/research/projects/rdf_interop/default.htm

originally: http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/rdf_interop/default.htm

RDF-DC Interoperability Testbed Project

Goals

Demonstrate cross-disciplinary metadata interoperability using RDF as an encoding format and RDFS as the means for declaring schemas. Dublin Core will be the base metadata element set. Other metadata element set namespaces will be linked to DC via sub-property inheritance, thereby affording cross-discipline interoperability without sacrificing the native namespace of any given element set.

Background

The Internet Commons is more effective to the extent that information resources are discoverable, retrievable, and renderable with the fewest possible impediments. The linking idiom of the Web solves an important dimension of this problem, but cross-disciplinary metadata standards are required to increase semantic interoperability across languages, disciplines, and sectors. The Dublin Core addressses this need for general information resources, but namespace branding and the need for extensions to basic discovery metadata often make it desireable to manage metadata namespaces locally.

RDF Schemas allow the declaration of metadata elements in ways that allow retaining control and branding of their local DC-derived namespaces declaring elements as subProperties of a DC element where appropriate. Thus, amico:artist can be declared as a sub-property of dc:creator, aglis:title can be declared as a sub-property of dc:title, and so on. Of course, there will be elements in datasets that are not sub-properties of DC as well, but by using schemas to declare relationships that are manifest, metadata designers can satisfy the need for local management and element set branding while still ensuring that their data will be visible in the larger context of the Internet Commons

Description

This project will bring together a substantial amount of data from different sectors in different countries, unified using RDF Schema declarations as described above. Participants will be recruited from the government sector, museums, the commercial sector, supragovernmental organizations, and education. The resulting database will comprise a testbed accessible to researchers and designers to demonstrate and experiment with an operational cross-disciplinary store. This testbed will also provide a tutorial by example that will help to promote this approach to enhancing cross disciplinary interoperability.

Schedule

Phase 1,2 Participants

Requirements for participants

The interoperability testbed team will need:

Testbed functionality

Deliverables

Project team