Collection Description Metadata Element Sets

Pete Johnston UKOLN, University of BathChair, DC CD WG

NISO Metasearch Initiative, Task Group 2Durham, NC, USA

22-23 April 2004

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

                                                             

Outline

• Collections & collection-level description• Collection description metadata schemas

– JISC e-Lib "Simple Collection Description", 1998-1999

– Research Support Libraries Programme (RSLP) Model & Schema, 1999-2000

– The European Library (TEL) Collection Description Application Profile, 2001-2004

– Dublin Core Collection Description Application Profile, 2003-

– ISO 2146 draft version 3.0, 2003-

                                                             

Collections

• Collection– “an aggregation of one or more items”– aggregation by

• e.g. location, type/form of item, provenance of item, source/ownership of item, nature of item content, etc!

– varying size, degrees of permanence– varying types of items

• natural objects, created objects, digital resources, digital surrogates of physical objects, metadata records

– items may not be physically juxtaposed

                                                             

Collections and collection description

• “What is a collection (and what is not)?”• "Functional granularity" (Heaney)

– Pragmatic choice– Based on what is "useful or necessary for the

purposes of resource discovery or collection management"

• Collection-level description– "unitary finding aid" (Heaney)– information about the collection as a whole,

rather than the individual items

                                                             

Why collection-level description?

• Enable user to – discover/locate collections– select collections to explore on basis of summary

description – compare collections as broadly similar objects (even

where items heterogeneous)– understand conditions of access & use– interpret collections

• Enable software agents to – discover/locate/select collections to search on behalf of

user – control searches across collections

                                                             

e-Lib Simple Collection Description

• JISC e-Lib programme, 1994-2000– "An exploration of ways IT could assist libraries"

• context: UK HE re-organisation, emergence of Web• not strictly a "digital library research programme", but did

include elements of applied research

– 1997-2000 Phase 3 : consolidation, extension in key areas

• Interest in collection-level description– Primarily to support resource discovery– "Landscaping"

• eLib Collection Description WG – "Simple Collection Description" schema (draft)– Collection made available by Service (many-to-many)

Collection attributes

Title dc:title

Subject/keywords dc:subject

Description dc:description

Owner elib:owner

Publisher dc:publisher

Date dc:date

Language dc:language

Source dc:source

Coverage dc:coverage

Collection Type dc:type

Notes elib:notes

Purpose/Policy elib:purpose

Rights management dc:rights

Use constraints elib:useConstraints

Collection Logo elib:logo

Relations between Collections

Is Part Of dcterms:isPartOf

Has Part dcterms:hasPart

Is Catalogue For elib:isCatalogueFor

Has Catalogue elib:hasCatalogue

Relation between Collection & Service

Access elib:access

e-Lib Simple Collection Description

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/cld/simple/http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/cld/simple/

Service attributes

Identifier dc:identifier

Access times elib:accessTimes

Physical location/access elib:location

Administrator elib:administrator

Access Policy elib:accessPolicy

Charging Policy elib:chargingPolicy

                                                             

• Research Support Libraries Programme, 1999-2002– Support for academic research– Improve disclosure/discovery of, access to

collections– Improve collaborative management of collections– Primarily describing physical library/archive

collections– Recognition of CLD as important mechanism for

disclosure/discovery

RSLP CD Model and Schema

                                                             

RSLP CD Model

• RSLP Collection Description Project, 1999-2000– Funded by RSLP, OCLC– Provide means of consistent collection description in RSLP

• Entity-Relation model (Michael Heaney, University of Oxford)– Implementation independent– Intended to be applicable to wide range of collections– Informed by IFLA FRBR approach as well as existing

descriptive standards– Models structures not transactions– Support

• Finding (access points for discovery)• Identifying (sufficient for user interpretation)

RSLP CD Model

                                                             

RSLP CD Schema

• RSLP Collection Description metadata schema (Andy Powell, UKOLN) – Set of metadata elements (based on Dublin Core)– Also collection/catalogue type vocabulary– Expresses subset of RSLP model

• Collection, Location, Agents

– Simplification of model• Relations as elements/properties

– Supports creation of "unitary" finding aid (collection-level description)

– Recommends use of RDF/XML syntax for representation

RSLP CD Schema v Model

ContentCreatorcreates

Collector

Owner

collects

owns

Administratoradministers

ItemProducerproduces

is-embodied-in

Collection

is-gathered-into

Location

is-located-in

Collection attributes

Identifier dc:identifier

Title dc:title

Description dc:description

Strength rslpcd:strength

Physical Characteristics dc:format

Language dc:language

Type dc:type

Access Control rslpcd:accessControl

Accrual Status rslpcd:accrualStatus

Legal Status rslpcd:legalStatus

Custodial History rslpcd:custodialHistory

Note rslpcd:note

Accumulation Date Range

rslpcd:accumulationDateRange

Contents Date Range rslpcd:contentsDateRange

Relation between Collection & Location

Location rslpcd:hasLocation

RSLP CD Schema

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/rslp/schema/http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/rslp/schema/

Relations between Collection & Agents

Collector dc:creator

Owner rslpcd:owner

Collection attributes (continued)

Concept dc:subject

Object rslpcd:objectName

Name rslpcd:agentName

Place dcterms:spatial

Time dcterms:temporal

RSLP CD Schema Location attributes

Identifier dc:identifier

Name dc:title

Access Conditions rslpcd:accessConditions

Physical Location attributes

Postal address rslpcd:address

Post/zip code rslpcd:postcode

Country rslpcd:country

Digital Location attributes

Locator rslpcd:locator

Relations between Collection & Other entities

Associated Publication rslpcd:hasPublication

Relations between Collections

Is Part Of dcterms:isPartOf

Has Part dcterms:hasPart

Catalogue or Description rslpcd:hasDescription

Described Collection rslpcd:isDescriptionOf

Associated Collection rslpcd:hasAssociation

Relations between Location & Agents

Administrator rslpcd:administrator

Relation between Location & Collection

Held collection rslpcd:isLocationOf

Relation between Location & Other entities

See also rslpcd:seeAlso

Agent attributes

Identifier dc:identifier

Name vcard:FN

Organisation vcard:ORG

Role vcard:ROLE

Telephone number vcard:VOICE

Fax number vcard:FAX

Email address vcard:EMAIL

Agent history rslpcd:agentHistory

                                                             

RSLP CD Schema implementation

• RSLP projects– Model and/or schema by number of RSLP projects as

basis for database structure– Mostly to deliver Web sites for human readers– Limited exchange of CLD metadata between applications

• Influence on other initiatives– The European Library (TEL)– Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)

Collection Register– Enrich-UK (portal for digitisation programme)– Cornucopia (UK museum collections)– JISC Information Environment Service Registry (IESR)

                                                             

The European Library (TEL)

• Co-operative project under the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL)– 8 European national libraries & ICCU (Italian central

cataloguing institution)– Project completed Jan 2004, plans to develop service

• Portal providing access to distributed collections– Use of collection-level description to select services– TEL application profile for collection-level description

• Based on DC Libraries AP and Collection and Location attributes from RSLP CD Schema

• Some overlap between properties?• Includes access point of Service as dc:identifier of

Collection

http://www.europeanlibrary.org/http://www.europeanlibrary.org/

Collection attributes

Identifier dc:identifier

Title dc:title

Alternative Title dcterms:alternative

Creator dc:creator

Contributor dc:contributor

Publisher dc:publisher

Subject dc:subject

Object Name rslpcd:objectName

Agent Name rslpcd:agentName

Description dc:description

Thumbnail tel:thumbnail

Strength rslpcd:strength

Accrual Status rslpcd:accrualStatus

Legal Status rslpcd:legalStatus

Custodial History rslpcd:custodialHistory

Note rslpcd:note

Edition

TEL AP for Collection DescriptionCollection attributes (continued)

Date dc:date

Date created dcterms:created

Date captured mods:dateCaptured

Accumulation Date Range

rslpcd:accumulationDateRange

Contents Date Range

rslpcd:contentsDateRange

Type dc:type

Collection Type tel:collectionType

Format dc:format

Medium dcterms:medium

Record Schema tel:recordSchema

Source dc:source

Language dc:language

Coverage dc:coverage

Spatial coverage dcterms:spatial

Temporal coverage dcterms:temporal

TEL AP for Collection Description

Relations between Collections

Is Part Of dcterms:isPartOf

Has Part dcterms:hasPart

Has Description rslpcd:hasDescription

Is Description Of rslpcd:isDescriptionOf

Has Association rslpcd:hasAssociation

Relations between Collection & Other entities

Has Publication rslpcd:hasPublication

Has Location rslpcd:hasLocation

Location attributes

Access Conditions rslpcd:accessConditions

Digital Location attributes

Locator rslpcd:locator

Relations between Location & Agents

Administrator rslpcd:administrator

Relation between Location & Collection

Held collection rslpcd:isLocationOf

Relation between Location & Other entities

See also rslpcd:seeAlso

Relation between Collection & Location

Location rslpcd:hasLocation

Collection attributes (continued)

Rights dc:rights

Access Control dcterms:accessControl

Audience dcterms:audience

Location mods:location

RecordId tel:recordId

Owner rslpcd:owner

                                                             

DC Collection Description WG

• Background– Growing interest in use of collection-level metadata to

support resource disclosure/discovery– RSLP CD Model and/or RSLP CD schema implemented

by several initiatives in UK– Significant influence on other CLD metadata schemas– Status, ownership, persistence issues

• Charter– Provide forum for sharing information about CLD activity– Develop a DC AP for collection-level description– Develop supporting materials for use of AP

http://dublincore.org/groups/collections/http://dublincore.org/groups/collections/

                                                             

DC Collection Description AP

• DC CD AP– For simple collection-level descriptions – Suitable for a broad range of collections– Primarily to support discovery and selection of

collections– A "core" set of collection description properties to support

interoperability– Informed by experience of RSLP, CD Focus (UKOLN),

TEL, JISC IESR, IMLS, others– Collection properties (only) of RSLP CD schema as

starting point for WG discussion• exclude Location/Service, Agent description (for now…)• but building on Heaney E-R model

Collection attributes

Identifier dc:identifier

Title dc:title

Alternative Title dcterms:alternative

Description dcterms:abstract

Physical Characteristics dc:format

Size dcterms:extent

Language dc:language

Type dc:type

Access Rights dcterms:accessRights

Accrual Status cld:accrualStatus

Custodial History gen:provenance

Audience dcterms:audience

Logo cld:logo

Accumulation Date Range

?cld:accumulationDateRange

Contents Date Range cld:contentsDateRange

Relation between Collection & Location/Service

Is Available At ?gen:isAvailableAt

DC CD AP (2004-02-01)

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/dcmi/collection-ap-summary/http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/dcmi/collection-ap-summary/

Relations between Collection & Agents

Collector dc:creator

Owner marcrel:owner

Collection attributes (continued)

Subject dc:subject

Place dcterms:spatial

Time dcterms:temporal

DC CD AP (2004-02-01)

Relations between Collection & Other entities

Associated Publication dcterms:isReferencedBy

Relations between Collections

Is Part Of dcterms:isPartOf

Has Part dcterms:hasPart

Catalogue or Description dc:description

Associated Collection dc:relation

                                                             

Outstanding Issues for DC CD WG/DCMI

• Clarify Collection-Location/Service relation• Decide on how to represent format of items in

collection• Proposals for additions to DCMI Namepaces

– provenance, isAvailableAt (awaiting UB decision)– logo?

• Collection-specific terms (accrualStatus, accumulationDateRange, contentsDateRange)

• Review in light of DCMI work on dates, modelling• Develop supporting materials

– guidelines, schemas, crosswalks

                                                             

ISO 2146

• ISO 2146: Information and documentation – Directories of libraries and related organizations

• Under revision to form a data dictionary framework for directory applications

– Schema/syntax/protocol-independent

• Object-oriented model for– Organisations– Collections– Services– Activities

• Shift away from "organisation-centred" model so that each can be primary object

                                                             

ISO 2146

• Service– Integrated approach to physical and digital services– Detailed model for service description

• Access times, permitted users, charges etc

• Collection– Name, category, coverage, etc– Relations between collections– Collection profile

• Item types, accruals, policies (archival, disposal)

– Collection strength• Current, planned

                                                             

Collections, Locations & Services

• Item– A physical or digital entity

• Collection– An aggregation of one or more items

• Service– The provision of, or system of supplying, one or more functions of

interest to an end-user or software application.– Physical or digital– Digital services may be structured or unstructured

• Informational services– Provide access to, or metadata about, items and/or collections

– JISC Information Environment Architecture: Glossary

• Location– A place where a collection is held

– Michael Heaney, Analytical Model

Collection – Location (RSLP)

Collection Locationis-located-in

Collection Physical Repositoryis-located-in

Collection Electronic Repositoryis-located-in

Network Service

Is Service a subtype of Location?

Is relation between Collection and Locationsame as relation between Collection and Service?

Collection – Location – Service?Collection

Location

is-located-in

Service

Collection

Physical Repository

is-located-in

Physical Service

Collection

Electronic Repository

is-located-in

Network Service

                                                             

Summary

• RSLP model influence on several CD schemas• RSLP CD Schema

– Subset/simplification of RSLP model– Collection, Location, Agents

• TEL AP– builds on RSLP CD and DC Libraries AP

• DC CD AP as a core CD element set– supports description of Collection only– still in progress– relationship of Collection and Location/Service

• ISO 2146– Object model– Rich service description

                                                             

Some questions

• What range of collections and services are we describing?

• What are our "functional requirements" for collection/service description?– What operations should metadata support?– Human readers? Software agents?

• What information required to enable those operations?– Attributes, relations

• Do existing models/schemas meet those requirements?

                                                             

Acknowledgements

• UKOLN is funded by the UK Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the UK higher and further education funding councils, as well as by project funding from the JISC and the European Union. UKOLN also receives support from the University of Bath where it is based.

• http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

Collection Description Metadata Element Sets

Pete Johnston UKOLN, University of BathChair, DC CD WG

NISO Metasearch Initiative, Task Group 2Durham, NC, USA

22-23 April 2004

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/