Metadata Standard
Standard No: S114
Revision: v1
October 2004
Corporate Services
Information and Technology Division
Standard No.: S114
Date: Dec. 7, 2004
Revision No:
Metadata
Information and Technology Standards
Subject:
Metadata
Covers:
Standard No:
S114
Revision No:
v1
Effective:
Issued by:
Approved by:
07/12/04
Issued on: 07/12/04
Metadata Standards Group
Approved on: 07/12/04
John Davies,
Executive Director – Information & Technology
All existing departments standards and all previously developed corporate
standards
Supercedes:
Contact Information:
Senior Policy Analyst (Planning)
Tel: 416-392-4548Fax: 416-696-3634
Corporate Services
Information & Technology
Information & Technology Planning
Metro Hall,
55 John Street, 15th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5V 3C6
Revision History:
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1
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Date
Oct 28 2004
Issued by
Changes in Document
Initial Draft
Next
Review
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Approvals:
Revisio
n#
Approval
Date
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Approved with comments
Next
Review
Approved by: John Davies,
Executive Director
Corporate Services, Information & Technology
Signature: <signed>
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Metadata
Table of Contents
1.
Purpose........................................................................................................................................................ 4
2.
Application.................................................................................................................................................... 4
3.
Definitions .................................................................................................................................................... 4
4.
Standard: City of Toronto Metadata Element Set ........................................................................................ 6
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
4.9
4.10
4.11
4.12
4.13
4.14
4.15
4.16
AUDIENCE ................................................................................................................................................. 6
CONTRIBUTOR ........................................................................................................................................... 6
COVERAGE ................................................................................................................................................ 6
CREATOR .................................................................................................................................................. 7
DATE ......................................................................................................................................................... 8
DESCRIPTION............................................................................................................................................. 8
FORMAT .................................................................................................................................................... 9
IDENTIFIER................................................................................................................................................. 9
LANGUAGE ................................................................................................................................................ 9
PUBLISHER ............................................................................................................................................ 9
RELATION............................................................................................................................................ 10
RIGHTS ............................................................................................................................................... 10
SOURCE .............................................................................................................................................. 11
SUBJECT ............................................................................................................................................. 11
TITLE .................................................................................................................................................. 11
TYPE................................................................................................................................................... 11
5.
Standard Approval and Review Schedule ................................................................................................. 12
6.
Related Documents ................................................................................................................................... 12
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1. Purpose
This document provides a City of Toronto standard metadata element set for describing
resources such as documents or services designed to improve the discovery, visibility
accessibility and interoperability of online information and services.
The short and traditional definition of metadata is “data about data”. A more refined description
would be “information associated with resources and services which enables users to be aware
of the existence, characteristics and discovery of these objects.”
The standard draws upon the research, guidelines, standards, efforts and publications of the
following organizations:
•
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative;
•
World Wide Web Consortium;
•
The Australian Government Locator Service;
•
Treasury Board of Canada, Secretariats;
•
The New Zealand Government Locator Service.
2. Application
These standards apply to all individuals using technology provided by the City, or authorized to
access the City of Toronto infrastructure and information technology assets to fulfill their duties
and the City’s business goals. All City information and technology assets are subject to these
standards, regardless of their use or physical location.
One of the City of Toronto’s goals is to make its resources and services available to and easily
accessible by its citizens, business partners and staff. A foundation in achieving this goal is to
consistently describe all resources according to a set of standards. This goal can be achieved
by:
•
Enabling internal metadata search engines
•
Making the metadata and their domains available to the searcher
Implementation of these standards will be the basis for access to all online and offline resources
for external and internal applications. Accurate and consistent capture of metadata makes
resources and services more accessible by making searches more precise, allowing for better
understanding of the resource when discovered. It will also provide means of better managing
these resources.
3. Definitions
§
CoT – City of Toronto
§
Dublin Core: The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, (see http://www.dublincore.org) is a global
open forum engaged in the development of metadata standards that support a broad range of
purposes and business models.
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Metadata
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§
ISO – International Organization for Standards. http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/ISOOnline.frontpage
•
Metadata is ‘data about data’.In other words, metadata is information associated with
resources and services, which enables users to be aware of their existence, characteristics
and discovery.
§
MIME - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (Internet Media Types).
§
Resource – as described in the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Glossary “A resource is
anything that has identity. Familiar examples include an electronic document, an image, a
service (e.g., "today's weather report for Toronto"), and a collection of other resources. Not all
resources are network "retrievable"; e.g., human beings, corporations, and bound books and
paper documents in a library can also be considered resources.“ Electronic resources are
known as online resources, resources in physical format such as papers or books are known
as offline resources.
§
RFC - A Request for Comment (RFC) is the process of establishing a standard on the
Internet. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) facilitates discussion of the proposed
standard on the Internet. Once approved, the standard receives a unique number which
identifies it; e.g., RFC See http://www.isi.edu/rfc-editor/ and http://www.ietf.org/rfc.html
§
URI - Uniform Resource Identifiers – A pointer to a specific location on the Web.
•
World Wide Web Consortium - World Wide Web Consortium - develops interoperable
technologies to lead the Web to its full potential. World Wide Web Consortium is a forum for
information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding. http://www.w3c.org
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4. Standard: City of Toronto Metadata Element Set
The following provides a legend for the definitions of the element set that follows.
The following definitions for Element and Refinement are taken from the Dublin Core Metadata
Initiative Glossary.
An element is a property of a resource. As intended here, "properties" are attributes of resources -characteristics of a resource, such as a Title, Publisher, or Subject. Elements are formally defined
terms, which are used to describe attributes and properties of a resource.
Refinements make the meaning of an element narrower or more specific. An element refinement is
a property of a resource, which shares the meaning of a particular Element, but with narrower
semantics.
Description
A brief description of the element
Encoding Scheme
An encoding scheme provides contextual information or parsing rules that aid
in the interpretation of a term value. Such contextual information may take the
form of controlled vocabularies, formal notations, or parsing rules.
Refinements:
Name of the
refinement
4.1
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Mandatory, Conditional or Optional
A default value to be used if a value is not supplied
A brief description of the refinement
Audience
Description
The primary target audience for the resource.
Encoding Scheme
CoT_Aud – controlled vocabulary of standard audience categories
Obligation
Default Value
Mandatory
‘en’ – for English
4.2
Contributor
Description
Encoding Scheme
An entity, other than creator, responsible for making an important
contribution to the content of the resource
-
Obligation
Default Value
Optional
-
4.3
Coverage
Description
The extent or scope of the content of the resource. Typically, Coverage will
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
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Encoding Scheme
CoT_geospatial
Refinements:
geotype
Obligation
Default Value
Description
geoAddress
Obligation
Default Value
Description
geoStreetName
Obligation
Default Value
Description
geoPostalCode
Obligation
Default Value
Description
geoWard
Obligation
Default Value
Description
geoFrmrMunicipality
Obligation
Default Value
Description
geoName
Obligation
Default Value
Description
geoIdentifier
Obligation
Default Value
Description
jurisdiction
4.4
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Optional
Represents the type of geographic feature being referenced
by the Coverage element. Part of a hierarchy of geographic
features in the City’s geospatial information environment.
Conditional
Represents a valid municipal address as stored in the City’s
One Address Repository (OAR).
Conditional
Represents a municipal street name designation within the
City of Toronto.
Conditional
Represents a Canada Post postal code when a valid
municipal address is entered.
Conditional
Represents a municipal ward designation within the City of
Toronto when a municipal address is entered.
Conditional
Represents a former municipal designation within the City of
Toronto when a valid municipal address or valid street name
is entered.
Conditional – Mandatory when a geoType is selected.
Describes the proper name of point/line/polygon geographic
feature the associated geoIdentifier represents.
Conditional – Mandatory when a geoType and geoName
are selected except for Street Segment – geoType.
Default according to selected geoType and geoName.
A code, that when combined with geoType in a compound
key, represents the uniquely identifiable geographic
expression of the content object found in the “real world”.
Optional
The extent or scope of the content of the resource which is
not available / described by geoIdentifier / geoType.
Creator
Description
An entity primarily responsible for making the content of the resource.
Examples of Creator include a person, an organization, or a service.
Typically, the name of a Creator should be used to indicate the entity
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Encoding Scheme
Obligation
Default Value
4.5
CoT_ORG is used if the creator is an organization within the City of Toronto.
The scheme represents the organizational structure of the City of Toronto
Mandatory
-
Date
Description
Encoding Scheme
The date of an event in the lifecycle of the resource. Typically, Date will be
associated with the creation or availability of the resource. Recommended
best practice for encoding the date value is defined in a profile of ISO 8601
ISO 8601. Complete date plus hours and minutes:
YYYY-MM-DDThh:mmTZD
where:
YYYY = four-digit year
MM = two-digit month (01=January, etc.)
DD = two-digit day of month (01 through 31)
hh = two digits of hour (00 through 23) (am/pm NOT allowed)
mm = two digits of minute (00 through 59)
TZD = time zone designator (Z or +hh:mm or -hh:mm)
Refinements:
Publish
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Expiry
Obligation
Default Value
Description
LastUpdated
Obligation
Default Value
Description
4.6
Mandatory
The system date
The date that the resource was first published made
available or released.
Mandatory
‘9999-12-31T00:00-06:00’’ – (December 31 of year 9999)
The date that the resource will no longer be available
through online systems.
Mandatory
The system date
The date that the resource was modified and republished to
online system.
Description
Description
A concise textual description of the content and/or purpose of the resource
Encoding Scheme
-
Obligation
Default Value
Mandatory
-
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4.7
Format
Description
Encoding Scheme
The physical or digital manifestation of the resource. Typically, Format may
include the media-type or dimensions of the resource. Format may be used
to identify the software, hardware, or other equipment needed to display or
operate the resource. Recommended best practice is to select a value from
a controlled vocabulary (for example, the list of Internet Media Types [MIME]
defining computer media formats).
CoT_Medium – MIME types
Refinements:
Medium
Extend
4.8
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Mandatory
Media type of the resource.
Optional
A numeric or text value, representing the length, size or
duration
Identifier
Description
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Encoding Scheme
URI
Obligation
Default Value
Conditional – Mandatory for online resources
-
4.9
Language
Description
The language of the intellectual content of the resource
Encoding Scheme
RFC 3066 – ISO 639 Part 1
Obligation
Default Value
Mandatory
‘en’ – for English
4.10
Publisher
Description
Encoding Scheme
An entity responsible for making the resource available. Examples of
Publisher include a person, an organization, or a service. Typically, the
name of a Publisher should be used to indicate the entity
CoT_Org
Refinements:
Name
Department
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Obligation
Default Value
Mandatory
The name of the individual who published the resource.
The entity responsible for making the resource available.
Mandatory
‘City of Toronto’
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Description
Division
Section
4.11
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Obligation
Default Value
Description
The name of the City organization, Agency, Board or
Commission responsible for creation of this document
Optional
The division name responsible for creation of this document
Optional
The section name responsible for creation of this document
Relation
Description
Encoding Scheme
A reference to a related resource. Recommended best practice is to identify
the referenced resource by means of a string or number conforming to a
formal identification system.
URI
Refinements:
isPartOf / hasPart
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Replaces /
IsReplacedBy
Obligation
Default Value
Description
References /
isReferencedBy
Obligation
Default Value
Description
IsFormatOf /
hasFormat
Obligation
Default Value
Description
isRequiredBy /
requires
Obligation
Default Value
Description
4.12
Optional
One resource is a physical or logical derivation or
adaptation of another resource.
Optional
One resource is an historical state, edition, replacement,
and displacement of another resource.
Optional
One resource cites, acknowledges, disputes or otherwise
refers to another resource.
Optional
The described resource is the same intellectual content of
the referenced resource, but presented in another format.
Optional
One resource requires another resource for its functioning,
delivery, or content and cannot be used without the related
resource being present.
Rights
Description
Information about rights held in and over the resource.
Encoding Scheme
-
Obligation
Default Value
Mandatory
‘en’ – for English
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4.13
Source
Description
Encoding Scheme
A reference to a resource from which the present resource is derived (in
whole or in part).
-
Obligation
Default Value
Optional
-
4.14
Subject
Description
Encoding Scheme
A topic of the content of the resource. Typically, Subject will be expressed
as keywords, key phrases or classification codes that describe a topic of the
resource. Recommended best practice is to select a value from a controlled
vocabulary or formal classification scheme.
CoT_Taxonomy
Refinements:
sub_lev1
4.15
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Mandatory
A standard City business term used to describe the subject
or content of the resource
Title
Description
Encoding Scheme
A name given to the resource. Typically, Title will be a name by which the
resource is formally known
-
Refinements:
Organization
Name
4.16
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Mandatory
‘City of Toronto’
This signifies where this document originated.
Mandatory
The name by which the resource is formally known.
Type
Description
Encoding Scheme
The nature or genre of the content of the resource. Type includes terms
describing general categories, functions, genres, or aggregation levels for
content. Recommended best practice is to select a value from a controlled
vocabulary.
CoT_CRCS for records classification
CoT_Services for City services
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Refinements:
CrcsPrimary
Obligation
Default Value
Description
CrcsSecondary
Obligation
Default Value
Description
CrcsTertiary
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Service
Obligation
Default Value
Description
Optional
Primary classification of the resources based on City of
Toronto’s Corporate Record Classification System.
Conditional
Secondary classification of the resources based on primary
classification
Conditional
Tertiary classification of the resources based on secondary
classification
Mandatory
Articulate the type of service that the content of resource
describes, offers or relates t
5. Standard Approval and Review Schedule
The Technology Assets Standards group has developed this standard. The Technology Assets
Standards group members consist of information and technology representatives from all City
departments, including Corporate Services information and technology.
This Standard is submitted to Corporate Services, Information and Technology Senior
Management team for final approval.
This Standard is reviewed every 6 months.
6. Related Documents
Metadata Usage Guide.
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