The described term, an encoding scheme, qualifies the referenced term. Using an encoding scheme will aid 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 (e.g., "2000-01-01" as the standard expression of a date). If an encoding scheme is not understood by a client or agent, the value may still be useful to a human reader.

In some cases, encoding schemes not yet registered are indicated. These will be registered and/or approved by the DCMI Usage Board as DC Encoding Schemes in the future.

Typically, a title will be a name by which the resource is formally known.

Either a title or identifier is mandatory. If no title is available, best practice is to give a constructed title, derive a title from the resource or supply [no title]. If using qualified Dublin Core, an element refinement for titles other than the main title(s) should be included.

Retain initial articles and use local sorting algorithms based on language. A language qualifier may be used to indicate language of title if appropriate. (For example, see: Initial Definite and Indefinite Articles for a list of articles in various languages).

This qualifier can include Title abbreviations as well as translations.

Assigned title such as uniform or key title is Alternative.

Best practice is to use this element refinement for titles other than the main title.

Retain initial articles and use local sorting algorithms based on language. A language qualifier may be used to indicate language of title if appropriate. (For example, see: Initial Definite and Indefinite Articles for a list of articles in various languages)

Examples of a Creator include a person, an organisation, or a service. Typically, the name of a Creator should be used to indicate the entity.

This term should not be refined with a role. A subset of terms taken from the Library of Congress list of Relators have been approved as role refinements for Contributor (http://www.loc.gov/marc/sourcecode/relator/relatorlist.html). URIs will be provided when available. The DCMI Usage Board has disapproved the idea of structured values to provide more information about the creator - it should be in a description for another resource.

Creator and Contributor may be conflated with Creator being used as a refinement of Contributor.

A subset of terms taken from the Library of Congress list of Relators have been approved as role refinements for Contributor (http://www.loc.gov/marc/sourcecode/relator/relatorlist.html). URIs will be provided when available. The DCMI Usage Board has disapproved the idea of structured values to provide more information about a contributor - it should be in a description for another resource.

Creator and Contributor may be conflated with Creator being used as a refinement of Contributor.

Role list (http://www.loc.gov/...)

A subset of terms taken from the Library of Congress list of Relators has been approved for use as role refinements of Publisher if applicable (http://www.loc.gov/marc/sourcecode/relator/relatorlist.html). URIs will be provided when available. The DCMI Usage Board has disapproved the idea of structured values to provide more information about the publisher - it should be in a description for another resource.

Although some applications may wish to conflate Creator, Contributor and Publisher, DC-Lib maintains the distinction between Creator and Contributor (which may be conflated) and Publisher. If the elements are conflated and Publisher used as an element refinement for Contributor, the resulting element would be mapped to DC.Publisher.

Role list (http://www.loc.gov/...)

If a geographic or temporal aspect is recorded use the element Coverage. It may also be repeated in Subject if desired. If there is a subject string with elements in addition to a geographic, include the entire string in Subject with geographic element also in Coverage.

It is highly recommended that either freetext or controlled vocabulary be supplied as element Subject in the metadata where appropriate and feasible. It is also recommended that a controlled vocabulary be used with encoding scheme specified. If no encoding scheme is specified, it is treated as keyword.

If using qualified DC, always use the encoding scheme(s) for terms from a controlled vocabulary.

Library of Congress Subject Headings - http://purl.org/dc/terms/LCSH

Medical Subject Headings - http://purl.org/dc/terms/MESH

Dewey Decimal Classification - http://purl.org/dc/terms/DDC

Library of Congress Classification - http://purl.org/dc/terms/LCC

Universal Dewey Classification - http://purl.org/dc/terms/UDC

These are encoding schemes currently defined by DCMI. As additional schemes are registered, they will be included.

Additional encoding schemes will be registered for those used in the library domain based on the MARC list of subject and classification schemes. Including an identifier to link to a registry where all encoding schemes are defined (e.g. based on RSLP schema) needs to be explored.

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

Recommend use of an element refinement for type of Date. Recommend that dates be encoded:
1) using W3C-DTF (a profile of ISO 8601 structured with hyphens),
2) using ISO 8601 (structured without hyphens), or
3) supplied as free text that does not take the form of a string of numerals (with or without hyphens).
The second option, ISO 8601 (without hyphens), is preferred.

It is acceptable to use widely-recognised practice such as day-month-year where the day and year are represented with numerals and month with a name or standard abbreviation (e.g., "1 January 2002" or "1 Jan 2002"). Avoid the use of potentially ambiguous date representations such as DD/MM/YY or MM/DD/YY (e.g., "04/05/05")

It may be desirable to establish a DC-Lib encoding scheme or profile of ISO 8601 to cover B.C.E. dates, questionable and approximate dates. A date working group has been established to progress these issues.

ISO 8601(without hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/ISO8601

W3C-DTF (with hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/W3CDTF

ISO 8601(without hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/ISO8601

W3C-DTF (with hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/W3CDTF

ISO 8601(without hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/ISO8601

W3C-DTF (with hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/W3CDTF

ISO 8601(without hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/ISO8601

W3C-DTF (with hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/W3CDTF

ISO 8601(without hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/ISO8601

W3C-DTF (with hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/W3CDTF

ISO 8601(without hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/ISO8601

W3C-DTF (with hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/W3CDTF

Decision by DCMI Usage Board May 2002.

Recommend use if: 1) the value is different from Issued or Created, or 2) the copyright date is known but no value is supplied for Issued or Created. If same date is used for issued and copyright date, use only Issued.

ISO 8601(without hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/ISO8601

W3C-DTF (with hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/W3CDTF

Decision by DCMI Usage Board in May 2002.

Recommended for theses and dissertations.

ISO 8601(without hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/ISO8601

W3C-DTF (with hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/W3CDTF

Decision by DCMI Usage Board in May 2002.

Recommended for theses and dissertations.

ISO 8601(without hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/ISO8601

W3C-DTF (with hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/W3CDTF

This includes the date that a snapshot of the resource was taken (particularly for dynamic resources) if different from Date.Created.

Use existing element <dateCaptured> under <publicationInfo> in the Metadata Object Description Schema.

Decision by DCMI Usage Board in May 2002.

Best practice is to use as a machine-processible date (ISO 8601 without hyphens or W3CDTF with hyphens).

ISO 8601(without hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/ISO8601

W3C-DTF (with hyphens) - http://purl.org/dc/terms/W3CDTF

Use a controlled list and identify the source with encoding scheme.

Recommended that at least one value from DCMI-Type be supplied for a high level category.

Use a controlled list and identify the source with encoding scheme.

Consider registering values defined in the MARC list of sources as encoding schemes as well as any others that are identified as useful.

DCMIType - http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/
The DCMI Type Vocabulary is a list of types used to categorize the nature or genre of the content of the resource. See also http://dublincore.org/specifications/dublin-core/dcmi-type-vocabulary/

Values from MARC list of sources to be registered as encoding schemes

Art & Architecture thesaurus - http://www.loc.gov/marc/source/aat
Thesaurus for graphic materials - http://www.loc.gov/marc/source/gmgpc
(Note: These URIs established by LOC are subject to confirmation).

IMT - http://purl.org/dc/terms/IMT
The Internet media type of the resource.
See also: http://www.isi.edu/in-notes/iana/assignments/media-types/media-types

IMT - http://purl.org/dc/terms/IMT
The Internet media type of the resource.
See also: http://www.isi.edu/in-notes/iana/assignments/media-types/media-types

Standard identifier: Provide at least one standard identifier from a standard scheme (e.g., URL, ISBN, etc.) if one or more standard identifiers have been assigned to the resource and are known to the metadata agency.

Unique-resource identifier: Provide applicable identifiers assigned to one-of-a-kind resources (such as accession numbers assigned to items in a museum collection) if one or more of this class of identifiers have been assigned to the resource and are known to the metadata agency. If the structure of the identifier (e.g., all numerals) is potentially ambiguous it is recommended that the associated agencies' name be included as part of the identifier element.

Citation: Provide a citation if no standard identifier is assigned and a formal citation is a common means of identifying the resource being described (e.g., a journal article).

Use the element Identifier on a more abstract level; identifier for local library holdings like call number could be put into the DC-Lib element Location.

(OpenURL may be registered as an encoding scheme).

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

If not expressed by URI - SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes, URIs will be provided when available.

Note: SICI and DOI may be registered as "info" URI schemes.

A constructed or derived ID of a local nature may be supplied, including a specification of the supplying organisation, in the absence of a globally unique one.

Use only when the described resource is the result of digitization of non-digital originals. Otherwise, use Relation.

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes (these may also be expressed as URIs). URI will be provided when available.

In the absence of a globally unique Identifier, a constructed or derived one of a local nature can be supplied, including a specification of the supplying organisation.

(Consider registering OpenURL as an encoding scheme).

Language code may be used as a value for the Language qualifier to any DCMES element.

Recommend codes rather than text, taken from ISO 639-2 bibliographic codes. Mandatory if applicable means if there is any spoken or written text, supply.

ISO639-2 - DCMI approved encoding scheme. Use of the ISO 639-2 bibliographic code is preferred. A mapping is available at http://lcweb.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/englangn.html.

RFC 1766 - This scheme has been replaced by RFC 3066, which allows for a code from ISO 639-2 when there is no corresponding ISO 639-1 code. RFC 3066 is being registered as a DCMI approved scheme.

RFC 3066 - Internet RFC 3066 'Tags for the Identification of Languages' specifies a primary subtag which is a two-letter code taken from ISO 639 part 1 or a three-letter code taken from ISO 639 part 2, followed optionally by a two-letter country code taken from ISO 3166. When a language in ISO 639 has both a two-letter and three-letter code, use the two-letter code; when it has only a three-letter code, use the three-letter code. This RFC replaces RFC 1766.

Relation without qualifier is optional; where it is qualified the recommendation for the qualifier should be followed.

If using qualifiers, use the most specific one that is applicable.

When no Identifier is available, a bibliographic description may be constructed. Future work will involve developing guidelines.

Recommended use with qualifiers in certain situations:
- When documents in hand are parts of "host documents" (e.g. journal, monographic series) and when there is no citation information in DC identifier.
- When documents in hand are revisions or reformatted issues of earlier publications and information on these are readily available.

OpenURL may be registered as an encoding scheme.

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

If not expressed by URI - SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes (these may also be expressed as URIs).
http://dublincore.org/usage/terms/dc/current-schemes/

Do not include qualifier HasVersion, since this implies that it is clear which came first.

Future work includes possibly identifying a need for HasVersion.

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

If not expressed by URI - SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes (these may also be expressed as URIs).
http://dublincore.org/usage/terms/dc/current-schemes/

Use when there are alternative formats and it is not clear which preceded the other.

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

If not expressed by URI - SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes (these may also be expressed as URIs).
http://dublincore.org/usage/terms/dc/current-schemes/

Use only when the described resource references alternative physical formats. Example is the metadata for a home page for a dissertation that references that dissertation in various alternative formats (e.g. PDF, Postscript, etc.)

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

If not expressed by URI - SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes (these may also be expressed as URIs).
http://dublincore.org/usage/terms/dc/current-schemes/

Used for succeeding version.

URI

If not expressed by URI - SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes (these may also be expressed as URIs).
http://dublincore.org/usage/terms/dc/current-schemes/

Used for preceding version.

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

If not expressed by URI - SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes (these may also be expressed as URIs).
http://dublincore.org/usage/terms/dc/current-schemes/

Recommended use when documents in hand are parts of "host documents" (e.g. journal, monographic series) and when there is no citation information in DC identifier (if used by Citation WG).

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

If not expressed by URI - SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes (these may also be expressed as URIs).
http://dublincore.org/usage/terms/dc/current-schemes/

hasPart

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

If not expressed by URI - SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes (these may also be expressed as URIs).
http://dublincore.org/usage/terms/dc/current-schemes/

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

If not expressed by URI - SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes (these may also be expressed as URIs).
http://dublincore.org/usage/terms/dc/current-schemes/

May be of limited use in terms of later resources referencing the initial resource, but may be useful to link to a major review or assessing essay.

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

If not expressed by URI - SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes (these may also be expressed as URIs).
http://dublincore.org/usage/terms/dc/current-schemes/

May be of limited use except for other resources that are far reaching or thorough criticisms. Not appropriate, for example, to include all references from the bibliography of the described resource in repeated Relation. References tags

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

If not expressed by URI - SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier), ISBN (International Standard Book Number), ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), DOI (Digital Object Identifier). To be registered as encoding schemes (these may also be expressed as URIs).
http://dublincore.org/usage/terms/dc/current-schemes/

See Source Comments above.

Coverage will typically include spatial location (a place name or geographic coordinates), 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 (for example, the Thesaurus of Geographic Names [TGN]) and that, where appropriate, named places or time periods be used in preference to numeric identifiers such as
sets of coordinates or date ranges.

Use this element for geographic coverage. The value of this element may also be included in Subject if desired.

There is a need to evaluate DCMI Box and DCMI Point as for their usefulness for libraries and how they relate to current library practices for recording cartographic data.

DCMI Point - http://purl.org/dc/terms/Point
ISO 3166 - http://purl.org/dc/terms/ISO3166
DCMI Box - http://purl.org/dc/terms/Box
TGN - http://purl.org/dc/terms/TGN

Use Library of Congress URI for MARC Geographic Area Codes, MARC Country Codes e.g. http://www.loc.gov/MARC.GAC

Coverage will typically include temporal period. Recommended best practice is to select a value from a controlled vocabulary.

The value of this element may also be included in Subject if desired.

Prefer standard representation of date/time values in both DC.Date and
dc.coverage.temporal, although textual descriptions may also be used.

DCMI Period - http://purl.org/dc/terms/Period
W3C-DTF - http://purl.org/dc/terms/W3CDTF

URI - http://purl.org/dc/terms/URI

Approved by DCMI Usage Board October 2001.

Need to evaluate whether any refinements or encoding scheme(s) are appropriate for DC-Lib use. MARC target audience codes may be considered.

See DC-Lib comment

Being able to specify the version or edition of a given work is often critical to successful resource discovery and identification to determine whether a resource is the same as another one. This is particularly important for resources that change frequently. This is not to be used for versions in the sense of different physical formats (e.g. the PDF version of a textual resource).
Use existing element <edition> under <publicationInfo> in the Metadata Object Description Schema

Decision by DCMI Usage Board in May 2002.

This element will generally not be repeated. Element should be included if necessary for identification.

Use for a physical location that allows the user to retrieve the item when a URI is not appropriate (e.g. for physical items not available electronically). This also facilitates access if the URI doesn't retrieve anything or only a poor substitute. Can also contain further identification within a location such as call number, accession number.

Use existing element <location> in the Metadata Object Description Schema

Decision by DCMI Usage Board in May 2002.

MARC Code list for Organizations - http://www.loc.gov/marc/organizations/

Need to evaluate other encoding schemes, including ISO/DIS 15511.3 (International Standard Identifier for Libraries and Related Organizations (ISIL)). May also want to investigate a URI to an entry in an authority file.