Dublin Core

• 1995 - In 1995 an invitational meeting hosted by the OCLC Online Computer Library Center and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) takes place at Dublin, Ohio, the headquarters of OCLC.{{cite web|url=http://www.dublincore.org/news/1995/03-01-the-oclcncsa-metadata-workshop-the-essential-elements-of-network-object-description/ |title=DCMI: The OCLC/NCSA Metadata Workshop: The Essential Elements of Network Object Description|website=dublincore.org|date=March 1995|access-date=13 October 2019}}
• 1998, September - RFC 2413 "Dublin Core Metadata for Resource Discovery" details the original 15-element vocabulary.{{cite journal |last1=Weibel |first1=S. |last2=Kunze |first2=J. |last3=Lagoze |first3=C. |last4=Wolf |first4=M. |title=Dublin Core Metadata for Resource Discovery |url=https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2413 |website=RFC Editor |date=September 1998 |access-date=3 June 2024}}
• 2000 - Issuance of Qualified Dublin Core.
• 2001 - Publication of the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set as ANSI/NISO Z39.85.{{cite web |url=https://webstore.ansi.org/preview-pages/NISO/preview_ANSI+NISO+Z39.85-2001.pdf|publisher=ANSI/NISO|date=2001|title=ANSI/NISO Z39.85-2001}}
• 2008 - Publication of Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Terms in RDF.{{cite journal |last=Baker |first=Tom |title=Libraries, languages of description, and linked data: a Dublin Core perspective |journal=Library Hi Tech |volume=30 |number=1 |pages=116–133 |date=2012 |issn=0737-8831 |doi=10.1108/07378831211213256}}{{cite web |url=https://www.dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dces/2012-06-14/ |title=Expressing Dublin Core Metadata Using RDF |website=Dublin Core Metadata Initiative |date=2012-06-14 }}

The Dublin Core Element Set was a response to concern about accurate finding of resources on the Web, with some early assumptions that this would be a library function. In particular it anticipated a future in which scholarly materials would be searchable on the World Wide Web. Whereas HTML was being used to mark-up the structure of documents, metadata was needed to mark-up the contents of documents. Given the great number of documents on the World Wide Web and those soon to be added to it, it was proposed that "self-identifying" documents would be necessary.{{cite journal |last=Weibel |first=S.L. |date=1995 |title=The World Wide Web and emerging Internet resource discovery standards for scholarly literature |journal=Library Trends|volume=-43|number=4|pages=627–44}}{{cite journal |last=Weibel |first=S. |date=1995 |title=Metadata: the foundations of resource description |journal=D-Lib Magazine

|doi=10.1045/july95-weibel |doi-access=free |url=http://www.dlib.org/dlib/July95/07weibel.html}}

To this end, the Dublin Core Metadata Workshop met beginning in 1995 to develop a vocabulary that could be used to insert consistent metadata into Web documents.{{cite journal |last1=Weibel |first1=S. |last2=Lagoze |first2=C. |title=An element set to support resource discovery |journal=International Journal of Digital Libraries|volume=1 |pages=176–186 |date=1997 |issue=2 |doi=10.1007/s007990050013}} Originally defined as 15 metadata elements, the Dublin Core Element Set allowed authors of web pages a vocabulary and method for creating simple metadata for their works.{{cite journal |last1=Greenberg |first1=Jane |first2=Maria Cristina |last2=Pattuelli |first3=Bijan |last3=Parsia |first4=W. |last4=Davenport Robertson|title=Author-generated Dublin Core metadata for web resources: a baseline study in an organization In |journal=Proceedings of the International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications|date=2001}} It provided a simple, flat element set that could be used

Qualified Dublin Core was developed in the late 1990s to provide an extension mechanism to the vocabulary of 15 elements. This was a response to communities whose metadata needs required additional detail.

In 2012, the DCMI Metadata Terms was created using a RDF data model.{{cite web|url=http://dublincore.org/documents/dcmi-terms/ |title=DCMI Metadata Terms |publisher=Dublincore.org |access-date=2015-12-04}} This expanded element set incorporates the original 15 elements and many of the qualifiers of the qualified Dublin Core as RDF properties.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} The full set of elements is found under the namespace http://purl.org/dc/terms/. There is a separate namespace for the original 15 elements as previously defined: http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/.{{cite web|url=http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/|title=DCMI: Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, Version 1.1: Reference Description|website=dublincore.org|access-date=3 April 2018}}

The Dublin Core vocabulary published in 1999 consisted of 15 terms:

{{columns-list|colwidth=10em|

• contributor
• coverage
• creator
• date
• description
• format
• identifier
• language
• publisher
• relation
• rights
• source
• subject
• title
• type

}}

The vocabulary was commonly expressed in HTML 'meta' tagging in the "" section of an HTML-encoded page.{{cite web|url=https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2731|title=Encoding Dublin Core Metadata in HTML |date=December 1999 |publisher=IETF.org |access-date=2021-06-17|last1=Kunze |first1=John A. }}

The vocabulary could be used in any metadata serialization including key/value pairs and XML.{{cite web |url=https://www.dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dc-xml/ |title=Expressing Dublin Core™ metadata using XML |date=2006-05-30 |first1=Pete |last1=Johnston |first2=Andy |last2=Powell}}

Subsequent to the specification of the original 15 elements, Qualified Dublin Core was developed to provide an extension mechanism to be used when the primary 15 terms were not sufficient. A set of common refinements was provided in the documentation. These schemes include controlled vocabularies and formal notations or parsing rules.{{cite web |url=https://www.dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/usageguide/qualifiers/ |title=Using Dublin Core™ - Dublin Core™ Qualifiers |date=2005}} Qualified Dublin Core was not limited to these specific refinements, allowing communities to create extended metadata terms to meet their needs.{{cite book |last1=Chan |first1=Lois Mai |last2=Hodges|first2=Theodora |date=2007 |title=Cataloging and classification : an introduction|edition=Third |publisher=Scarecrow Press}}

The guiding principle for the qualification of Dublin Core elements, colloquially known as the Dumb-Down Principle,{{cite web|url=http://www.dublincore.org/usage/documents/principles/|title=DCMI: DCMI Grammatical Principles|website=dublincore.org|access-date=3 April 2018}} states that an application that does not understand a specific element refinement term should be able to ignore the qualifier and treat the metadata value as if it were an unqualified (broader) element. While this may result in some loss of specificity, the remaining element value (without the qualifier) should continue to be generally correct and useful for discovery.{{cite web | url=http://dublincore.org/resources/glossary/dumb-down_principle/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Dumb-Down,specific%2C%20remain%20correct%20and%20useful | title=Dumb-Down Principle | date=20 November 2012 }}

Qualified Dublin Core added qualifiers to these elements:

And added three elements not in the base 15:

• Audience
• Provenance
• RightsHolder

Qualified Dublin Core is often used with a "dot syntax", with a period separating the element and the qualifier(s). This is shown in this excerpted example provided by Chan and Hodges:

Title: D-Lib Magazine

Title.alternative: Digital Library Magazine

Identifier.ISSN: 1082-9873

Publisher: Corporation for National Research Initiatives

Publisher.place: Reston, VA.

Subject.topical.LCSH: Digital libraries - Periodicals

The DCMI Metadata Terms lists the current set of the Dublin Core vocabulary. This set includes the fifteen terms of the DCMES (in italic), as well as many of the qualified terms. Each term has a unique URI in the namespace http://purl.org/dc/terms, and all are defined as RDF properties.

{{columns-list|colwidth=10em|

• abstract
• accessRights
• accrualMethod
• accrualPeriodicity
• accrualPolicy
• alternative
• audience
• available
• bibliographicCitation
• conformsTo
• contributor
• coverage
• created
• creator
• date
• dateAccepted
• dateCopyrighted
• dateSubmitted
• description
• educationLevel
• extent
• format
• hasFormat
• hasPart
• hasVersion
• identifier
• instructionalMethod
• isFormatOf
• isPartOf
• isReferencedBy
• isReplacedBy
• isRequiredBy
• issued
• isVersionOf
• language
• license
• mediator
• medium
• modified
• provenance
• publisher
• references
• relation
• replaces
• requires
• rights
• rightsHolder
• source
• spatial
• subject
• tableOfContents
• temporal
• title
• type
• valid

}}

It also includes these RDF classes which are used as domains and ranges of some properties:

{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|

• Agent
• AgentClass
• BibliographicResource
• FileFormat
• Frequency
• Jurisdiction
• LicenseDocument
• LinguisticSystem
• Location
• LocationPeriod/OrJurisdiction
• MediaType
• MediaTypeOrExtent
• MethodOfAccrual
• MethodOfInstruction
• PeriodOfTime
• PhysicalMedium
• PhysicalResource
• Policy
• ProvenanceStatement
• RightsStatement
• SizeOrDuration
• Standard

}}

Changes that are made to the Dublin Core standard are reviewed by a DCMI Usage Board within the context of a DCMI Namespace Policy.{{cite web |url=https://www.dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dcmi-namespace/ |first1=Andy |last1=Powell |first2=Harry |last2=Wagner |title=Namespace Policy for Dublin Core Metadata Initiative |date=2007-07-02}} This policy describes how terms are assigned and also sets limits on the amount of editorial changes allowed to the labels, definitions, and usage comments.{{cite web|url=http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/ |title=Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, Version 1.1 |publisher=Dublincore.org |access-date=2015-12-04}}

The Dublin Core Metadata Terms vocabulary has been formally standardized internationally as ISO 15836 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO){{cite web|date=May 2017|title=ISO 15836-1:2017 – Information and documentation – The Dublin Core metadata element set – Part 1: Core elements|url=http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_detail_ics.htm?csnumber=71339|access-date=2 October 2018|publisher=International Organization for Standardization}} and as IETF RFC 5013 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF),[http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc5013.txt The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set], Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, August 2007

as well as in the U.S. as ANSI/NISO Z39.85 by the National Information Standards Organization (NISO).{{cite web|date=22 May 2007|title=NISO Standards – National Information Standards Organization|url=http://www.niso.org/kst/reports/standards?step=2&gid=None&project_key=9b7bffcd2daeca6198b4ee5a848f9beec2f600e5|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116005843/http://www.niso.org/kst/reports/standards?step=2&gid=None&project_key=9b7bffcd2daeca6198b4ee5a848f9beec2f600e5|archive-date=16 November 2011|access-date=5 April 2013|publisher=Niso.org}}

Syntax choices for metadata expressed with the Dublin Core elements depend on context. Dublin Core concepts and semantics are designed to be syntax independent{{clarify|date=May 2019}} and apply to a variety of contexts, as long as the metadata is in a form suitable for interpretation by both machines and people.

One Document Type Definition based on Dublin Core is the Open Source Metadata Framework (OMF) specification.{{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/osrt/omf/|title=m e t a l a b open source metadata framework|website=ibiblio.org|access-date=3 April 2018}} OMF is in turn used by Rarian (superseding ScrollKeeper), which is used by the GNOME desktop and KDE help browsers and the ScrollServer documentation server.

PBCore is also based on Dublin Core.{{Cite web|url=http://pbcore.org/schema/|title=PBCore Schema – PBCore|website=pbcore.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-19|quote=PBCore is built on the foundation of the Dublin Core (ISO 15836), an international standard for resource discovery.}} The Zope CMF's Metadata products, used by the Plone, ERP5, the Nuxeo CPS Content management systems, SimpleDL, and Fedora Commons also implement Dublin Core. The EPUB e-book format uses Dublin Core metadata in the OPF file.{{cite web |url=http://www.idpf.org/epub/20/spec/OPF_2.0_latest.htm#Section2.2 |title=Open Packaging Format (OPF) § Publication Metadata |website=International Digital Publishing Forum |access-date=11 November 2017}} Qualified Dublin Core is used in the DSpace archival management software.{{cite web |url=https://wiki.lyrasis.org/display/DSDOC7x/Metadata+and+Bitstream+Format+Registries |title=Dspace metadata and bitstream format registries |website=Dspace Wiki}}

The Australian Government Locator Service (AGLS) metadata standard is an application profile of Dublin Core.{{Cite web

| title = AGLS Metadata Standard Part 1 – Reference Description

| publisher = National Archives of Australia

| date = 30 June 2010

| url = http://www.agls.gov.au/pdf/AGLS%20Metadata%20Standard%20Part%201%20Reference%20Description.PDF

| access-date = 28 November 2019}}{{rp|5}}

• Metadata registry
• Metadata Object Description Schema
• Ontology (information science)
• Open Archives Initiative (OAI)
• Controlled vocabulary
• Interoperability
• Darwin Core, a Dublin Core extension for biodiversity informatics

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikiversity|Digital Libraries/Metadata}}

• {{Official website|https://www.dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dcmi-terms/}}
• [http://xml.coverpages.org/ni2005-03-21-a.html Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Publishes DCMI Abstract Model] (Cover Pages, March 2005)
• [https://github.com/nsteffel/dublin-core-generator Dublin Core Generator A JavaScript/JQuery tool for working with Dublin core metadata code]
• [https://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-userguide-3-0.html Metadata Object Description Schema (MODS)]

{{Semantic Web}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Archival science

Category:Bibliography file formats

Category:Information management

Category:Interoperability

Category:ISO standards

Category:Knowledge representation

Category:Library cataloging and classification

Category:Metadata standards

Category:Museology

Category:Records management

Category:Reference models

Category:Semantic Web