CIMI: Consortium for the Interchange of Museum Information Dublin Core (DC) Metadata Testbed Lynn Ann Underwood July 1999 Museum Records Manager Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Jan 14, 2016
CIMI: Consortium for the Interchange of Museum Information
Dublin Core (DC) Metadata Testbed
Lynn Ann Underwood July 1999Museum Records ManagerSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum
What is CIMI?
“A group of institutions and organizations that encourages an open standards-based approach to the management and delivery of digital museum information.”
Formed 1990.Recent Projects:
Z39.50 IIM (Integrated Information Management) Dublin Core (DC) Metadata Testbed
Metadata? What Are We Talking About?
Metadata is a fashionable term. Used to describe People, Places, & Objects (Resources). Structured data about data.
Cataloguing, indexing, documentation is one type of Metadata.
Commonly associated with electronic and networked information. Databases & Web Pages
CIMI’s definition acknowledges museums document objects/items, collections, programs, staff, etc..
Purpose for CIMI is information retrieval.
How is Metadata Used?
Information Retrieval Fielded searching facilitates resource
discovery. Document AdministrationRights ManagementSales & ServiceSecurity & AuthenticationArchival Status
Metadata as part of a Resource Description Community
A resource description community is characterized by common semantic, structural and syntactic conventions used for the exchange of information.
Through the use of detailed standards MARC & AACR2 the library community promotes interoperability.
While the art community formed the Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) and the Categories for the Description of Works of Art (CDWA), specifically the art museum community can use these in addition to metadata to share resources.
Why Use Dublin Core?
A useful tool to refine web searching.Repurpose information that already exists. It is easier to adopt an interdisciplinary
standard already in use. Interoperability: Allows different communities
(libraries, archives, businesses, museums, etc.) to search for data using a common basis.
Establishes a basis for next-generation projects.
InteroperabilitySemantics
The meaning of the elements
Structure human-readable machine-parseable
Syntax grammars to convey
semantics and structure
HTMLMARCRDF(XML)
ResourceDescriptionCommunities(e.g. DC, AACR2)
The Dublin Core
TitleCreatorSubjectDescriptionPublisherContributorDate Type
FormatIdentifierSource LanguageRelationCoverage Rights
DC “Simple”
“Simple” or unqualified DC is comprised of the 15 elements with no further content definition.
Current “simple” definitions are based on IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) RFC 2413 document.
The CIMI working group resisted the temptation to move directly to qualified DC.
Instead CIMI rigorously tested DC “Simple” and it is considered the primary application testing “Simple”.
This process heightened the group’s awareness for the need for qualifiers (element & value).
DC Qualified
Qualified adds descriptive precision in retrieving a resource. This is achieved through the development of a substructure. For instance “Role” is a desired term to further describe, or “qualify”, the CREATOR element. Creator=Name.Creator Role=Artist
Qualified also allows for terms to be drawn from controlled vocabularies (LCSH, AAT) or classification schemes (DDC). The use of hierarchies provides further definition (semantic specificity). Guggenheim family -- art patronage
Caution of using DC Qualified is that elements must degrade gracefully to preserve interoperability.
DC Qualified DC Qualified is a currently under development by
DC Working groups.
Working Groups: DC- Agents (Creator, Contributor, Publisher) DC-Coverage DC-Date DC-Format DC-Relation (Source, Relation) DC-Subdesc (Subject Description, Language) DC-Title (Title, Identifier) DC-Type *no working group for rights
DC Requirements
All 15 DC elements are optional.
All 15 DC elements may be repeated.
Proposed changes to the 15 core elements must be made through the framework of the DC working group.
DC Requirements1:1 Principal
“...one object (or collection), resource, or instantiation can only be described within a single metadata record.”
1:1 is not formally adopted.This principal, along with the DC Type
field, assists with description of the resource.
RDF (Resource Description Framework) reinforces the 1:1 rule.
XML: eXtensible Markup Language
Based on SGML.
Encoding syntax.
Tools under development.
RDF: Resource Discovery Framework
A scaleable or “extensible” data model.It provides a framework for exchanging
different types of metadata. Types of Metadata (GLIS, INDECES, IMS)
Intended to be machine generated and understandable.
The Request for Comment (RFC) was announced in March 1999
The Dublin Core Serves as a Filter
A User A ResourceDublin Core‘filter’
DC.title
DC.creator
DC.subject
DC...
mapping/ crosswalk
Using DC “Simple”, we can map data from detailed records directly to the Dublin Core.
Creator
Subject
Coverage...
Artist’s NameType of Work
Period depictedPlace depicted
...
SurnameForename
Title...
Why DC for Museums
Museum community requires a method to access databases with different underlying schemas because the community historically lacks content standards.
Web provides museums with an opportunity to share with other museums, libraries, archives, individuals, through the use of commonly understood semantics.
What is Museum Specific?
Emphasis on attributes of physical objects.
Associate physical object with persons, places, and events.
Need to describe items, collections, institutions, people, and events.
Need to account for surrogates such as photographs.
Museum Metadata Model
Collectionof Works
Work/Object
Work/Object
Lecture onWork
Photograph
RelatedDocument
Digital Audio ofLecture
Sample of Scan
Scan ofPhotograph
Digital form ofr elated document
Extensive CatalogRecord
Collectionof Works
Work/Object
Work/Object
Lecture onWork
Photograph
RelatedDocument
Metadata recordabout thecollection
Metadata recordabout the related
document
Metadata recordabout the
work
Metadata recordabout the lecture
on the work
Metadata recordabout the
photograph
Metadata recordabout the scan ofthe photograph
Metadata recordabout the sample
of the scan
Digital Audio ofLecture
Sample of Scan
Scan ofPhotograph
Digital form ofr elated document
Extensive CatalogRecord
Collectionof Works
Work/Object
Work/Object
Lecture onWork
Photograph
RelatedDocument
CIMI Assumptions for Museums DC is appropriate for use in describing both
physical and digital resources. DC is easy to learn and simple to use: Is it usable
by non-cataloguers? Information can be meaningfully and efficiently
extracted from existing museum systems in order to populate DC records.
The creation of a DC record to describe a museum is cost-effective.
DC aids the discovery of resources more than access to the underlying Collection Management System might.
CIMI Identifies DC Challenges for Museums
Tension: functionality and simplicity. Tension: extensibility and
interoperability.Human and machine creation and
use.Community-specific functionality,
creation, administration, access.
Testbed Participants
Involvement of over 18 participants both 1998 & 1999. Access Providers Software Vendors Technical Support Personnel Content Providers
Cultural HeritageArtNatural History
Guggenheim Records
The Guggenheim has approximately 5,600 records in an Access database.
Of the 15 DC Elements only a handful could be mapped.
Guggenheim Records
Due to the fact that Guggenheim records scarcely populated the 15 DC elements, my methodology to test DC elements was to build 134 records from scratch.
This process of creating more robust records helped identify documentation projects, such as the addition of subject terms, etc.
It also helped address information integration issues within the museum.
Guggenheim Records
Creating Object, Collection, Institution, & Event records required information to be brought together from different departments. For object records I combined information from the
database with data from the curatorial and registrar files. Data for collection records was drawn from electronic
and paper files in addition to our web site. Institution records were created using our web site and
print catalogue information. For event records I used exhibition publications,
brochures, and our web site.
Guggenheim Contribution
The 134 full or “rich” records describe individual artworks, collections, the museum, and events.
Also contributed were over 5,600+ collection records exported from the collection database.
Intended to be an exporting routine, most museums may find, as we did, that their DC records are not very robust.
By providing the testbed with both rich and sparse records further user testing will benefit.
Testbed Products
Guide to Best Practice: Dublin Core http://www.cimi.org/documents/meta_bestprac>VO31.html
Drafted Winter 1998 Peer Review Spring 1999 Published Summer 1999
Over 300,000 record repository Contains museums, collections, artifacts DC “Simple” records both created by hand or
exported from legacy systems.
Outcomes
DC is (sort of) easy to use.
DC works for museum information.
DC is a machete, not a Scalpel.
Further evaluation is necessary.
Need to express more complexity.
Can be mapped to other standards.
Community will require guidance.
15 “simple” elements will work for museum data.
Lose ability to express complexities (dates).
Non-intuitive fielding of information (materials, methods, techniques, and creators of surrogates.)
Outcomes: CIMI Institute
Responses included: Need for more concrete examples, DC, XML, RDF.
Would like guidance on how to implement including storage strategies for archiving, retrievablity and architecture.
Fuller description of tools.
More discussion on cost.
Practical examples from the end user’s perspective. What does this look like to the user who is searching for the resource (delivery mechanism).
Summary
DC is useful for museum information needs.
Qualification of DC is developing.Web Infrastructure is developing
(HTML, XML, RDF).Tools are beginning to appear and
evolve.Interoperability testbeds are underway.
WWW Infrastructure Evolving
Resource Description Framework (RDF) will allow rich metadata semantics for documents http://www.w3.org/RDF/
Extensible Markup Language (XML) will allow highly structured documents and rich
linking (relationship) capabilities http://www.w3.org/XML/
Uniform Resource Names (URNs) will allow for persistent, globally unique identifiers
Resources
DC Home Page http://purl.org/dc
Metadata Matters http://www.nla.gov.au/meta
IFLA Metadata Resources page http://www.ifla.org/II/metadata.ht.
Dlib Magazine (all DC workshop reports)
Resources
Dublin Core Homepage http://purl.org/dc
Proposed Recommendation of the DC Metadata Initiative http://purl.org/dc/elements/1:1 Modifications to this document will replace RFC
2413
RFC 2413 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2413.txt
Resources: Metadata Tools
DC Dot (UKOLN) http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/dcdot
Reggie (DSTC) http://metadata.net The aim of the Reggie Metadata Editor is to enable the easy creation
of various forms of metadata with the one flexible program. As it stands, the Reggie
applet can create metadata using the HTML 3.2 standard, the HTML 4.0 standard, the RDF (Resource
Description Framework) format and the RDF Abbreviated format.
Resources: Metadata Tools
Nordic DC Metadata Template http://www.lub.lu.se/cgi-bin/nmdc.pl
CORC (OCLC) http://purl.oclc.org/corc
Resources: Metadata Tools
SEED (Search Engine Evaluation & Development), University of Wolverhampton Researched the automatic classification of web
pages, initial work focused on Dewey Decimal Classification
http://scitsd.wlv.ac.uk:8080/metadata.html
DC Example Record
<?xml version="1.0" ?><dc-record><type>image</type><type>original</type><type>item</type><type>cultural</type><format>dimensions variable</format><title>Double Closed Copper Wall</title><description>A conceptual artwork that must be constructed to berealized.</description><subject>conceptual art</subject><subject>visual works</subject><subject>sculpture</subject><subject>Panza Collection</subject><subject>minimalism</subject><subject>Judd, Donald</subject><creator>Judd, Donald</creator><contributor>Panza di Biumo, Giuseppe</contributor><publisher>Guggenheim Museum, Solomon R.</publisher><date>1974</date><identifier>91.3726</identifier><relation>IsPartOf Panza Collection</relation><rights>Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum</rights><rights>Panza Collection, 1991</rights></dc-record>
DC Example RecordExample B.7 - Item Record describing the Fabrication of a ConceptualArtwork
<?xml version="1.0" ?><dc-record><type>image</type><type>original</type><type>item</type><type>cultural</type><format>49 x 875 x 50 inches</format><title>Double Closed Copper Wall, Hamburg, Germany February 4, 1999 toMay 18,1999</title><description>A conceptual artwork that must be constructed to berealized.</description><subject>visual works</subject><subject>sculpture</subject><subject>Panza Collection</subject><subject>minimalism</subject><subject>Judd, Donald</subject><creator>Judd, Donald</creator><contributor>Art Fabrications, Inc.</contributor><publisher>Guggenheim Museum, Solomon R.</publisher><date>1999-02-04/1999-05-18</date><identifier>91.3726 1999-02-04/1999-05-18</identifier><relation>IsVersionOf Double Closed Copper Wall</relation><relation>IsVersionOf 91.3726</relation><relation>IsPartOf Panza Collection</relation><rights>Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum</rights><rights>Panza Collection, 1991</rights></dc-record>
DC Dot Dublin Core Generator
<link rel="schema.DC" href="http://purl.org/dc"> <meta name="DC.Title" content="GUGGENHEIM MUSEUMS"> <meta name="DC.Publisher" content="CERFnet"> <meta name="DC.Type" content="Text"> <meta name="DC.Format" content="text/html"> <meta name="DC.Format" content="550 bytes"> <meta name="DC.Identifier" content="http://www.guggenheim.org">
DC Dot Dublin Core Generator: RDF
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.0/"> <rdf:Description about="http://www.guggenheim.org" dc:title="GUGGENHEIM MUSEUMS" dc:publisher="CERFnet" dc:type="Text" > <dc:format> <rdf:Bag rdf:_1="text/html" rdf:_2="550 bytes" /> </dc:format> </rdf:Description></rdf:RDF>
DC Dot Guggenheim Enhanced (1 of 2)
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.0/"> <rdf:Description about="http://www.guggenheim.org Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum" dc:title="Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum" dc:creator="Guggenheim, Solomon R." dc:subject="Bilbao, Spain Berlin, Germany New York, New York, USA Venice, Italy Guggenheim, Solomon R. artworks Krens, Thomas Kandinsky, Wassily Brancusi, Constantin Calder, Alexander Chagall, Marc Delaunay, Robert Klee, Paul Miro, Joan Picasso, Pablo Hilla von Rebay Foundation Museum of Nonobjective Painting Thannhauser, Justin K. Thannhauser, Hilde Guggenheim, Peggy Peggy Guggenheim Collection Panza di Biumo, Giuseppe Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation Mapplethorpe, Robert Conceptual art Twentieth Century post-1945 fine arts styles and movements nonobjective art organizations, nonprofit Art Museums Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Messer, Thomas M. Thannhauser collection"
DC Dot Guggenheim Enhanced (2 of 2)
dc:description="The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is comprised of five related museums. In addition to the New York City Fifth Avenue location, there is also Guggenheim SoHo, NYC, Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain, Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Italy" dc:publisher="Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum" dc:contributor="Thannhauser, Justin K. Thannhauser, Hilde Guggenheim, Peggy Panza di Biumo, Giuseppe Messer, Thomas M. Krens, Thomas Rebay, Hilla Von Sweeney, James Johnson" dc:date="1920" dc:type="Text Image Sound Place Physical Object Original Collection Cultural" dc:relation="IsPartOf Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation References http://www.guggenheim.org" dc:rights="Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum" > <dc:format> <rdf:Bag rdf:_1="text/html" rdf:_2="550 bytes"/> </dc:format> </rdf:Description></rdf:RDF>
Thank You!
Lynn Ann UnderwoodMuseum Records ManagerDocumentation & RecordsSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum575 Broadway, 3rd floorNew York, NY [email protected]: (212) 423-3871Telefax: (212) 360-4340