Re: [egov] Metadata-template for taxonomies

[Maewyn.Cumming@e-Envoy.gsi.gov.uk]

I would like to see us sticking to Dublin
core (ISO 11179) as far as possible for this.   Comments inline:  


Before we finalise this it might be
useful to decide what we will be using the metadata for: we want something
slightly different if its to be used for searching (this means building
a search interface that allows field searching) or if its going to be there
as background information that is fairly visible to users.    If
its to be for searching we need to create some controlled lists (a taxonomy
for taxonomies!) so that it actually works. We might also want some subject
terms.

Duane Nickull <dnickull@adobe.com>

27/01/2004 18:00

To	Michael Bang Kjeldgaard <mbk@itst.dk>
cc	egov@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject	Re: [egov] Metadata-template for taxonomies

Michael:

This model can all be declared using existing ebXML RegRep or ISO 11179
metadata.  I will comment inline:

Michael Bang Kjeldgaard wrote:

>                
                 Title
(local title) 
>
RIM has a name attribute for this.
MC:   DC specifies 'Title'

>                
                 Title
(English translation + plus explanation if needed)
>
RIM supports multilingual titles, names and descriptions.
MC:   DC calls for 'Alternative
title'

>                
                 Coverage
(domain / area of use covered by the taxonomy)
MC:   DC Coverage' is specifically
for geospatial or temporal coverage, so would be appropriate for area of
use
>
Taxonomy and the objects relationships to other objects within a specific
or multiple taxonomies can be declared or asserted via associations and/or
classifications in the ebXML RIM.

>                
                 Description:
(e.g. how and how widely it is used, how old it >is, comments on quality)
>
Description is a mandatory attribute for each registry object.  The
"how old it is" is expressed as part of the audit trail.  The
audit trail is a better way of declaring this information because it may
be necessary 
to determine how old an object is in its' current or a previous status.
 Registry objects can have different status attribute values throughout
their life cycle (Submitted, Approved, Superseded, etc...)
MC:  DC: suggest using Date.issued
to clarify how old a taxonomy is. DC
doesn't have a 'status' element, we use it in the UK govt though as it
is quite valuable. It would be valuable to have a stated list of values
for this element
These two elements could then be
incorporated into an audit trail. 

>                
                 Type:
(taxonomy, ontology, glossary etc.)
>
RIM attribute ObjectType.  This is user extendable to account for
any anomolies users may wish to express.

MC:  DC calls for 'type'.
Again, it would be valuable to have a stated list of values for this element.
I will be sending a list of definitions for types of controlled vocabularies
by a seperate e-mail, they are the definitions used by the British Standard
for thesauri. 


>                
                 Volatility
(how often does it get updated/changed)
>
This is handled via the Audit trail.  Each item has a complete auditable
event log associated with it.

MC:  DC has nothing for this.
In UK gov we use Date.updating frequency, which is more specific than 'volatility'

>                
                 Editor
(responsible organization / contact person)
>
Called "Owner".  There is both an organization and actors
associated with that organization.
MC:  DC calls for 'Creator'

>                
                 Government
use (international?, nation?, government tier or >domain?)
>
Can be expressed via the classification schemes or its' relationship to
other items.  For example - you could state that a specific data element
is used within a schema by a certain government department.
MC: DC  Seems to repeat some
of what's covered under 'Coverage'

>                
                 Audience
(targetgroup: IT-professionals, public sector employees, business, citizens)

MC:  I always advise caution
when using 'audience'. To use it for finding taxonomies you need a controlled
list of audiences, also most taxonomies are really designed for specific
audiences, so this tends to tune into a meaningless jumble.
>
>                
                 Links
(to the sourcefile or a webservice +  to implementations, e.g. online
portals, specific services etc.)handled via associations.
MC: DC uses 'Relation' with specific
types of relation e.g. IsVersionOf, Is FormatOf

ebXML RIM can do this entire metadata with ease and more  I suggest
that we use the ebXML RIM within this group since it appears to meet all
our requirements plus it is extensible in a forwards compatible manner.

Duane Nickull

-- 
Senior Standards Strategist
Adobe Systems, Inc.
http://www.adobe.com




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