Re: [humanmarkup-comment] Base Schema-culture

[Rex Brooks <rexb@starbourne.com>]

Hi James,

Thanks for the additional information. I'm not making any 
recommendations at this point. It will take me a while to go through 
this, and unfortunately I have a full plate right now and so I 
hesitate to promise I will get to it soon. It may be next weekend 
before I do, or it may be sooner. While I was trying to track down 
this information I got sidetracked by a wealth of side issues without 
getting to the heart of the ontology itself to compare it with what I 
have already looked at in this field. So I just noted that it was 
important and that we need to pay attention to it, and lastly that it 
leads to many resources.

I would rather just explore, but commitments somehow don't get done 
while I do that. Darn!

Ciao,
Rex

At 11:05 AM -0500 8/25/02, James.Landrum wrote:
>Have given the ISO/CD 21127 documentation a once-over review, and will
>scrutinize it further. I have been following the CIMI and related SPECTRUM
>activities for several years now, and have a number of reservations about
>those activities.  I provide some comments below, and please respond on
>these points.
>
>Be aware that the ISO/CD 21127 is a Conceptual Reference Model (CRM), in
>draft or proposed form only at this time- it is not adopted as an
>International Standard yet. Also be ware this has origins within CIMI, and
>CIMI is a proprietary shop, requiring expensive "Member" status to acquire
>or comment on documents, or to participate, for example,  in the CIMI XML
>Schema for the Description of Museum Objects initiative, and other CIMI
>activities, etc. and note the "member only" access to documents on the CIMI
>link pages, e.g., http://www.cimi.org/wg/xml_spectrum/index.html
>
>Note also that the CIMI activity is borne of or extended from previous mda
>and SPECTRUM (The United Kingdom (UK) Museum Documentation Standard)
>activities
>(see http://www.mda.org.uk/spectrum.htm),
>with SPECTRUM currently experiencing revisions,  evolving into a second
>edition.
>See Spectrum Interactive:
>http://www.mda.org.uk/specint.htm
>Note also the fee for membership and access to the documentation.
>
>
>Note also that the parlance is heavily European, and there are some
>important semantic as well as practical considerations with regard for UK
>(and commonwealth nations) ENglish versus US English, etc. despite mention
>of the multilingual and international language codes aspects.
>
>Regardless of the above comments, I am tracking down an implementation of
>this  ISO/CD 21127  item. I believe it will be useful to compare an actual
>implementation of this proposed "standard" for further feasibility study.
>It is one of many items that is under consideration by the NSDL, and there
>are related activities regarding Dublin Core and other cultural heritage
>initiatives, that I am addressing within the context of the ATL's DANA
>project.
>
>At the outset, I sense that the terminology as well as structure of the CRM
>needs refinement, as noted in the documentation and with the understanding
>that this is conceptual reference model, which by definition is more
>abstract, or general in scope and content than a more specific schema such
>as HUML or AnthML are intended to be, and that it is meant to be
>extensible, with options for crosswalks and linkages, etc.
>
>Issue at forefront is where within this CRM would HUML fit with regard to
>specific entities, and is this a feasible fit?  View of this from  our ATL
>projects position within the broader framework, it is relevant to our DANA
>project, and ultimately to the AnthML initiative, and therefore also to
>HUML, however, there appear to be numerous points of consideration
>regarding structure of the CRM with regard for things anthropological
>(e.g., human undertakings- both past and present contexts).
>
>The scope of the CRM is pointedly targeting museums, libraries, etc., and
>does address relevant activities that occur within those arenas,  and does
>address objects and documents, as well as events, but this appears to be
>(more of) a form of information management as well as content management
>for institutions that emphasize the necessity of tracking of objects and
>documents within institutions and with weight placed  upon description of
>activities that occur within museum contexts, e.g., the [practical as well
>as scholarly record of an object (or documents) genesis from initial find,
>through study (identification and analysis), to curation, loan, transfer,
>deaccession, etc.  Importantly, it attempts to synthesize both collection
>level description and item level description under a single umbrella. Among
>other thing, I am somewhat leery of usage of entity labels such as
>"Physical Man-Made Stuff" . Surely there are appropriate alternatives to
>"Stuff" ?  It also appears on the surface to be cumbersome to implement,
>and will require substantial effort to establish and maintain.
>
>
>
>Rex Brooks wrote:
>
>>  This is an important item. It is an ISO standard under developmet for
>>  a ontology of Human Cultures. It also leads, if you care to search to
>>  some very interesting resources.
>>
>>  Ciao,
>>  Rex
>>
>>  At 12:16 AM -0400 8/25/02, Ranjeeth Kumar Thunga wrote:
>>  >ISO's Cultural Heritage Initiative may be something to keep in mind as
>>  >well.
>>  >http://xml.coverpages.org/ni2002-08-20-c.html
>>  >
>>  >Ranjeeth Kumar Thunga
>>  >
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>>  --
>>  Rex Brooks
>>  Starbourne Communications Design
>>  1361-A Addison, Berkeley, CA 94702 *510-849-2309
>>  http://www.starbourne.com * rexb@starbourne.com
>>
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>--
>From the desk of James [Jim] E. Landrum III
>NDSU Archaeology Materials and Technologies Laboratories
>URL = http://atl.ndsu.edu
>Digital Archive Network for Anthropology (DANA).
>DANA URL = http://atl.ndsu.edu/archive
>Email: <James.Landrum@ndsu.nodak.edu>
>Phone: 701-231-8059
>FAX: 701-231-1047
>Voice Mail: 701-231-4228
>
>
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-- 
Rex Brooks
Starbourne Communications Design
1361-A Addison, Berkeley, CA 94702 *510-849-2309
http://www.starbourne.com * rexb@starbourne.com