SCHEMAS Forum for metadata schema implementers The SCHEMAS project and metadata ETB Workshop, London, 9-10 January 2001 Michael Day, m.day@ukoln.ac.uk

Contents Project overview The SCHEMAS metadata registry Audience, needs, SCHEMAS project offerings, some results to date The SCHEMAS metadata registry Objectives, approaches, implementation and functions Application profiles Some definitions 2

Partners PricewaterhouseCoopers Technology Consultants (PwC) German National Research Centre for Information Technology (GMD) UK Office for Library and Information Networking, University of Bath (UKOLN) 3

Audience Who? What for? Metadata schema designers Projects under the EU’s IST programme (Multimedia Content and Tools) and national initiatives What for? Information, guidance and tools for the description of Web resources of all kinds Helping designers to use what is already there 4

Domains Not just Dublin Core No ‘best way’ of doing things Education Research Academic services Geospatial information Other (e.g. Government) Industry Publishing and rights management Audio-visual production and distribution Cultural heritage Not just Dublin Core No ‘best way’ of doing things 5

Needs General need for: But: Standard methods for content description Multiplicity of schemas, mixing and matching general and specific sets But: There is some duplication of effort, competition between standards and schemas Potential confusion for implementers 6

Re-use Why re-use existing schemas? End result: Not re-inventing wheels Potential use of standard tools Higher potential interoperability End result: Reduction of cost, now and in the future Enlarging the potential audience Interoperability 7

The information gap Metadata schemas already identified: Conclusions: Over 200 implementation activities Around 90 standardisation activities Very different levels of information Conclusions: Good information about schemas is badly needed Need for mutual understanding, hopefully leading to harmonisation 8

SCHEMAS provides ... Information provision Workshops Metadata Watch Reports Standards Framework Reports Guidance material Workshops Registry implementation Schemas, application profiles, people, projects, standards, tools, guidelines 9

SCHEMAS results Second Workshop (Bonn, November 2000) First Workshop (Bath, June 2000) - report http://www.schemas-forum.org/workshops/ Metadata Watch Reports: #1 (July 2000), #2 (September 2000), #3 (November 2000) http://www.schemas-forum.org/metadata-watch/ Standards Framework Report: #1 (Sept. 2000) http://www.schemas-forum.org/stds-framework/ Second Workshop (Bonn, November 2000) 10

SCHEMAS Registry Experience with prototype registry developed by DESIRE II project The registry is the place to publish metadata schemas: ‘namespace schemas’ ‘application profile schemas’ As well as other information about schemas, e.g.: standards, projects, people, tools, etc. 11

Thick registry Namespace schema App Mapping profile Usage guide Thick Sample data Users Software tools 12

Thin registry Namespace schema Mapping App profile Sample data Usage guide Thin Registry Software tools Users 13

Registry approach The SCHEMAS registry will be: a ‘thick registry’ initially, with schemas registered at a central location develop into a ‘thin registry’ in the future, with pointers to schemas on the Web The technical basis will be: RDF Schemas EOR toolkit 14

EOR Toolkit 15

Registry functions Registration Searching schemas from European projects and initiatives information and reviews from SCHEMAS domain correspondents Searching Finding application profiles for re-use Finding information and guidance 16

Application profiles What is an application profile? a schema identifying the use of elements from one or more namespaces in a particular application, with additional constraints What is it used for? To publish this information for a human audience To help software configure 17

Profile process Common steps in defining profile identify requirements for descriptive elements find appropriate standard link required elements to standard elements where possible define remaining elements and/or qualifiers in private namespace link remaining elements 18

Contacts http://www.schemas-forum.org/ Makx Dekkers mdekkers@lu.pwcglobal.com Rachel Heery r.heery@ukoln.ac.uk Tom Baker thomas.baker@gmd.de Web site: http://www.schemas-forum.org/ 19

Acknowledgements Based on a presentation given by Makx Dekkers (PricewaterhouseCoopers) at the MALVINE and LEAF conference: Gateways to Europe’s Cultural Heritage, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, 4-5 December 2000. http://www.sbb.spk-berlin.de/malvine/agenda/schemas.html 21