CreatingMetadata

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How to create content for DCMI Metadata

Titles

Title

• dc:title
• dcterms:title

Title is a property that references to the name or names by which a resource is formally known.

Alternative

• dcterms:alternative

Alternative is a property that references to a name or names of a resource used as a substitute or alternative to the formal title. These are secondary titles, abbreviations, translations of a title, etc.

Guidelines for the creation of title content

For the title use the name given to the resource.

title

Alvar Aalto Chair No. 66

as linked data

In most databases title is one of the main criteria to identify search results. So if there is no formal title resp. name you should formulate an adequate one by yourself.

title

Data from a survey about the usage of metadata

as linked data

If there is more than one title resp. name you should repeat the title property

title	Autumn Leaves
title	The Dead Leaves

as linked data

or use the alternative property.

Typically alternative is used for secondary titles

title	Passion for Pulses
alternative	A Feast of Beans, Peas and Lentils from Around the World

as linked data

or for abbreviations

title	American Meteorological Association Newsletter
alternative	AMA Newsletter

as linked data

If the title resp. name is expressed in different languages you should use language tags.

title	La Joconde	fre
title	Mona Lisa	eng
title	La Gioconda	ita

as linked data

the same is true for alternative

title	EU Stability Programm of Belgium	eng
alternative	Council Opinion on the Updated Stability Programm of Belgium 2009 - 2010	eng
alternative	Stellungnahme des Rates zum aktualisierten Stabilitätsprogramm Belgiens für 2009 - 2012	ger

as linked data

It is recommended to describe titles with plain text (as done in the examples above). But sometimes it is necessary to create a relationship between the described resource and a more detailed title description by using a non-literal value.

A non-literal value should be used to reference to a title with different transliterations

title
	in greek	Οιδίπους Τύραννος
	in latin	Oidipous Tyrannos

as linked data

or to reference to a title authority

title	Nibelungenlied Handschrift B
title	nibelungenlied

title	Nibelungenlied Handschrift C
title	nibelungenlied

identifier	nibelungenlied
label	Der Nibelunge Not
alternative label	Nibelungenlied
alternative label	Nibelungenklage
alternative label	Nibelungensage
description	The Nibelungenlied exists of 39 aventiuren created between 1180 and 1210

as linked data

Relationships between Resource and Agents

Using agent properties in Dublin Core

Persons, organizations and services can relate to resources in various ways. DCMI defined only a few common properties to describe the relationship between resources and agents. So when necessary other vocabularies should be used describing these relationships more detailed. In these cases we recommend to use the marcrelator codes. How to use them is described in

• MARC Relator terms and Dublin Core
• MARC Relator properties in Dublin Core metadata

Contributor

• dc:contributor
• dcterms:contributor

The contributor property represents a relationship between the resource and a person, an organization, or a service making a contribution to a resource.

Creator

• dc:creator
• dcterms:creator

The creator property represents a relationship between the resource and a person, an organization, or a service primarily responsible for making the content of a resource.

Publisher

• dc:publisher
• dcterms:publisher

The publisher property represents a relationship between the resource and a person, an organization, or a service responsible for making the resource available and provide access to the resource.

RightsHolder

• dcterms:rightsHolder

This property represents a relationship between the resource and a person or an organization owning or managing rights over this resource.

Guidelines for the creation of content for agents

If you know there is a URI standing for a person or organization you should use it. For further information you should handle the person or organization like another resource.

Example with an organization:

rights holder	gnd	39454-3
	name	Bundesarchiv Koblenz
	homepage	http://www.bundesarchiv.de/index.html.de

as linked data

Example with a person:

contributor	gnd	135066719
	family name	Elliott
	given name	Missy
	nick name	Missy E

as linked data

Regardless of the existence of a URI personal names should be grouped in family name resp. surname as one part of the name and forename resp. given name as the other part .

You should handle the person name like another resource:

creator
	family name	Shakespeare
	given name	William

as linked data

or you could devide these names by comma:

creator

Shakespeare, William

as linked data

When you in doubt about family name and given name give the name as it appears.

contributor

Snoop Dogg

as linked data

If there is more than one contributor/creator/publisher/rightsHolder, each should be listed separately.

like another resource

publisher	gnd	2125990-2
	name	Rossijskaja Gosudarstvennaja Biblioteka
	homepage	http://www.rsl.ru/
publisher
	name	Knižnaja Palata

as linked data

or with plain text

creator	Hubble Telescope
publisher	University of Nowhere
publisher	All Your Data Inc.

as linked data

Type

• dc:type
• dcterms:type

The type property references to a description of the nature or genre of the content of a resource (e.g. a stylistic category, a function or an aggregation level). To describe the physical or digital manifestation, use format.

Guidelines for the creation of type content

We recommend to select a value from a controlled vocabulary (e. g. DCMI Type Vocabulary).

type	dctype
		Still Image

as linked data

But you may also use plain text.

type	Conference

as linked data

If no formal controlled vocabulary exists, you could create a domain specific one.

type	conference

identifier	conference
label	Conference	eng
label	Tagung	ger
label	съезд	rus

as linked data

Is the resource composed of multiple components of different types the property should be repeated.

type	dctype
		Interactive Resource
type	dctype
		Text

as linked data

Different communities use a variety of type vocabularies. To ensure interoperability you can use terms from different vocabularies side by side - e.g. a type of the DCMI Type vocabulary in addition to a non-controlled or domain specific type term.

type
		PC Game
type	dctype
		Software

as linked data

Format

• dc:format
• dcterms:format

The property format references to the file format, the physical medium (e.g. the data storage medium), or the dimension (the size or duration) of a resource. The information can be relevant to determine the equipment needed to display or operate a resource (e.g. if the described resource has format pdf you need a pdf reader to use it). To specify the different categories of format you should use extent and/or. To reference to the nature or genre of the content use type.

Guidelines for the creation of format content

For the description of the file format we recommend to use a controlled vocabulary - e.g. the list of Internet Media Types(MIME).

format

mime

jpeg

as linked data

You should repeat the properties when more than one type of value exists.

format	mime	jpeg
format	40 x 512 pixels

as linked data

Extent

• dcterms:extent

This property references to the size (e.g. bytes, pages, inches, etc.) or duration (e.g. hours, minutes, days, etc.) of a resource.

Guidelines for the creation of extent content

Typically the value used for the description of the extent consists of a numeric value and a caption to specify it. You may use a text string to present it

extent
	21 minutes

as linked data

or use controlled values for the caption.

extent
	minutes	21

as linked data

Medium

• dcterms:medium

This property references to the physical carrier of the resource and may only be used if the resource is of physical nature (e.g. a painting, a sculpture, etc.)

Guidelines for the creation of medium content

Note that the media types must not be used with the property medium because medium describes only physical objects.

We recommend to use a controlled vocabulary. If no formal controlled vocabulary exist you should nonetheless handle the media type like another resource.

medium
	label	oil on wood
	value	oil
	value	wood

as linked data

Language

• dc:language
• dcterms:language

This properties references to the language of the intellectual content of the resource.

Guidelines for the creation of language content

For the identification of languages please follow RFC 4646. Best practice would be to select a value from the three letter language tags of ISO 639 (e.g. http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/codes.asp).

title	A great deliverance
language	ISO 639-3	eng

as linked data

title	A great deliverance
language
	RFC 4646	eng

as linked data

If the content is in more than one language, the property should be repeated.

title	Charlie Wilson's War
language	ISO 639-3	eng
language	ISO 639-3	hun
language	ISO 639-3	tur

as linked data

But if every language version has it's own identifier, they have to be treated like single resources.

Video1

title	Medieval helpdesk with English subtitles
identifier	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ&feature=player_embedded
isVersionOf	Video2
language	ISO 639-3	nor
language	ISO 639-3	eng

Video2

title	Book help (better verson)
identifier	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOorZQLsmuA&feature=related
isVersionOf	Video1
language	ISO 639-3	nor

as linked data

You could also use plain text

title	The Power of Orange Knickers
language	English

as linked data

or create your own language vocabulary.

title	The Power of Orange Knickers
language	english

identifier	english
label	English
ISO 639-1	en
ISO 639-3	eng

as linked data

Identifiers

Identifier

• dc:identifier
• dcterms:identifier

An identifier is an unambiguous reference to a resource. Examples of formal identification systems include the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) - including the Uniform Resource Locator (URL), the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or the International Standard Book Number (ISBN).

BibliographicCitation

• dcterms:bibliographicCitation

BibliographicCitation is a bibliographic reference to a resource identifying the resource by bibliographic details. Typically the described resource is the child in a parent/child relationship where the bibliographicCitation is not describing the relationship but the location of the described resource within the parent resource (e.g. the bibliographic citation of an article consists of the name of a journal as well as the number of volume, issues and even page references). For the description of parent/child relations see hasPart or isPartOf. BibliographicCitation may only be used to describe bibliographic resources like books, articles or other documentary resource.

Guidelines for the creation of identifier content

Best practice is to declare the identification system from which an identifier is selected

title	What's a URI and why does it matter?
identifier	http://www.ltg.ed.ac.uk/~ht/WhatAreURIs/	URI

as linked data

Identifiers should be selected from formal identification systems as above but can also be local identifiers as long as there is a proper declaration of these.

title	Small and medium sized companies in Kathmandu
identifier	03KTM147	local ID

as linked data

Note that the identifier of the description of a resource (e. g. of the metadata record) is not the same as the identifier of the resource itself.

metadata record
created	2010	W3CDTF
identifier	013234098	database ID
my Video
title	Medieval helpdesk with English subtitles
created	2007	W3CDTF
identifier	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ&feature=player_embedded	URI

as linked data

If no identifier from a formal identification system exist, the identifier can be generated by a bibliographic citation. The bibliographic citation can be created as text citations,

title	Prototyping Digital Library Technologies in zetoc
bibliographicCitation	Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2458, 309-323 (2002)

as linked data

or as machine readable citations.

title	Prototyping Digital Library Technologies in zetoc
bibliographicCitation	&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.jtitle=Lecture Notes in Computer Science&rft.volume=2458&rft.spage=309"^^info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx

as linked data

You can also structure the bibliographic information.

title	My first article about metadata
identifier
	journal title	My Favorite Journal
	volume	3
	issue	2
	start page	14
	date	2010

as linked data

For additional information on bibliographicCitation see "Guidelines for Encoding Bibliographic Citation Information in Dublin Core Metadata".

Descriptions

Description

• dc:description
• dcterms:description

This property is used for the description of the content of a resource. The description is a potentially rich source of indexable terms and assist the users in their selection of an appropriate resource. To refine the character of a description use abstract or tableOfContent.

Abstract

• dcterms:abstract

This property is used when the description of a resource is a formal abstract.

TableOfContent

• dcterms:tableOfContent

This property is used when the description of a resource is a structured list of the contents of a resource.

Guidelines for the creation of descriptions

A description may be a free text account,

title	Bugs from New Zealand
description	A box of ten bugs collected in New Zealand between 1845 and 1846

as linked data

an abstract,

title

The Foundations of Programm Verification

abstract

This revised edition provides a precise mathematical background to several program verification techniques. It concentrates on those verification methods that have now become classic, such as the inductive assertions method of Floyd, the axiomatic method of Hoare, and Scott's fixpoint induction. The aim of the book is to present these different verification methods in a simple setting and to explain their mathematical background. In particular the problems of correctness and completeness of the different methods are discussed in some detail and many helpful examples are included.

as linked data

a table of contents,

title	Remains of Claire Klawitter
table of content	Diary 1822 - 1824 -- 20 pictures of Indian farmers -- 5 letters to Rudi Ratlos -- 1 map of North India

as linked data

Or a reference to a description

title	Thriller
description	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(album)

as linked data

You can give some information about the description you reference to.

title	Coriandrum sativum
description	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriander
	title	Coriander
	contributor	Wikipedia

as linked data

If descriptions in different languages exist, the property should be repeated with language tags.

title	Delvig and Kjuchelbeker
abstract	The book is a collection of works of two poets - contemporaries and friends of Pushkin - A. A. Delvig and V. K. Kjuchelbeker. It includes poems and prosa by Kjuchelbeker, parts of his diary, the poem Jurij and Xenia and reviews by Delvig. The attachment presents some retrospections to Delvig and Kjuchelbeker. A detailed biographic description tells us something about the life of the poets.	eng
abstract	Сборник впервые обединяет произведения двух поетов - современиков и друзей Пушкина - А. А. Дельвига и В. К. Кюхельбекера. Наряду со стихотворениями в книгу вклучены проза Кюхельбекера, фрагменты из его дневника, поема "Юрий и Ксения", а также рецензии Дельвига. В "Приложении" печатаются воспоминания о Дельвиге и Кюхельбекерею. Подробные биографические очерки рассказывают о жизненном пути поэтов.	rus

as linked data

Subject

• dc:subject
• dcterms:subject

The property subject represents a relationship between a resource and another resource which is a topic of the first resource rsp. describes the intellectual content of the first resource. If the topic of the resource has a spatial or temporal character, use coverage, spatial or temporal.

Guidelines for describing the subject of a resource

To express the topic of a resource we recommend to use a URI representing another resource describing this topic,

title	Inviato alla Biennale : Venezia, 1949 - 2009
subject	http://www.labiennale.org/en/Home.html
	title	La Biennale di Venezia

as linked data

or a URI representing the value of a controlled vocabulary,

• like entries from authority file systems (e.g. the Library of Congress Subject Headings or the authority files of the German National Library, etc.),

title	My Winter Wonderland
subject	http://id.loc.gov/authorities/sh88004323#concept
	label	Cross-country skiing--Skating

as linked data

• like entries from classification systems ((e.g. the Dewey Decimal Classification, or Linnaean taxonomy, etc.)

title	Transports in Kazakhstan 2000 - 2010
subject	W03_7
subject	G06_3

label	W03.7
name	Freight Transport
broader	W03
narrower	W03.72
narrower	W03.75

label	G06_3
name	Kazakhstan
broader	G06
narrower	G06_31
narrower	G06_35

as linked data

You may also use plain text. But if you need more than one entry to describe the content you should repeat the property.

title	How to get an aircraft
subject	aircraft
subject	leasing

as linked data

If you want to use a keyword or keyphrase in different languages, you should use language tags.

title	KONSTYTUCJA RZECZYPOSPOLITEJ POLSKIEJ
subject
	Rzeczpospolita Polska	pol
	Republic of Poland	eng

as linked data

If the subject is a person or organization you should use names from formal name authorities (e.g. from the Library of Congress Name Authority Headings [1], or from the Virtuell International Authority File [2]).

title	Candle in the wind
subject	gnd	118583549
	family name	Monroe
	given name	Marilyn
	born	1926
	died	1962

as linked data

Coverage

Coverage

• dc:coverage
• dcterms:coverage

The property coverage describes a relationship between a resource and another resource which represents the extent or scope of the content of the first resource. This includes the spatial locations (a place name or geographic co-ordinates), temporal periods (a period label, a date or a date range), or jurisdictions (states, counties, or other administrative entities). If you want to make a destinction between the temporal or spatial character of the content use temporal or spatial.

Temporal

• dcterms:temporal

This property describes the relationship between a resource and another resource which represent the temporal characteristics of the intellectual content of the first resource expressed by period labels or date encoding. If you want to describe date of the lifecycle of a resource use the date properties.

Spatial

• dcterms: spatial

This property describes the relationship between a resource and another resource which represents spatial characteristics of the intellectual content of the first resource expressed by by geographic names, latitude/longitude, or other established georeferencing.

Guidelines for describing the coverage, spatial or temporal character of a resource

To describe the temporal characteristic of a resource

you may use plain text,

title	Transports in Kazakhstan 2000 - 2010
coverage	2000 - 2010

as linked data

or structure your entry using dates,

title	Transports in Kazakhstan 2000 - 2010
temporal
	start	2000	W3CDTF
	end	2010	W3CDTF

as linked data

or period labels.

title	Analysis of rocks collected in Perth
temporal
	start	Cambrian period
	scheme	Geological timescale
	name	Phanerozoic Eon

as linked data

Further information on encoding temporal characteristics you will find in the DCMI Period Encoding Scheme.

To describe the spatial character of a resource, you could use plain text,

title	Analysis of rocks collected in Perth
coverage	Perth, W. A.

as linked data

or express it by georeferencing,

title	Analysis of rocks collected in Perth
spatial
	east	115.85717
	north	-31.95301
	name	Perth, W. A.

as linked data

or reference to a formal encoding.

title	The growth of trees in the suptropical highlands
spatial
	label	Cwb
	source	Köppen-Geiger Climate Classification
	main Climates	warm temperate
	precipitation	winter dry
	temperature	warmest month averaging below 22°C

as linked data

Further information on encoding spatial characteristics you will find in the DCMI Box Encoding Scheme and the DCMI Point Encoding Scheme.

Dates

Date

• dc:date
• dcterms:date

The property date references to a description of any dates or ranges in the lifecycle of a resource and is typically associated with the creation or availability. If the destinction between different sorts of date is necessary, the following subproperties should be used. If a date is describing the content of a resource the properties coverage or temporal have to be used.

Created

• dcterms: created

This property references to a description of the date or range of the creation of a resource. According to the one-to-one principle this has to be the creation date of the resource being described and not the creation date of any other resource from which the described resource derives (e.g. a former version or a superior resource). So a resource is created only once, every other date of creation belongs to another resource that has to be described on its own.

Issued

• dcterms:issued

This property references to a description of the date of the formal issuance resp. publication of a resource. A resource is issued only once, every other issuance belongs to another resource that has to be described on its own. If the issuance of a resource is not formal the property "available" should be used.

Available

• dcterms:available

This property references to a description of the date a resource did become or will become available. A resource becomes available only once, every other availability belongs to another resource that has to be described on its own. If the availability of a resource starts with the formal issuance resp. publication use "issued".

Modified

• dcterms:modified

This property references to a description of the date a resource was changed. You may record every date a resource was modified by repeating this property or record only one date (this should be the last one).

Valid

• dcterms:valid

This property references to a description of the date or range a resource is, was or will be valid. This property should be used if a resource is only valid resp. relevant until a particular date.

DateCopyrighted

• dcterms:dateCopyrighted

This property references to a description of the date or range of the copyright of the resource.

DateSubmitted

• dcterms:dateSubmitted

This property references to a description of the date a resource was submitted (e.g. a thesis at a university department, an article at the editorial board of a journal, etc.).

DateAccepted

• dcterms:dateAccepted

This property references to a description of the date a resource was accepted (e.g. a thesis by a university department, an article by the editorial board of a journal, etc.)

Guidelines for the creation of content for dates

For the structure of date properties we recommend the usage of the W3CDTF profile of ISO 8601 [W3CDTF]. It allows to sort search results by date and facilitates the merging of metadata of different applications.

You should use this encoding for a point in time

 ex:myPicture dcterms:created "2003-04-10"^^dcterms:W3CDTF .

but must not use it with a range,

 ex:myDraft dcterms:valid "2007-05-06/2007-07-15" .

or when the date is located before the common area.

 ex:mySculpture dcterms:created "-500"

If you need to encode range data, make a distinction of start and end date.

ex:myDraft dcterms:date _:thisValidity .

_:thisValidity ex:start "2007-05-06"^^dcterms:W3CDTF ;
               ex:end "2007-07-15"^^dcterms:W3CDTF .

If the complete date is unknown you should use

month and year

 ex:myMusic dcterms:available "2006-07"^^dcterms:W3CDTF .

or only the year

 ex:myBook dcterms:issued "2009"^^dcterms:W3CDTF .

If more than one date of the same type (e.g. modified) is recorded, the property must be repeated.

 ex:mySoftware dcterms:modified "2009-12-22"^^dcterms:W3CDTF ,
                                "2010-01-08"^^dcterms:W3CDTF ,
                                "2010-02-15"^^dcterms:W3CDTF .
                 

Since a resource has only one date of creation, issuance, availability and/or copyright you may repeat the properties created, issued, available and dateCopyrighted only if you want to provide the same date in another structure.

 ex:myScript dcterms:created "1752"^^dcterms:W3CDTF ,
                             "probably after 1752" .

instead of a plain text

 ex:mySculpture dc:created "approx. 500 B.C."

you may also handle the date like another resource.

 ex:mySculpture dc:date _:mySculptureDate .
 _mySculptureDate ex:year "500" ;
                  ex:qualifer "approx." ;
                  ex:epoch "B.C." .

Another date of creation, issuance, availability and/or copyright however belongs to another resource that has to be described on its own. The relation of both resources may be described by one of the relation properties or by "source"

 ex:myData dcterms:created "2004-07-19"^^dcterms:W3CDTF ;
           dcterms:source ex:oldData .

 ex:oldData dcterms:created "2002-09-28"^^dcterms:W3CDTF .

Source, Relation and its subproperties

Relation

• dc:relation
• dcterms:relation

Relation references to a resource that is related to the described resource in some way. Such relationship may be expressed reciprocally but this is not required and depends on the sort of relation. If the relation shall be specified more precicely the following (sub)properties should be used.

Source

• dc:source
• dcterms:source

Source references to a resource from which the described resource is derived in whole or in part (e.g. data of a climate centre are the source of a forecast, a book or journal is the source of a scan, etc.)

IsPartOf

• dcterms:isPartOf

This property references to a resource of which the described resource is a physical or logical part (e.g. a painting as part of a collection, an article as part of a journal, etc.). The described resource is like a "child" in a hierarchical or "parent/child" relationship. For the reciprocal statement use hasPart.

HasPart

• dcterms:hasPart

This property references to a resource which is a physical or logical part of the described resource (e.g. the described resource is a collection of paintings, or a journal with different articles, etc.). The described resource is like the "parent" in a hierarchical or "parent/child" relationship. For the reciprocal statement use isPartOf.

IsVersionOf

• dcterms:isVersionOf

This property references to a former version, edition or adaptation of the described resource (e.g. the described resource is the revision of a book, or another recording of a song, etc.). Another version implies changes in the content of a resource. For resources with different formats use isFormatOf. For the reciprocal statement use hasVersion.

HasVersion

• dcterms:hasVersion

This property references to a later version, edition or adaptation of the described resource (e.g. the described resource is the older version of a revised book, or of a song, etc.). Another version implies changes in the content of a resource. For resources with different formats use hasFormat. For the reciprocal statement use isVersionOf.

IsFormatOf

• dcterms.isFormatOf

This property references to a former version of the described resource with the same intellectual content but presented in another format (e.g. the described resource is the microfilm version of a printed book, or the pdf version of a doc document). For intellectual changes between resources use isVersonOf. For the reciprocal statement use hasFormat.

HasFormat

• dcterms:hasFormat

This property references to a later version of the described resource with the same intellectual content but presented in another format (e.g. the desribed resource is a printed book that is also availabel as a microfilm, or a doc document that is also available as pdf). For intellectual changes between resources use hasVersion. For the reciprocal statement use isFormatOf.

Replaces

• dcterms:replaces

This property references to a resource that has been supplanted, displaced or superseeded by the described resource. It is used for the valid version in chain of versions (e.g. the described resource is the the last draft of a contract, or the current version of guidelines). For the reciprocal statement use isReplacedBy.

IsReplacedBy

• dcterms:isReplacedBy

This property references to a resource that supplants, displaces or superseedes the described resource. It is used, when in chain of versions only one version is valid (e.g. the described resource is one of the former drafts of a contract, or a former version of guidelines). For the reciprocal statement use replaces.

Requires

• dcterms:requires

This property references to a resource supporting the function, delivery or coherence of the content of the described resource (e.g. the described resource is an application that can be used only with a particular software, or hardware). For the reciprocal statement use isRequiredBy.

IsRequiredBy

• dcterms:isRequiredBy

The described resource is necesssary for the function, delivery or coherence of the content of the resource the property references to (e.g. the described resource is a software or hardware necesssary to use a particular application). For the reciprocal statement use requires.

References

• dcterms:references

This property references to a resource that is cited, referenced, or otherwise pointed to by the described resource (e.g. the described resource is an article citing a book, or an interview pointing to a play). For the reciprocal statement use isReferencedBy.

IsReferencedBy

• dcterms:isReferencedBy

This property references to a resource that points to the described resource by citation, acknowledgement, etc (e.g. the described resource is a book cited in an article, or a play pointed to in an interview, etc.). For the reciprocal statement use references.

ConformsTo

• dcterms:conformsTo

This property references to an established standard, to which the described resource conforms (e.g. a metadata record that conforms to the RDA standard, or a pipe that conforms to ISO 3183, etc.)

Guidelines for the creation of content for relations and source

You may reference to the related resource by plain text or by a URI representing the related resource. If you use plain text, you should use a formal citation.

ex:myScan dcterms:issued "2009"^^dcterms:W3CDTF ;
          dcterms:isFormatOf "Eike von  Repgow: Sachsenspiegel, Auffs newe vbersehen mit Summarijs vnd Additionen ...; 
          Leipzig 1561/1563" .

However recommended best practice is to use an identifier instead of text,

ex:myData dcterms:conformsTo http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema .

or to handle the related resources like another resource.

ex:myArticle dcterms:referencesTo _:articlesReference .
_:articlesReference dc:creator "Black, Carl" ;
                    dc:contributor "White, Stuart" ;
                    dc:title "Black and White"
                    dc:date "1988"^^dcterms:W3CDTF

If there is more than one relation of the same sort you have to repeat the property:

ex:myGame dcterms:requires "Pentium II 450 MHz or AMD K-6 450 MHz ,
                           "Windows 98/ME/2000SP2/XP ,
                           "1.2 GB" .

If both resources of a relationship are described the relation could be expressed reciprocally whereupon reciprocality could be generated automatically

ex:mySong dcterms:title "Candle in the wind" ;
          dcterms:issued "1973"^^dcterms:W3CDTF;
          dcterms:description "Portayal of the life of Marilyn Monroe" ;
          dcterms:hasVersion ex:mySong2

ex:mySong2 dcterms:title "Candle in the wind" ;
           dcterms:alternative "Goodbye England's Rose" ;
           dcterms:issued "1997"^^dcterms:W3CDTF ;
           dcterms:description "Tribut to the dead princess of Wales" ;
           dcterms:isVersionOf ex:mySong .

legacy namspace vs. terms namespace

For all properties listed in the relation chapter applies that neither in the terms namespace nor in the legacy namespace (dc:relation and dc:source) a range was defined.

Literal vs. Non-Literal Value

All properties concerning relations may be used either with literal values

ex:myPainting dcterms:title "Still Life" ;
              dc:creator "Mignon, Abraham" ;
              dcterms:isPartOf "Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. The Masterpieces special" .
                 

or with non-literal values.

ex:myPainting dcterms:title "Still Life" ;
              dc:creator "Mignon, Abraham" ;
              dcterms:isPartOf http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/meesterwerken
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/meesterwerken dcterms:title "The Masterpieces special"
                                        dc:contributor "Rijksmuseum Amsterdam"

Rights

Rights

• dc:rights
• dcterms:rights

Rights provides information about rights held in and over a resource. This includes information like access rights, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), copyrights, references to legal documents describing how to use a resource, etc. To specify rights more precicely use accessRights or license.

AccessRights

• dcterms:accessRights

Information about who can access a resource or an indication of its security status. Access rights provides information about restrictions to view, search or use a resource based on attributes of the resource itself or the category of user.

License

• dcterms:license

The property refers to a legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource (e.g. an otherwise free resource may not be used for reproduction within commercial applications). Examples of such licenses you will find at http://creativecommons.org/.

Guidelines for the creation of rights content

A rights statement may be plain text,

ex:myDatabase dcterms:title "Data from my last evaluation" ;
              dcterms:accessRights "my friends only" .

or a URL referencing to the rights information,

 ex:myPicture dc:title "You and me" ;
              dc:rights "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode"^^dcterms:URI .

or a combination of both

ex:mySoftware dcterms:title "GeoNetwork - Geographic Metadata Catalog ;
              dcterms:license "GNU General Public License ,
                              "http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html"^^dcterms:URI .

To identify a license recommended best practise is to use a URI

ex:myBook dcterms:title "News from the South" ;
          dcterms:license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/legalcode .

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/legalcode dcterms:title "Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported" .

legacy vs. terms namespace

The usage of the terms namespace (dcterms:rights, dcterms:accessRights and dcterms:license) differs from the usage of the legacy namespace (dc:rights) by the definition of a range for the first. dcterms:rights and dcterms:accessRights have a range of the class RightsStatement. So values used with these properties have to be instances of this class. dc:license has a range of the class LicenseDocument and values used with this property have to instances of this class.

Literal vs. Non-literal Values

All rights properties may be used either with literal values,

ex:myVideo dcterms:accessRights "May be used only by members of the myProject" .

or with non-literal values.

ex:myDocuments dcterms:rights _:accessConditions

_:accessConditions dcterms:title "Access to my stuff"
                   dcterms:description "Resources under this right can only be read, searched and 
                   used by members of the myProject" .  

Special properties for the description of education material

Audience

• dcterms:audience

The property audience references to a class of persons for whom the resource is intended or useful (e.g. the resource is a textbook for psychologists, etc.). To specify an audience more precisely use mediator or educationLevel.

Mediator

• dcterms:mediator

This property references to a class of persons who mediate access to the resource and for whom it is intended or useful. This might be teachers, parents etc. (e.g. teachers are mediators for a resource intended to be used in elementary school lessons)

EducationLevel

• dcterms:educationLevel

This property references to the education or training context in which the resource is intended to use resp. useful. More specific it might describe the progress of an audience through the education or training process (e.g. the resource is an English workbook for students of the 4th - 5th grade).

InsctructionalMethod

• dcterms:instructionalMethod

This property references to the process used to engender knowledge, attitudes and skills, that the described resource is designed to support. Typically it includes ways of presenting instructional materials or conducting instructional activities, patterns of learner-to-learner and learner-to-instructor interactions, and mechanisms by which group and individual levels of learning are measured. Instructional methods include all aspects of the instruction and learning processes from planning and implementation through evaluation and feedback.

Guidelines for the creation of content for properties describing education material

You should use formal or informal controlled vocabularies. Though none are registered by DCMI, implementors are encouraged to develop local lists of values, and to use them consistently.

ex:myTextbook dcterms:audience _:myAudience.
_:myAudience rdf:value "Psychologists" .

ex:myTutorial dcterms:mediator _:myMediator .
_:myMediator rdf:value "ESL teachers" .

ex:myWorkbook dcterms:educationLevel _:myLevel .
_:myLevel rdf:value "4th - 5th grade"
 
ex:myLesson dcterms:InstructionalMethod _:myMethod . 
_:myMethod rdf:value "Experiential learning"

legacy namespace vs. terms namespace

There is no legacy namespace for the above described properties. For the terms namespaces the following ranges are defined:

• audience and mediator and educationLevel have a range of the class AgentClass
• instructionalMethod has a range of the class MethodOfInstruction

Literal vs. Non-literal Values

All above described properties can only be used with non-literal values.

Special properties for the description of collections

AccrualMethod

• dcterms:accrucalMethod

This property references to the method by which items are added to a collection.

AccrualPeriodicity

• dcterms:accrucalPeriodicity

This property references to the frequency with wich items are added to a collection.

AccrualPolicy

• dcterms:accrualPolicy

This property references to the policy governing the addition of items to a collection.

Guidelines for the creation of content for properties describing collections

Resources described by these properties have to be collections. We recommend to use values of formal or informal controlled vocabularies.

ex:myCollection dcterms:accrualMethod ex:purchase ;
                dcterms:accrualPeriodicity ex:irregular ;
                dcterms:accrualPolicy _:myPolicy.
ex:purchase rdfs:label "Purchase" .
ex:irregular rdfs:label "Irregular" .
_:myPolicy rdf:value "Objects of this collection have to be Scandinavian ceramics from 1940s to 1980s."

legacy namespace vs. terms namespace

There is no legacy namespace for the above described properties. For all properties in this section a domain of the class collection has been defined. So these properties can only be used to descibe collections. Furthermore the following ranges are defined:

• accrualMethod has a range of the class MethodofAccrual
• accrualPeriodicity has a range of the class Frequency
• accrualPolicy has a range of the class Policy.

Literal vs. Non-literal Values

All above described properties can only be used with non-literal values.

Provenance

• dcterms:provenance

This property is used for describing changes in ownership and custody. The statement should include any changes of the resource that are significant for its authenticity, integrity and interpretation.

Guidelines for the creation of content for provenance

The description of the provenance of a resource includes all changes made to a resource.

ex:myResource dcterms:title "Luxor Obelisk"
              dctems:provenance _:obeliskProvenance .

_:obeliskProvenance rdf:value "Originally located at the entrance to the Luxor temple the 
                               obelisk came to Paris in 1836 as a gift by Muhammad Ali Pasha." .

legacy namspace vs. terms namespace

The Range for the provenance property is the class ProvenanceStatement.

Literal vs. Non-Literal Values

Provenance may only be used with non-literal values.

ex:myBook dc:provenance _:MyOwner .

_:MyOwner rdf:value "This copy once owned by Benjamin Spock." .

Dublin Core Metadata Initiative

Uniform Resource Identifier

Portable Document Format

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions

International Organization for Standardization

Request For Comment

Uniform Resource Locator

Digital Object Identifier

International Standard Book Number

Identifier

Resource Description and Access