RDF

This page considers the Resource Description Framework, a set of protocols for describing and exchanging metadata.

It covers -

• introduction
• basis
• Warwick Framework

     introduction

Resource Description Framework (aka RDF), as the name implies, is a "framework for describing and interchanging metadata".

It is used in communication between databases that feature metadata, for example MARC-style library catalogues and collection management databases used by archives and art museums.

It also underpins the RSS used by newscasting and blogging services.

     basis

RDF is based on identifying things using web identifiers - Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) - and describing resources in terms of simple properties and property values.

It embodies four rules, discussed in detail on the W3C RDF site

1 A Resource is anything that can have a URI, including all web pages and individual elements of an XML document.

2 A PropertyType is a Resource that has a name and can be used as a property, for example Author or Title.

3 A Property is the combination of a Resource, a PropertyType, and a value.

4 Those abstractions can be expressed in XML in a standard format

     Warwick Framework?

The Warwick Framework is a conceptual model for metadata. It recognises that different metadata suites regarding the same entity might be

• created by different organisations or even individuals (eg by a library, by a museum and by an archive)
• used for different purposes
• maintained using different standards

In essence it acknowledges that a single one-size-fits-all scheme is not institutionally achievable or even desirable. Different bodies will use different metadata, even though they will often be describing the same entity or a similar entity. Those metadata schemes will coexist: mechanisms for generating, storing and searching metadata must make allowances for that variation and Warwick Framework accordingly provides a broad protocol for "agreeing to disagree".

The Warwick Framework is not a detailed and prescriptive system. Instead it is a set of design principles that have underpinned development of Dublin Core and thinking about the interoperability of cultural collection databases, particularly in the library and archives sectors. Stuart Weibel's 1996 paper on The Warwick Metadata Workshop: A Framework for the Deployment of Resource Description offers a succinct overview.





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