Open AccessRule categories for collection/item metadata relationships
Author(s) -
Wickett Karen M.,
Renear Allen H.,
Urban Richard J.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
proceedings of the american society for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1550-8390
pISSN - 0044-7870
DOI - 10.1002/meet.14504701218
Subject(s) - metadata , computer science , metadata repository , meta data services , information retrieval , rdf , data element , world wide web , testbed , database catalog , geospatial metadata , semantic web
Collections of artifacts, images, texts, and other cultural objects are not arbitrary aggregations, but are designed to support specific research and scholarly activities. Collection‐level metadata directly supports this objective, providing critical contextual information. However, exploiting this information, especially in a semantic web environment of linked data, requires a precise formalization of the rules that characterize collection/item metadata relationships. Toward this end we are developing a logic‐based framework of relationship rule categories for collection/item metadata. This framework will support metadata specification developers, metadata catalogers, and system designers. In earlier work we described three example rule categories for propagation of information from collections to items. Further reflection, and examination of metadata in an RDF testbed, has revealed eighteen categories, which form an interrelated system with three levels of specificity and formal constraints differentiating categories. This paper summarizes the results of a three year effort, part of the IMLS Digital Collections and Content project.