Dublin Core™ Metadata Element Set, Version 1.1: Reference Description
Dublin Core™ Metadata Element Set, Version 1.1
| Identifier: | http://dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dces/2006-12-18/ |
|---|---|
| Supersedes: | http://dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dces/2004-12-20/ |
| Latest version: | http://dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dces/ |
| Date Issued: | 2006-12-18 |
| Status of document: | This is a DCMI Recommendation. |
| Description of document: | This document provides ready reference for the Dublin Core™ Metadata Element Set, Version 1.1. For more detailed documentation and links to historical versioning information, see the document "DCMI Metadata Terms". |
The Dublin Core™ Metadata Element Set is a vocabulary of fifteen properties for use in resource description. The name "Dublin" is due to its origin at a 1995 invitational workshop in Dublin, Ohio; "core" because its elements are broad and generic, usable for describing a wide range of resources.
The fifteen element "Dublin Core™" described in this standard is part of a larger set of metadata vocabularies and technical specifications maintained by the Dublin Core™ Metadata Initiative (DCMI). The full set of vocabularies, DCMI Metadata Terms [DCMI-TERMS], also includes a set of resource classes, the DCMI Type Vocabulary [DCMI-TYPE]. The terms in DCMI vocabularies are intended to be used in combination with terms from other, compatible vocabularies in the context of application profiles and on the basis of the DCMI Abstract Model [DCAM].
All changes made to terms of the Dublin Core™ Metadata Element Set since 2001 have been reviewed by a DCMI Usage Board in the context of a DCMI Namespace Policy [DCMI-NAMESPACE]. The namespace policy describes how DCMI terms are assigned Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) and sets limits on the range of editorial changes that may allowably be made to the labels, definitions, and usage comments associated with existing DCMI terms.
This document, an excerpt from the more comprehensive document "DCMI Metadata Terms" ( http://dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dcmi-terms/), provides an abbreviated reference version of the fifteen element descriptions that have been formally endorsed in the following standards:
- ISO Standard 15836-2003 (February 2003): http://www.niso.org/international/SC4/n515.pdf
- NISO Standard Z39.85-2007 (May 2007): http://www.niso.org/standards/resources/Z39-85-2007.pdf
The Elements
| Term Name: contributor | |
|---|---|
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/contributor |
| Label: | Contributor |
| Definition: | An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource. |
| Comment: | 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. |
| Term Name: coverage | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/coverage |
| Label: | Coverage |
| Definition: | The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant. |
| Comment: | Spatial topic may be a named place or a location specified by its geographic coordinates. Temporal period may be a named period, date, or date range. A jurisdiction may be a named administrative entity or a geographic place to which the resource applies. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as the Thesaurus of Geographic Names [TGN]. Where appropriate, named places or time periods can be used in preference to numeric identifiers such as sets of coordinates or date ranges. |
| References: | [TGN] http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/tgn/index.html |
| Term Name: creator | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/creator |
| Label: | Creator |
| Definition: | An entity primarily responsible for making the resource. |
| Comment: | Examples of a Creator include a person, an organization, or a service. Typically, the name of a Creator should be used to indicate the entity. |
| Term Name: date | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/date |
| Label: | Date |
| Definition: | A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource. |
| Comment: | Date may be used to express temporal information at any level of granularity. Recommended best practice is to use an encoding scheme, such as the W3CDTF profile of ISO 8601 [W3CDTF]. |
| References: | [W3CDTF] http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-datetime |
| Term Name: description | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/description |
| Label: | Description |
| Definition: | An account of the resource. |
| Comment: | Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, a table of contents, a graphical representation, or a free-text account of the resource. |
| Term Name: format | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/format |
| Label: | Format |
| Definition: | The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource. |
| Comment: | Examples of dimensions include size and duration. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as the list of Internet Media Types [MIME]. |
| References: | [MIME] http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/ |
| Term Name: identifier | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/identifier |
| Label: | Identifier |
| Definition: | An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context. |
| Comment: | Recommended best practice is to identify the resource by means of a string conforming to a formal identification system. |
| Term Name: language | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/language |
| Label: | Language |
| Definition: | A language of the resource. |
| Comment: | Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as RFC 3066 [RFC3066]. |
| References: | [RFC3066] http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3066.txt |
| Term Name: publisher | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/publisher |
| Label: | Publisher |
| Definition: | An entity responsible for making the resource available. |
| Comment: | 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. |
| Term Name: relation | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/relation |
| Label: | Relation |
| Definition: | A related resource. |
| Comment: | Recommended best practice is to identify the related resource by means of a string conforming to a formal identification system. |
| Term Name: rights | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/rights |
| Label: | Rights |
| Definition: | Information about rights held in and over the resource. |
| Comment: | Typically, rights information includes a statement about various property rights associated with the resource, including intellectual property rights. |
| Term Name: source | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/source |
| Label: | Source |
| Definition: | The resource from which the described resource is derived. |
| Comment: | The described resource may be derived from the related resource in whole or in part. Recommended best practice is to identify the related resource by means of a string conforming to a formal identification system. |
| Term Name: subject | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/subject |
| Label: | Subject |
| Definition: | The topic of the resource. |
| Comment: | Typically, the topic will be represented using keywords, key phrases, or classification codes. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary. To describe the spatial or temporal topic of the resource, use the Coverage element. |
| Term Name: title | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/title |
| Label: | Title |
| Definition: | A name given to the resource. |
| Comment: | Typically, a Title will be a name by which the resource is formally known. |
| Term Name: type | |
| URI: | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/type |
| Label: | Type |
| Definition: | The nature or genre of the resource. |
| Comment: | Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary such as the DCMI Type Vocabulary [DCMITYPE]. To describe the file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource, use the Format element. |
| References: | [DCMITYPE] http://dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dcmi-type-vocabulary/ |