Dublin Core Metadata Element Set

Description

Dublin Core is an international ISO standard with 15 metadata elements for describing sources, both on the web and physically. Apart from the simple description by means of 15 metadata fields, the standard can also be used to combine different metadata standards in order to promote interoperability.

The DCMI Metadata Terms is an extension with ‘qualified’ terms that refine the 15 basic elements. There are also specific elements for documenting relationships between sources. The possibilities for documenting technical properties are limited because the data structure aims for the widest possible use.

Dublin Core Elements Set is a minimum standard.

Table 1 – The Dublin Core metadata element set

From: dublincore.org

The standard is sometimes regarded as poorly organised because of the difficulty of finding definitions for the individual metadata elements. A major difference with other metadata standards for documents is that there is no predefined order in which the elements should be used. In the list above, the element ‘Title’ is listed first and ‘Rights’ last. But it could just as well be the other way round or in alphabetical order.

There are two ways to use the elements: with or without extensions. If you use them without extensions then you use “Simple Dublin Core” or simplified Dublin Core. If you use the elements with extensions then you use Qualified Dublin Core. The extensions are called refinements or qualifiers. For example, ‘created’, ‘valid’, ‘issued’ and ‘modified’ are the recommended refinements of the ‘Date’ element.

So, dc.date.created would be the name for the creation date element of a document in Qualified DC. Qualified DC also adds three more metadata elements: Audience, Provenance and RightsHolder.