Collection Description Metadata Element Sets

1. Collection Description Metadata Element Sets Pete Johnston UKOLN, University of BathChair, DC CD WG NISO Metasearch Initiative, Task Group 2Durham, NC, USA22-23 April 2004 http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

2. 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-

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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)

7. e-Lib Simple Collection Description http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/cld/simple/

8. RSLP CD Model and Schema • 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

9. 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)

10. RSLP CD Model

11. 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

12. creates Creator Content is-embodied-in produces Producer Item is-gathered-into Collector collects Collection owns Owner is-located-in administers Administrator Location RSLP CD Schema v Model

13. RSLP CD Schema http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/rslp/schema/

14. RSLP CD Schema

15. 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)

16. 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/

17. TEL AP for Collection Description

18. TEL AP for Collection Description

19. 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/

20. 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

21. DC CD AP (2004-02-01) http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/dcmi/collection-ap-summary/

22. DC CD AP (2004-02-01)

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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

27. is-located-in Location is-located-in Physical Repository is-located-in Electronic Repository Collection – Location (RSLP) Collection Collection Collection Network Service Is Service a subtype of Location? Is relation between Collection and Locationsame as relation between Collection and Service?

28. Collection Service is-located-in Location Collection Physical Service Network Service is-located-in Physical Repository Collection is-located-in Electronic Repository Collection – Location – Service?

29. 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

30. 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?

31. 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/

32. Collection Description Metadata Element Sets Pete Johnston UKOLN, University of BathChair, DC CD WG NISO Metasearch Initiative, Task Group 2Durham, NC, USA22-23 April 2004 http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/