.w3.org/RDF/

Extensible Markup Language (XML) will allow highly structured documents and rich

linking (relationship) capabilities http://www.w3.org/XML/

Uniform Resource Names (URNs) will allow for persistent, globally unique identifiers

Resources

DC Home Page http://purl.org/dc

Metadata Matters http://www.nla.gov.au/meta

IFLA Metadata Resources page http://www.ifla.org/II/metadata.ht.

Dlib Magazine (all DC workshop reports)

Resources

Dublin Core Homepage http://purl.org/dc

Proposed Recommendation of the DC Metadata Initiative http://purl.org/dc/elements/1:1 Modifications to this document will replace RFC

2413

RFC 2413 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2413.txt

Resources: Metadata Tools

DC Dot (UKOLN) http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/dcdot

Reggie (DSTC) http://metadata.net The aim of the Reggie Metadata Editor is to enable the easy creation

of various forms of metadata with the one flexible program. As it stands, the Reggie

applet can create metadata using the HTML 3.2 standard, the HTML 4.0 standard, the RDF (Resource

Description Framework) format and the RDF Abbreviated format.

Resources: Metadata Tools

Nordic DC Metadata Template http://www.lub.lu.se/cgi-bin/nmdc.pl

CORC (OCLC) http://purl.oclc.org/corc

Resources: Metadata Tools

SEED (Search Engine Evaluation & Development), University of Wolverhampton Researched the automatic classification of web

pages, initial work focused on Dewey Decimal Classification

http://scitsd.wlv.ac.uk:8080/metadata.html

DC Example Record

<?xml version="1.0" ?><dc-record><type>image</type><type>original</type><type>item</type><type>cultural</type><format>dimensions variable</format><title>Double Closed Copper Wall</title><description>A conceptual artwork that must be constructed to berealized.</description><subject>conceptual art</subject><subject>visual works</subject><subject>sculpture</subject><subject>Panza Collection</subject><subject>minimalism</subject><subject>Judd, Donald</subject><creator>Judd, Donald</creator><contributor>Panza di Biumo, Giuseppe</contributor><publisher>Guggenheim Museum, Solomon R.</publisher><date>1974</date><identifier>91.3726</identifier><relation>IsPartOf Panza Collection</relation><rights>Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum</rights><rights>Panza Collection, 1991</rights></dc-record>

DC Example RecordExample B.7 - Item Record describing the Fabrication of a ConceptualArtwork

<?xml version="1.0" ?><dc-record><type>image</type><type>original</type><type>item</type><type>cultural</type><format>49 x 875 x 50 inches</format><title>Double Closed Copper Wall, Hamburg, Germany February 4, 1999 toMay 18,1999</title><description>A conceptual artwork that must be constructed to berealized.</description><subject>visual works</subject><subject>sculpture</subject><subject>Panza Collection</subject><subject>minimalism</subject><subject>Judd, Donald</subject><creator>Judd, Donald</creator><contributor>Art Fabrications, Inc.</contributor><publisher>Guggenheim Museum, Solomon R.</publisher><date>1999-02-04/1999-05-18</date><identifier>91.3726 1999-02-04/1999-05-18</identifier><relation>IsVersionOf Double Closed Copper Wall</relation><relation>IsVersionOf 91.3726</relation><relation>IsPartOf Panza Collection</relation><rights>Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum</rights><rights>Panza Collection, 1991</rights></dc-record>

DC Dot Dublin Core Generator

<link rel="schema.DC" href="http://purl.org/dc"> <meta name="DC.Title" content="GUGGENHEIM MUSEUMS"> <meta name="DC.Publisher" content="CERFnet"> <meta name="DC.Type" content="Text"> <meta name="DC.Format" content="text/html"> <meta name="DC.Format" content="550 bytes"> <meta name="DC.Identifier" content="http://www.guggenheim.org">

DC Dot Dublin Core Generator: RDF

<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.0/"> <rdf:Description about="http://www.guggenheim.org" dc:title="GUGGENHEIM MUSEUMS" dc:publisher="CERFnet" dc:type="Text" > <dc:format> <rdf:Bag rdf:_1="text/html" rdf:_2="550 bytes" /> </dc:format> </rdf:Description></rdf:RDF>

DC Dot Guggenheim Enhanced (1 of 2)

<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.0/"> <rdf:Description about="http://www.guggenheim.org Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum" dc:title="Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum" dc:creator="Guggenheim, Solomon R." dc:subject="Bilbao, Spain Berlin, Germany New York, New York, USA Venice, Italy Guggenheim, Solomon R. artworks Krens, Thomas Kandinsky, Wassily Brancusi, Constantin Calder, Alexander Chagall, Marc Delaunay, Robert Klee, Paul Miro, Joan Picasso, Pablo Hilla von Rebay Foundation Museum of Nonobjective Painting Thannhauser, Justin K. Thannhauser, Hilde Guggenheim, Peggy Peggy Guggenheim Collection Panza di Biumo, Giuseppe Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation Mapplethorpe, Robert Conceptual art Twentieth Century post-1945 fine arts styles and movements nonobjective art organizations, nonprofit Art Museums Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Messer, Thomas M. Thannhauser collection"

DC Dot Guggenheim Enhanced (2 of 2)

dc:description="The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is comprised of five related museums. In addition to the New York City Fifth Avenue location, there is also Guggenheim SoHo, NYC, Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain, Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Italy" dc:publisher="Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum" dc:contributor="Thannhauser, Justin K. Thannhauser, Hilde Guggenheim, Peggy Panza di Biumo, Giuseppe Messer, Thomas M. Krens, Thomas Rebay, Hilla Von Sweeney, James Johnson" dc:date="1920" dc:type="Text Image Sound Place Physical Object Original Collection Cultural" dc:relation="IsPartOf Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation References http://www.guggenheim.org" dc:rights="Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum" > <dc:format> <rdf:Bag rdf:_1="text/html" rdf:_2="550 bytes"/> </dc:format> </rdf:Description></rdf:RDF>

Thank You!

Lynn Ann UnderwoodMuseum Records ManagerDocumentation & RecordsSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum575 Broadway, 3rd floorNew York, NY 10012-4233lunderwood@guggenheim.orgTelephone: (212) 423-3871Telefax: (212) 360-4340