Development of ISBD/XML Schema : continuation of the project

1 year project

 

Goals and objectives

IFLA Cataloguing Section’s ISBD Review Group approved the recommendations from its Material Designation Study Group to develop an XML Schema for the ISBD. This has been considered important for the ISBD updating project from the aspect of researching the possibilities of reviewing ISBD concepts and the standard itself by the application of web technologies to the field such as building an ISBD RDF/XML schema, and of evolving the standard into a tool open to Semantic Web technologies and services. The ISBD/XML Study Group was formed, and it was accepted by the Cataloguing Section Standing Committee during the IFLA meeting in Quebec, 2008. The two-year project was accepted in 2008, and subsequently met with the proposed plan by October 2010. This proposal is meant to cover the extension of the fourth year of the project accepted by the ISBD Review Group and Cataloguing section during the 2011 IFLA meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Contribution to IFLA strategy

The project is seen to follow all the directions as agreed in the IFLA Strategic Plan 2010–2015 by:

  • Empowering libraries to enable their user communities to have equitable access to information;
  • Building the strategic capacity of IFLA and that of its members;
  • Transforming the profile and standing of the profession;
  • Representing the interests of IFLA's members and library users throughout the world.

Methodology, participants, anticipated beneficiaries and stakeholders, expected outcomes and results and how these will be disseminated, project deliverables

To reach the above objectives and goals, the project work is divided into the following tasks:

This task will be done in collaboration with the ISBD RG task on Guidelines for use of ISBD as Linked Data and will benefit other users of the OMR, not only the ISBD community.

  1. Liaise with DCMI on improving its infrastructure and support for Application Profiles, using the ISBD AP as a case study, and subsequently further develop the ISBD AP. This includes developing an RDF version based on the current XML representation, and investigating the use of templates for multiple, related Application Profiles, which will be essential for representing ISBD elements which are "mandatory if applicable".

    • Attendance at DCMI satellite meeting in Europe regarding specific topics relevant to development of profiling
    • Expenditure for an expert building of ISBD AP & XSLT
    • Timeline: report to the ISBD RG during IFLA meeting August 2012
  2. Maintain translations of the ISBD namespace using the Open Metadata Registry (OMR) service, with fees paid from project funds, and develop documentation on the correct use of the OMR for adding translations and general editing and maintenance.

    • Fees to Metadata Management Associates for maintenance of translations of namespaces in the OMR
    • Documentation transmitted to ISBD RG spring 2012 in order to be included in the 1st version of the Guidelines
  3. Alignment of ISBD data elements and vocabularies with other namespaces:

    • Achieve the mapping of ISBD with the RDA/ONIX Framework for Resource Categorization and implement appropriate links in the OMR; collaborate with the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA on the development of a representation of the RDA/ONIX Framework in RDF, and ensure that ISBD's interests are represented in further development of the Framework itself.
    • Develop mappings between the ISBD namespace and UNIMARC namespace.
    • Develop mappings between the ISBD namespace and Dublin Core Terms (DCT) namespaces.
    • Monitor development of RDF representations of ISSN elements and instance data, and develop appropriate alignments.
    • Monitor developments in related namespaces such as Bibliographic Ontology (BIBO), SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization System), and Friend of a Friend (FOAF), and take ad hoc action to liaise with related namespaces and develop appropriate mappings from the ISBD namespaces.
    • Timeline: report to the ISBD RG during IFLA meeting August 2012

All planned activities and their results (both in progress and in final form) will be reported to the ISBD RG and to relevant communities and communicated in the ISBD RG website, forums and conferences.

For the management of the project, 2 meetings of the core team:

  • 1-day meeting in Paris in early 2012
  • 1-day meeting in Zadar in June 2012

Promotion: presentation and workshop at LIDA (18-22 June 2012), Zadar, Croatia

Plan of follow-up action

It is expected that the described activities will be extended to the next year, 2013.

This project has not been planned as a two-year project because the field is very dynamic and rather unstable, and concrete activities, meetings, etc., cannot be envisaged for so far ahead. Also, it can be expected that a major project would be proposed that would include different IFLA units and some non-IFLA organizations with the aim of approaching the representation of IFLA standards in a linked data and Semantic Web environment in a strategic and encompassing manner which is now lacking.

At the IFLA conference in Singapore, 2013, it was proposed to change the name of the SG to more appropriately represent its changed tasks. The ISBD Review Group, as well as the Cataloguing Section’s SC, approved the change of the name to: ISBD Linked Data Study Group.