The term metadata means “data about data.” Authors,
librarians, and information scientists use metadata to classify content for organization
and retrieval.
The Getty Research Institute publishes a valuable general introduction
to metadata, Introduction to Metadata available
at http://www.getty.edu/research/institute/standards/intrometadata/index.html.
DSpace currently uses a qualified version of the Dublin Core
schema based on the Dublin Core Libraries Working Group Application
Profile (LAP). DSpace uses the LAP as a starting point for its
application of Dublin Core, borrowing most of the qualifiers from
it and adapting others to fit. Some qualifiers were also added to
suit DSpace needs.
DSpace and OAI
DSpace supports the Open Archives Initiative’s Protocol for
Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) v2.0 as a data provider. OAI support
was implemented using OCLC’s OAICat open-source software to make DSpace
item records available for harvesting. DSpace at MIT is registered as a
data provider with the Open Archives Initiative. Other institutions
running DSpace may choose to turn on OAI or not, and to register as
a data provider or not.
Dublin Core with Qualifiers
| Element |
Qualifier |
Scope Note |
| contributor |
|
A person, organization,
or service responsible for the content of the resource. Catch-all
for unspecified contributors |
| contributor |
advisor |
Use primarily for thesis
advisor |
| contributor |
author |
|
| contributor |
editor |
|
| contributor |
illustrator |
|
| contributor |
other |
|
| coverage |
spatial |
Spatial characteristics of content |
| coverage |
temporal |
Temporal characteristics of content |
| creator |
|
Do not use; for harvested metadata only |
| date |
|
Use qualified form if possible |
| date |
accessioned |
Date DSpace takes possession of
item |
| date |
available |
Date or date range item became available
to the public |
| date |
copyright |
Date of copyright |
| date |
created |
Date of creation or manufacture
of intellectual content if different from date.issued |
| date |
issued |
Date of publication or distribution. |
| date |
submitted |
Recommend for theses and dissertations |
| identifier |
|
Catch-all for unambiguous
identifiers not defined by qualified form; use identifier.other
for a known identifier common to a local collection instead
of unqualified form |
| identifier |
citation |
Bibliographic citation for works
that have been published as a part of a larger work, e.g. journal
articles, book chapters |
| identifier |
govdoc |
Government document number |
| identifier |
isbn |
International Standard Book Number |
| identifier |
issn |
International Standard Serial Number |
| identifier |
sici |
Serial Item and Contribution Identifier |
| identifier |
ismn |
International Standard Music Number |
| identifier |
other |
A known identifier type common to
a local collection |
| identifier |
uri |
Uniform Resource Identifier |
| description |
|
Catch-all for any description not
defined by qualifiers |
| description |
abstract |
Abstract or summary |
| description |
provenance |
The history of custody of the item
since its creation, including any changes successive custodians
made to it |
| description |
sponsorship |
Information about sponsoring agencies,
individuals, or contractual arrangements for the item |
| description |
statementofresponsibility |
To preserve statement of responsibility
from MARC records |
| description |
tableofcontents |
A table of contents for this item |
| description |
uri |
Uniform Resource Identifier
pointing to description of this item |
| format |
|
Catch-all for any format information
not defined by qualifiers |
| format |
extent |
Size or duration |
| format |
medium |
Physical medium |
| format |
mimetype |
Registered MIME type identifiers |
| language |
|
Catch-all for non-ISO forms of the
language of the item, accommodating harvested values |
| language |
iso |
Current ISO standard for language
of intellectual content, including country codes (e.g., "en_US") |
| publisher |
|
Entity responsible for publication,
distribution, or imprint |
| relation |
|
Catch-all for references to other
related items |
| relation |
isformatof |
References additional physical form |
| relation |
ispartof |
References physically or logically
containing item |
| relation |
ispartofseries |
Series name and number within that
series, if available |
| relation |
haspart |
References physically or logically
contained item |
| relation |
isversionof |
References earlier version |
| relation |
hasversion |
References later version |
| relation |
isbasedon |
References source. |
| relation |
isreferencedby |
Pointed to by referenced resource |
| relation |
requires |
Reference resource is required to
support function, delivery, or coherence of item |
| relation |
replaces |
References preceeding item |
| relation |
isreplacedby |
References succeeding item |
| relation |
uri |
References Uniform Resource Identifier
for related item |
| rights |
|
Terms governing use and reproduction |
| rights |
uri |
References terms governing use and
reproduction |
| source |
|
Do not use; for harvested metadata only |
| source |
uri |
Do not use; for harvested metadata only |
| subject |
|
Uncontrolled index term |
| subject |
classification |
Catch-all for value from local classification
system; global classification systems will receive specific
qualifier. |
| subject |
ddc |
Dewey Decimal Classification Number |
| subject |
lcc |
Library of Congress Classification
Number |
| subject |
lcsh |
Library of Congress Subject Heading |
| subject |
mesh |
Medical Subject Headings |
| subject |
other |
Local controlled vocabulary |
| title |
|
Title statement/title proper |
| title |
alternative |
Varying (or substitute) form of
title proper appearing in item, e.g., abbreviation or translation |
| type |
|
Nature or genre of content |
