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Title:            Decision on proposal to add the terms "Moving
                  Image" and "Still Image" to the DCMI Type Vocabulary
Shepherd:         Diane Hillmann
Identifier:       http://dublincore.org/usage/decisions/2003/2003-02.Image-terms.shtml
Date:             2003-11-18
Description:      The decision documented here refers to
                  two proposals from the DCMI Type Working
                  Group that were considered at the Usage
                  Board meeting of 16-17 June 2003 in Ithaca.
                  This document is pointed to from the official
                  list of Usage Board Decisions [1].

Text of proposals:

    http://dublincore.org/usage/meetings/2003/06/MovingImage.html
    http://dublincore.org/usage/meetings/2003/06/StillImage.html

Decision

    The Usage Board approves the addition of two new terms --
    'Moving Image' and 'Still Image' -- to the DCMI Type
    vocabulary as semantic refinements of the existing,
    more general term 'Image'.

Discussion

The DCMI Type Working Group proposed two new terms -- 'Moving
Image' and 'Still Image' (semantic refinements of 'Image').
In addition, the group proposed that the Usage Board deprecate
the term 'Image' and change the documentation to mandate that
either 'Moving Image' or 'Still Image' be used in preference
to the more general term 'Image'.

The Usage Board has approved the addition of the two new
terms to the DCMI Type vocabulary, but it did not approve the
deprecation of the term 'Image.'  Instead, the UB has approved
these terms as semantic refinements of the more general
term. This allows implementers who have no need for the more
specific terms to continue using the more general term while
those who wish to use the two more specific terms may do so.

Inasmuch it defines a hierarchical relationship between
vocabulary terms, this compromise decision represents a
departure from prior practice in DCMI, which has hitherto
treated the DCMI Type Vocabulary as a small, flat set of terms
with no such internal structure.  Specifically, it entails the
introduction of distinctions between semantically "broader"
and "narrower" terms.  This distinction will be expressed with
two new attributes for term declarations -- "Narrower Than"
and "Broader Than".  These attributes will be documented in
the Introduction to the document "DCMI Metadata Terms" [1].

Since the first DCMI Type Vocabulary was approved in July
2000, a requirement to distinguish between still and moving
images has become increasingly clear within the community
of implementers dealing primarily with images.  The history
of this development (as reflected in the proposal) and the
support for the new terms evident in that community convinced
the Board to move beyond its reluctance to complexify the DCMI
Type Vocabulary with semantic refinements.  While recognizing
that this decision has the potential to confuse new users, the
Usage Board feels it is necessary in order to deal effectively
with both specialized and non-specialized implementers,
which will be affected very differently by this change.

Other user communities will see further ways the DCMI Type
Vocabulary could be extended.  Rather than build a more
comprehensive ontology of resource types on the basis of
the existing vocabulary, however, the Usage Board prefers to
focus on interoperability between the DCMI Type Vocabulary
and other, more granular vocabularies created and maintained
by communities of interest for specialized uses.

Since hierarchical relations between terms are symmetrical,
the declaration of "Narrower Than" relations for "Still Image"
and "Moving Image" imply the addition of two "Broader Than"
relations for the existing term "Image".  This addition to
the term declaration for "Image" is reflected in the approved
texts below.

[1] http://dublincore.org/documents/dcmi-terms/

Approved text - beginning
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
    VMS-ID:        StillImage-001
    Name:          StillImage
    URI:           http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage
    isDefinedBy:   http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/
    Label:         Still Image
    Definition:    A static visual representation. Examples of
                   still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs,
                   plans and maps.
    Comment:       Recommended best practice is to assign the type
                   "text" to images of textual materials.  Instances of
                   the type "Still Image" must also be describable as
                   instances of the broader type "Image".
    Type of Term:  http://dublincore.org/usage/documents/principles/#vocabulary-term
    Narrower Than: http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Image
    seeAlso:       http://dublincore.org/usage/decisions/#Decision-2003-02
    Date issued:   2003-11-18
    Status:        http://dublincore.org/usage/documents/process/#recommended
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Approved text - end

Approved text - beginning
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
    VMS-ID:        MovingImage-001
    Name:          MovingImage
    URI:           http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/MovingImage
    isDefinedBy:   http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/
    Label:         Moving Image
    Definition:    A series of visual representations that,
                   when shown in succession, impart an impression
                   of motion.  Examples of moving images are:
                   animations, movies, television programs,
                   videos, zoetropes, or visual output from
                   a simulation.
    Comment:       Instances of the type "Moving Image" must also
                   be describable as instances of the broader type
                   "Image".
    Type of Term:  http://dublincore.org/usage/documents/principles/#vocabulary-term
    Narrower Than: http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Image
    seeAlso:       http://dublincore.org/usage/decisions/#Decision-2003-02
    Date issued:   2003-11-18
    Status:        http://dublincore.org/usage/documents/process/#recommended
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Approved text - end

Approved text - beginning
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
    VMS-ID:        Image-002
    Name:          Image
    URI:           http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Image
    isDefinedBy:   http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/
    Label:         Image
    Definition:    An image is a primarily symbolic visual representation
                   other than text. For example - images and photographs of
                   physical objects, paintings, prints, drawings, other
                   images and graphics, animations and moving pictures,
                   film, diagrams, maps, musical notation. Note that image
                   may include both electronic and physical representations.
    Type of Term:  http://dublincore.org/usage/documents/principles/#vocabulary-term
    Broader Than:  http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage
    Broader Than:  http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/MovingImage
    seeAlso:       http://dublincore.org/usage/decisions/#Decision-2003-02
    Date Issued:   2000-07-11
    Date Modified: 2003-11-18
    Status:        http://dublincore.org/usage/documents/process/#recommended
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Approved text - end