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Dublin Core



Donna, and others---

I think that the true role of the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set is being
inflated in this and other discussions.  The 15 DC elements are really
designed as a VERY general, high-level set of descriptors that can be used
to more effectively identify materials in a multidisciplinary environment
(e.g., the WWW) for resource discovery purposes.  In other words, their most
appropriate role is to help Internet browsers and indexing engines locate
and identify any sort of information object.  They do a good job in that
role.  But they are NOT intended to afford the semantic richness necessary
to adequately describe archival materials.  To do that requires more complex
schema like MARC21 and EAD.  Although crosswalks have been developed to map
DC elements to MARC, EAD, and ISAD(G), their purpose is really to permit
stylesheets and other automated tools to extract pieces of data from MARC
records, EAD-encoded finding aids, etc., and mark them up as DC elements for
high-level resource discovery--not to show how DC might be used in place of
those other schema.  For *cataloging* archival materials at a series or
collection level, MARC21 remains the most appropriate descriptive tool.  DC
has an important role, but a very limited one.

Dennis Meissner
Manuscripts Processing Manager
Minnesota Historical Society
*       Voice:   651-296-2496
*       Fax:      651-296-9961
*       e-mail:   dennis.meissner@mnhs.org

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