7. Glossary
The Dublin Core Metadata Glossary is a collaborative effort
of the User Guide Committee with special thanks to Gail Clement & Pete Winn, whose
original glossary was a basis for this version. Terms included
in this glossary are based on Dublin Core documents,
presentations at DC conferences, and discussions on the DC
General listserv. We welcome comments and feedback
regarding additions, deletions or changes to the terms and/or
definitions found below.
The glossary was last updated on 02/24/2001
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
-
The principle whereby related but conceptually different
entities, for example a painting and a digital image of
the painting, are described by separate metadata records
-
- AACR2
- See Anglo-American
Cataloguing Rules
- administrative
metadata
- Metadata used in managing and administering
information resources, e.g., location or donor
information. Includes rights and access information, data
on the creation and preservation of the digital
object.
- Anglo-American
Cataloguing Rules (AACR2)
- The dominant bibliographic standard regulating
cataloging in the English-speaking world. AACR2
represents a set of rules for the standard description of
and access to all materials which a library holds or to
which it has access.
-
American Standard Code for Information Interchange
(ASCII)
- A scheme that provides standard numeric values to
represent letters, numbers, punctuation marks and other
characters. The use of standard values allows
computers and computer programs to exchange data.
- application profile
- A set of metadata elements, policies, and guidelines
defined for a particular application. The elements may be
from one or more element sets, thus allowing a given
application to meet its functional requirements by using
metadata from several element sets including locally
defined sets. For example, a given application might
choose a subset of the Dublin Core that meets its needs,
or may include elements from the Dublin Core, another
element set, and several locally defined elements, all
combined in a single schema. An Application profile is
not complete without documentation that defines the
policies and best practices appropriate to the
application.
- ASCII
- See American
Standard Code for Information Interchange
- Author
- See Creator
- authority
control
- A set of rules or procedures that maintain
consistency for accessing names or terms within a
database. Means of establishing a consistent form of the
name or concept through authority records.
- authority
file
- A collection of authority records.
- authority
record
- A record that shows the preferred form of a personal
or corporate name, geographic region or subjects. It
indicates variant forms of the established heading.
B
- Basic Semantics
Register
- An
ISO Standard ISO/TS 16668:2000 which identifies and
defines semantic components for use in data
exchange.
- best
practice
- Guide and documentation to describe and standardize
the use of metadata elements that best support a
community's needs.
- BSR
- See Basic Semantics Register
C
-
- case-sensitive
- Lower and upper case letters are not treated as being
the same; e.g. 'a' is not the same as 'A'.
- classification
- A logical scheme for arrangement of knowledge,
usually by subject. Classification schema are alpha
and/or numeric; for example, Library of Congress
Classification, Dewey Classification, Universal Decimal
Classification.
- controlled
vocabulary
- A prescribed set of consistently used and carefully
defined terms.
- Contributor
- The Dublin Core element used to designate the entity
responsible for making contributions to the content of
the resource. Examples of a Contributor include a person,
an organization or a service. Typically, the name of a
Contributor should be used to indicate the entity.
See also section 4 of the Dublin Core Users
Guide.
- Coverage
- The Dublin Core element used to designate the extent
or scope of the content of the resource. Coverage will
typically include spatial location (a place name or
geographic co-ordinates), temporal period (a period
label, date, or date range) or jurisdiction (such as a
named administrative entity). Recommended best practice
is to select a value from a controlled vocabulary, and
that, where appropriate, named places or time periods be
used in preference to numeric identifiers such as sets of
co-ordinates or date ranges.
See also section 4 of the Dublin Core Users
Guide.
- Creator
- The Dublin Core element used to designate the entity
primarily responsible for making the content of the
resource. Examples of a Creator include a person, an
organization, or a service.
See also section 4 of the Dublin Core Users
Guide.
- Crosswalk
- A table that maps the relationships and equivalencies
between two or more metadata formats. Crosswalks or
metadata mapping support the ability of search engines to
search effectively across heterogeneous databases, i.e.
crosswalks help promote interoperability.
D
-
- Date
- The Dublin Core element used to designate the date
associated with an event in the life cycle of the
resource. Typically, Date will be associated with the
creation or availability of the resource.
See also section 4 of the Dublin Core Users
Guide.
- DCMES
- Dublin Core Metadata Element Set. See Dublin Core.
- DCMI
- See Dublin Core Metadata
Initiative
- Description
- The Dublin Core element used to designate a textual
description of the content of the resource.
See also section 4 of the Dublin Core Users
Guide.
- DCSV
- See Dublin Core Structured
Value
- descriptive metadata
- Metadata that supports the discovery of a digital
object.
- digital
tourist
- An inexperienced searcher in the digital environment
who does not possess knowledge of community- specific
vocabularies. The Dublin Core provides a rudimentary
vocabulary, or "pidgin language" for information
discovery when exploring new digital territories. Coined
by Ricky Erway at the Metadata Workshop on Metadata for
Networked Images, September 24-25, 1996.
- discovery
software
- A computer application designed to simplify, assist
and expedite the process of finding information
resources.
- Document Object
Identifier
- DOI was developed by the International DOI Foundation
as a system for identifying and exchanging intellectual
property in the digital environment.
- Document Type
Definition (DTD)
-
In SGML or XML, a formal description of the components
of a specific document or class of documents. DTDs
provide a formal grammar used for machine processing
(parsing) of documents expressed in SGML or XML. A DTD
description includes:
- The containers or elements that make up the
document; e.g., paragraphs, headings, list items,
figures, tables, etc.
- The logical structure of the document; e.g.,
chapters containing sections, etc.
- Additional information associated with elements
(known as attributes); e.g., identifiers, date
stamps, etc.
- document-like object
(DLO)
- Originally defined as an entity that resembles a
document from the standpoint that it is substantially
text-based and shares other properties of a document;
e.g., electronic mail messages or spreadsheets. The
definition was expanded at the
3rd DC workshop to refer to any discrete information
resource that are characterized by being fixed (i.e.,
having identical content for each user). Examples include
text, images, movies, and performances.
- DOI
- see Document Object
Identifier
- dot.syntax
- A mechanism for refining the meaning of the element
in HTML; for example, <META
NAME="DC.Title.Alternative"
CONTENT="Title">
- DTD
- See Document Type
Definition
- Dublin Core
- The Dublin Core is a 15-element
metadata element set intended to facilitate discovery
of electronic resources. The Dublin Core has been in
development since 1995 through a series of focused
invitational workshops that gather experts from the
library world, the networking and digital library
research communities, and a variety of content
specialties. See Section 1 of this guide or the Dublin Core Web
Site.
- Dublin Core Simple
- The fifteen Dublin Core elements used without
qualifiers, that is without element refinement or
encoding schemes.
- Dublin Core Metadata
Initiative
- Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, the body responsible
for the ongoing maintenance of Dublin Core. DCMI is
currently hosted by the OCLC Online Computer Library
Center, Inc., a not-for-profit international library
consortium. The work of DCMI is done by contributors from
many institutions in many countries. DCMI is a
consensus-driven organization organized into working
groups to address particular problems and tasks. DCMI
working groups are open to all interested parties.
Instructions for joining can be found at the DCMI web
site under Working Groups (http://dublincore.org)
-
Dublin Core Structured Values
- DCSV recognizes two types of substrings: labels and
values. A label is the name of the type of a value, and a
value is the data itself. A value that is comprised of
components, i.e. a value which has its own label and
value, is called a structured value. Punctuation supports
the parsing of the DCSV.
- Dumb-down
Principle
- A rule for the application of Interoperability
Qualifiers, which stipulates that qualifiers can refine
but not extend the meaning of the element to which they
are applied. Thus, ignoring a qualifier ("dumbing down"
the qualifier) may cause a loss of precision, but the
resulting value should still be of some use to an
application or user.
E
-
- EAD
- see Encoded Archival
Description
- electronic
information resource
- An information resource that is maintained in
electronic, or computerized format, and may be accessed,
searched and retrieved via electronic networks or other
electronic data processing technologies (e.g.,
CD-ROM)
- element
- A discrete unit of data or metadata. An element may
contain subelements that are called qualifiers in Dublin Core.
- element refinement
(qualifier)
- Qualifiers make the meaning of an element narrower or
more specific.
- embedded
metadata
- Metadata that is maintained and stored within the
object it describes; the opposite of stand-alone
metadata.
- Encoded Archival
Description
- An SGML DTD that represents a highly structured way
to create digital finding aids for a grouping of archival
or manuscript materials.
- encoding
scheme
- A scheme that aids in the interpretation of an
element value. These schemes include controlled
vocabularies and formal notations or parsing rules. A
value expressed using an encoding scheme will thus be a
token selected from a controlled vocabulary (e.g., a term
from a classification system or set of subject headings)
or a string formatted in accordance with a formal
notation.
- extensible
- Having the potential to be expanded in scope, area or
size. In the case of Dublin Core, the ability to extend a
core set of metadata with additional elements.
- Extensible Markup
Language (XML)
- A subset of Standard Generalized Markup Language
(SGML), a widely used international text processing
standard. XML is being designed to bring the power and
flexibility of generic SGML to the Web, while maintaining
interoperability with full SGML and HTML. For more
information, see http://www.w3.org/XML/
F
-
- Format
- The Dublin Core element used to designate the
physical or digital manifestation of the resource.
See also section 4 of the Dublin Core Users
Guide.
G
-
- GIF
- See Graphics Interchange
Format
- GILS
- See Global Information Locator
Service
- glossary
- An alphabetized list of terms with definitions often
created by an organization to reflect its needs. Normally
lacks hierarchical arrangement or cross references. Also
known as a term list.
- Global Information Locator
Service (GILS)
- GILS embraces open standards to implement
interoperable searching across diverse, decentralized
information 'locators' to return references to all kinds
of electronic and non-electronic information resources.
Locators are implemented as common semantics for
characterizing information resources, i.e. common
metadata semantics. Formally known as Government
Information Locator Service.
- Graphics Interchange
Format (GIF)
- The dominant graphics format on the Web, limited to
256 colors. GIFs provide sharper black & white images
than JPEGs.
- granularity
- The level of detail at which an information object or
resource is viewed or described.
H
-
- HTML
- See Hypertext
Markup Language
- Hypertext Markup
Language (HTML)
- The standard text-formatting language for documents
on the World Wide Web. HTML text files contain content
that is rendered on a computer screen and markup, or
tags, that can be used to tell the computer how to format
that content. HTML tags can also be used to encode
metadata and to tell the computer how to respond to
certain user actions, such as a mouse click. For more
information, see http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/.
I
-
-
-
The Dublin Core element that is an unambiguous
reference to the resource within a given context.
Recommended best practice is to identify the resource
by means of a string or number conforming to a formal
identification system.
See also section 4 of the Dublin Core Users
Guide.
-
IETF
-
-
-
The process of evaluating information entities and
creating indexing terms, normally subject or topical
terms, that aid in finding and accessing the entity.
Index terms may be in natural language or controlled
vocabulary or a classification notation.
-
IMT
-
-
-
Computer software used to order things; frequently
used to refer to software that alphabetizes some or
all of the terms in one or more electronic documents.
-
-
Any entity, electronic or otherwise, capable of
conveying or supporting intelligence or knowledge;
e.g. a book, a letter, a picture, a sculpture, a
database, a person. See also
DLO
-
-
An identifiable occurrence or occasion of something;
in the case of Dublin Core, a specific occurrence of
an information resource.
-
-
ISO was established in 1947 as a worldwide federation
of national standards bodies from some 130 countries.
-
-
The global Internet environment, collection of
information-bearing repositories whose data can be
accessed through the Internet.
Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF)
-
The IETF is responsible for solving short-term
engineering needs of the Internet. It has over 40
Working Groups.
- Internet Media Type
(IMT)
-
-
-
The ability of different types of computers,
networks, operating systems, and applications to work
together effectively, without prior communication, in
order to exchange information in a useful and
meaningful manner. There are three aspects of
interoperability: semantic, structural and
syntactical.
-
Interoperability Qualifiers
-
Additional metadata used either to refine the
semantics of a Dublin Core metadata element's value,
or to provide more information about the encoding
scheme used for the value.
-
ISO
-
J
-
- Joint Photographic
Experts Group (JPEG)
- A standard for compressing digital images. The
advantage of JPEG is that it uses compression to make
graphics files smaller, making them faster to transfer
and view over the World Wide Web. More than 16 million
color hues are available. Better than GIF for color
photographs. The disadvantage is some loss of image
quality due to data loss during compression.
- JPEGs
- See Joint Photographic Experts
Group
K
-
- Keywords
- See Subject
L
-
- Language
- The Dublin Core element used to designate the
language of the intellectual content of the resource.
Recommended best practice for the values of the Language
element is defined by
RFC 3066
See also section 4 of the Dublin Core Users
Guide.
- literal
- A literal or "appropriate literal" is the value of
any given metadata entity that can be either a hyperlink
or a string value (literal). A literal affords a great
deal of flexibility and power, but increases complexity.
Metadata should as well include an appropriate literal
that reflects the base value of the metadata entity. For
example, in these fragments: creator = "Public, John Q."
creator = " http://authority.org/public-john-q-1234" the
first has a value expressed as an appropriate literal
whereas the second has a (hypothetical) link to an
authority structure. It is not entirely clear what a
person or application will find at the end of the link,
so the metadata should contain an appropriate literal for
simple discovery purposes.
M
-
- mapping metadata
- See crosswalk
- MARC
- Machine-Readable Cataloging Record. The MARC formats
are standards for the representation and communication of
bibliographic and related information (authority,
holdings, classification, community information) in
machine-readable form. MARC
21 grew out of the harmonization of USMARC and
CAN/MARC, formerally national standards, and has emerged
as an international standard. MARC21 is an implementation
of the American National Standard, Information
Interchange Format (ANSI Z39.2) and its international
counterpart, Format for Information Exchange (ISO 2709).
UniMARC
was originally designed for conversion between national
formats but now has been adopted by some countries as
their national standard.
- META tag
- The HTML element used to demarcate metadata on a Web
page. <META> </META>.
- metadata
- In general, "data about data;" functionally,
"structured data about data." Information about an
information resource. In the case of Dublin Core,
information that expresses the intellectual content,
intellectual property and/or instantiation
characteristics of an information resource. See
Section 1.1 of this guide.
- metadata
record
- A syntactically correct representation of the
descriptive information (metadata) for an information
resource. In the case of Dublin Core, a representation of
the Dublin Core elements that has been defined for the
resource. The majority of metadata records and record
fragments in this document are presented in HTML
syntax.
- Metadata registry
- A publicly accessible system that records the
semantics, structure and interchange formats of any type
of metadata. A formal authority, or agency, maintains and
manages the development and evolution of a metadata
registry. The authority is responsible for policies
pertaining to registry contents and operation.
- MIME
- See Multipurpose
Internet Mail Extensions
- Multipurpose
Internet Mail Extensions
- The standard for attaching files to Internet e-mail
messages. Attached files may be text, graphics,
spreadsheets, documents, sound files, etc.
N
-
- National Information
Standards Organization
- NISO, accredited by ANSI, develops and
promotes technical standards used in a wide variety of
information services.
- namespace
- A unique name that identifies an organization that
has developed an XML schema. A namespace is identified
via a Uniform Resource Identifier (a URL or URN). For
example, the namespace for Dublin Core elements and
qualifiers would be expressed respectively in XML
as:
-
- xmlns:dc =
"http://dublincore.org/elements/1.0/"
- xmlns:dcq = "http://dublincore.org/qualifiers/1.0/"
>
- The use of namespaces allows the definition of an
element to be unambiguously identified with a URI, even
though the label "title" alone might occur in many metadata
sets. In more general terms, one can think of any closed
set of names as a namespace. Thus, a controlled vocabulary
such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings, a set of
metadata elements such as DC, or the set of all URLs in a
given domain can be thought of as a namespace that is
managed by the authority that is in charge of that
particular set of terms.
- networked
resource
- An object that is available electronically via a
network.
- NISO
- See National Information Standards
Organization
O
-
- OCLC
- See Online Computer Library
Center
- Online Computer
Library Center (OCLC)
- The major source of cataloging data for libraries
around the world; located in Dublin, Ohio, US.
P
-
- parsing
- Parsing may be divided into parts: lexical analysis
and semantic parsing. Lexical analysis divides strings
into components based on punctuation or tagging. Semantic
parsing then attempts to determine the meaning of the
string.
- Persistent Uniform Resource
Locator
- An approach to the URL permanence problem proposed by
OCLC. A PURL is a public alias for a document. A PURL
remains stable, while the document's background URL will
change as it is managed (e.g. moved) over time. A PURL is
created by a Web administrator who is registered as a
PURL "owner" and who maintains a mapping of the PURL to a
current and functioning URL. A PURL is a form of
URN.
- Property
- A property is a specific aspect, characteristic, attribute, or relation
used to describe a resource. Dublin Core metadata elements are properties
http://dublincore.org/documents/2002/04/14/dc-xml-guidelines/
- Publisher
- The Dublin Core element used to designate the entity
responsible for making the resource available. Examples
of a Publisher include a person, an organization, or a
service. Typically, the name of a Publisher should be
used to indicate the entity.
See section 4 of the Dublin Core Users Guide.
- PURL
- See Persistent Uniform Resource
Locator
Q
-
- qualifier
- Something that describes or characterizes an object.
In the case of Dublin Core, a qualifier refines an
element's meaning. A qualifier must follow the Dumb-Down Principle. There are two broad
categories of qualifiers: Encoding
schema and Element
refinement.
R
-
- RDF
- See Resource Description
Framework.
-
RDF Site Summary
- RSS was created and popularized by Netscape for their
personalized portal site. Rich Site Summary (RSS) is a
lightweight XML application designed to exchange headline
metadata between news content providers and portals.
- Record
- A record is some structured metadata about a resource, comprising one
or more properties and their associated values. http://dublincore.org/documents/2002/04/14/dc-xml-guidelines/
- registry
- A system to provide management of metadata elements.
Metadata registries are formal systems that provide
authoritative information about the semantics and
structure of data elements. Each element will include the
definition of the element, the qualifiers associated with
it, mappings to multilingual versions and elements in
other schema.
- Relation
- The Dublin Core element used to designate A reference
to a related resource. Recommended best practice is to
reference the resource by means of a string or number
conforming to a formal identification system.
See section 4 of the Dublin Core Users Guide.
- Request for Comment
(RFC)
- A Request for Comment (RFC) is the process of
establishing a standard on the Internet. Discussion of
the proposed standard on the Internet is facilitated by
the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Once
approved, the standard receives a unique number which
identifies it; e.g., RFC See http://www.isi.edu/rfc-editor/.
and http://www.ietf.org/rfc.html
- Resource
- A resource is anything that has identity. Familiar examples include
an electronic document, an image, a service (e.g., "today's weather report
for Los Angeles"), and a collection of other resources. Not all resources
are network "retrievable"; e.g., human beings, corporations, and bound
books in a library can also be considered resources. http://dublincore.org/documents/2002/04/14/dc-xml-guidelines/
- Resource Description
Framework (RDF)
- The basic language for writing metadata; a foundation
which provides a robust flexible architecture for
processing metadata on the Internet. RDF will retain the
capability to exchange metadata between application
communities, while allowing each community to define and
use the metadata that best serves their needs. For more
information see http://www.w3.org/RDF/
- resource
discovery
- The process through which one searches and retrieves
an information
resource.
- Resource Type
- See Type.
- Resource Description
- See Description.
- Resource Identifier
- See Identifier
- RFC
- See Request for Comment
- Rights
- The Dublin Core element used to provide a link to
information about rights held in and over the resource.
Typically a Rights element will contain a rights
management statement for the resource, or reference a
service providing such information. Rights information
often encompasses Intellectual Property Rights (IPR),
Copyright, and various Property Rights. If the rights
element is absent, no assumptions can be made about the
status of these and other rights with respect to the
resource.
See section 4 of the Dublin Core Users Guide.
- Rights Management
- See Rights
- ROADS
- Resource Organisation And Discovery in Subject based
services. A UK funded project whose aim is to develop
discovery software for Internet resources.
- RSS
- See RDF Site Summary .
S
-
- scheme
- A scheme, or schema, is a systematic, orderly
combination of elements. A set of rules for encoding
information that supports a specific community of
users.
- search
engine
- A utility capable of returning references to relevant
information resources in response to a query.
- semantic
interoperability
- Is achieved through agreements about content
description standards; for example, Dublin Core,
Anglo-American Cataloging Rules.
- Semantic Web
- A term coined by Tim Berners-Lee which views the
future Web as a web of data, like a global database. The
infrastructure of the Semantic Web would allow machines
as well as humans to make deductions and organize
information. The architectural components include
semantics (meaning of the elements), structure
(organization of the elements), and syntax
(communication). http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Semantic.html
- semantics
- Significance or meaning. In the case of Dublin Core,
the significance or intended meaning of individual
metadata elements and their components.
- SGML
- See Standard
Generalized Markup Language
- SICI
- Serial Item and Contribution Identifier (ANSI/NISO
Z39.56-1996 Vers. 2) A numeric notation to identify
serial issues and articles uniquely regardless of their
distribution medium (paper, electronic, microform).
- software
agent
- A computer program that carries out tasks on behalf
of another entity. Frequently used to reference a program
that searches the Internet for information meeting the
specified requirements of an individual user.
- Source
- The Dublin Core element used to designate a reference
to a resource from which the present resource is derived.
The present resource may be derived from the Source
resource in whole or part. Recommended best practice is
to reference the resource by means of a string or number
conforming to a formal identification system.
See also section 4 of the Dublin Core Users
Guide.
- Standard
Generalized Markup Language (SGML)
- A non-proprietary language/enabling technology for
describing information. Information in SGML is structured
like a database, supporting rendering in and conversion
between different formats. Both XML and later versions of
HTML are instances of SGML. For more information see http://www.w3.org/SGML/.
- stand-alone metadata
- Metadata that is created, maintained and stored
independently of the object it describes. The opposite of
embedded metadata.
- structured value
- See Dublin Core Structured
Value
- structural
interoperability
- Is achieved through data models for specifying
semantic schemas in a way that they can be shared; for
example, RDF.
- structural metadata
- Structural metadata defines the digital object's
internal organization and is needed for display and
navigation of that object.
- Sub-element
- See element
refinement
- Subject
- The Dublin Core element used to designate the topic
of the resource. The element may use controlled
vocabularies or keywords or phrases that describe the
subject or content of the resource.
See also section 4 of the Dublin Core Users
Guide.
- Subject Headings
- An alphabetical list of words or phrases that
represent a concept that is under authority control,
e.g., the Library of Congress Subject Headings.
- surrogate
content
- Metadata as a substitute for an actual resource.
- switching language
- A mediating language used to establish equivalencies
among various indexing languages. Dublin Core has been
viewed as a switching "language" between various metadata
schemas.
- syntactic
interoperability
- Achieved by marking up our data in a similar fashion
so we can share the data and so that our machines can
understand and take the data apart in sensible ways; for
example, XML, EAD and MARC.
- syntax
- The form and structure with which metadata elements
are combined. In the case of Dublin Core, the form and
structure of how metadata elements and their components
are combined to form a metadata record.
T
-
- TEI
- See Text Encoding Initiative
- temporal
- Limited by or in regard to time.
- Text Encoding
Initiative (TEI)
- An international project to develop guidelines for
the preparation and interchange of electronic texts for
scholarly research as well as a broad range of other
language industry uses. The TEI DTD is an SGML Document
Type Definition for encoding literary works. For more
information, see http://www-tei.uic.edu/orgs/tei/info/teij16.html
- thesaurus
- A controlled vocabulary of terms or concepts that are
structured hierarchically (parent/child relationships) or
as equivalences (synonyms), and related terms
(associative). See also Subject headings and
glossary.
-
Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- The TGN is a controlled vocabulary containing around
1,000,000 names and other information about places. It
includes physical features and administrative entities,
such as cities and nations. The emphasis in TGN is on
places important for art and architecture.
- Title
- The Dublin Core element used to designate the name
given to the resource. Typically, a Title will be a name
by which the resource is formally known.
See also section 4 of the Dublin Core Users
Guide.
- tokens
- The means to denote the status of an element or
qualifier within a registry; e.g., proposed, recommended,
conforming (to the namespace), obsolete, or local.
- Type
- The Dublin Core element used to designate the nature
or genre of the content of the resource. Type includes
terms describing general categories, functions, genres,
or aggregation levels for content. Recommended best
practice is to select a value from a controlled
vocabulary
See also section 4 of the Dublin Core Users
Guide
U
-
ULAN
- See Union List of
Artist Names
- Unicode
- A universal encoding scheme designed to allow
interchange, processing and display of the world's
principal languages, as well as many historic and archaic
scripts. Unicode supports and fosters a multilingual
computing world community by allowing computers using one
language to "talk" to computers using a different
language. A registered trademark of Unicode, Inc.
- Unicode
Transformation Format, 8-bit (UTF-8)
- A temporary form of Unicode that is well suited for
routing data through systems that are not designed for
Unicode, such as some email servers and Web clients.
UTF-8 is an attractive way of storing multilingual data
on the Internet, without requiring full Unicode
compliance.
- Uniform Resource
Identifier (URI)
- The syntax for all names/addresses that refer to
resources on the World Wide Web. For information about
Internet addressing, see http://www.w3.org/Addressing/Addressing.html.
- Uniform Resource
Locator (URL)
- A technique for indicating the name and location of
Internet resources. The URL specifies the name and type
of the resource, as well as the computer, device and
directory where the resource may be found. The URL for
Dublin Core Metatdata Initiative http://dublincore.org/.
For information about Internet addressing, see http://www.w3.org/Addressing/Addressing.html.
- Uniform Resource Name
(URN)
- A URI (name and address of an object on the Internet)
that has some assurance of persistence beyond that
normally associated with an Internet domain or host name.
For information about Internet addressing, see http://www.w3.org/Addressing/Addressing.html.
-
Union Lists of Artists' Names (ULAN)
- Union List of Artist Names. A controlled vocabulary
of artists' names and biographical and bibliographic
information produced by the Getty Vocabulary
Program.
- URI
- See Uniform Resource
Identifier
- URL
- See Uniform Resource Locator
- URN
- See Uniform Resource Name
- USMARC
- See MARC
- UTF-8
- See Unicode Transformation Format,
8-bit.
V
-
value
qualifier
- Value qualifier refers to either an encoding rule or
controlled vocabulary that aids in the interpretation of
the value within the metatag. See encoding scheme.
- vcard
- A standard for storing information about individuals
or corporations; an electronic business card.
- For more information, check the Internet Mail
Consortium page on personal data exchange.
W
-
- Warwick
Framework
- An architecture for the interchange of metadata
packages, or "containers"; designed to satisfy the need
for competing, overlapping, and complementary metadata
models. For more information, see http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july96/07weibel.html.
- World
Wide Web (WWW)
- The panoply of Internet resources (text, graphics,
audio, video, etc.) that are accessible via a Web
browser.
- World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C)
- An international industry consortium founded in
October 1994 to lead the World Wide Web to its full
potential by developing common protocols that promote its
evolution and ensure its interoperability. For additional
information see http://www.w3.org/Consortium/.
- WWW
- See World Wide Web
- W3C
- See World Wide Web
Consortium
X
-
- XML
- See Extensible Markup
Language
Y
Z
-
- Z39.50
- A NISO standard for an application layer protocol for
information retrieval which is specifically designed to
aid retrieval from distributed servers. http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency
Acknowledgements
Many sources were consulted for the creation of this
glossary:
BIBLINK: Objectives, Scope and Glossary
Clement, Gail and Peter Winn. A user guide for simple
Dublin Core: glossary (draft). Last updated 05/12/99.
Baca, Murtha, ed. Introduction to metadata: glossary.
Version 2.0
http://www.getty.edu/research/institute/standards/intrometadata/index.html
Lanzi, Elisa. Introduction to vocabularies: enhancing
access to cultural heritage information. Los Angeles: Getty
Information Institute, 1998. Updated by Patricia Harpring,
2000.
http://www.getty.edu/research/institute/vocabulary/introvocabs/
Moen, William. An Overview of Z39.50, Supplemented by a
Case Study of Implementing the Zebra Server Under the Linux
Operating System http://www.unt.edu/wmoen/Z3950/GIZMO/appendix_d.htm
Schemas glossary http://www.schemas-forum.org/related/glossary.html
Smith, Allison. Terms commonly used in authority control
and thesaurus construction. Word document provided to
DC-general listserv.
Other useful glossaries :
Digital Library Initiative at the Univerisity of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign. http://dli.grainger.uiuc.edu/glossary.htm
UKOLN Glossary http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/glossary/
National Library of Canada. A Glossary of Digital Library
Standards, Protocols and Formats. http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/pubs/netnotes/notes54.htm
http://www.muni.org/gis/gisinternet/htmls/metadata/glossary.htm
http://www.nulook.uneb.edu/about/glossary.html
Web Thesaurus Compendium. Provides listings of thesaurai
by alphabetical order and subject. Has links to related
literature and software for building thesaurai. http://www.darmstadt.gmd.de/~lutes/theslit.html
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