The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative “popularized the idea of “core metadata” for simple and generic resource descriptions” and its initial 15 descriptive elements became an international standard and a component of the Open Archives Initiatives Protocol for Metadata Harvesting. The Dublin Core community has subsequently developed in two directions – one developing application profiles to support particular implementation communities and the other developing in a way that would make its data structures more compatible with RDF and support the uptake of Dublin Core around Linked Data (http://dublincore.org/metadata-basics/). At this time there is, therefore, a very wide spectrum of usage of Dublin Core.
There are a number of projects in the UKOER programme which have identified themselves as using Dublin Core, they are:
- Unicycle
- Open Content Employability Project
- Open Exeter
- OTTER (considering using DC)
- OpenStaffs
- Berlin (considering using DC)
- ChemistryFM (early intention)
- OLE Dutch History (early intention)
- ADOME
- TRUE
- Open Educational Resources Pilot
- Phorus
- Humbox
- Skills for Scientists
- UK Centre for Bioscience OER Project (considering use of DC Terms for html based resources)
Projects using Dublin Core at least in part because they’re using OAI-PMH
(I’ve made the assumption those using OAI-PMH are implementing it according to the protocol and thus creating OAI_DC)
- Unicycle
- Open Content Employability Project
- OpenStaffs
- ChemistryFM
- ADOME
- TRUE
- Phorus
- Humbox
Projects creating a mapping to DC to promote interoperability
(this mapping may go beyond OAI_DC)
- Unicycle
- Berlin (investigating mapping to DC)
- Open Educational Resources Pilot (investigating mapping to DC)
Projects implementing the latest version of Dublin Core: DC Terms
- OpenExeter
- UK Centre for Bioscience OER Project (considering)
Projects for whom Dublin Core is not their primary standard
- Unicycle
- Open Content Employability Project
- OpenStaffs
- Berlin
- TRUE
- ChemistryFM (not sure – using WordPress (with OAI-ORE plugin) and institutional repository)
Reflections
- Projects will be creating Dublin Core metadata as a side effect of their deposit into JorumOpen – but this isn’t a choice to use DC in the programme as such.
- I think there is a definite tension between the ongoing use of OAI-DC as part of OAI-PMH and the uptake and use of DC Terms.
- This overview of the use of does not comment on the element / term choices used as part of the use of Dublin Core.
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