Metadata Resources
Metadata standards and specifications for describing people and their interests
Metadata ResourcesMetadata standards and specifications for describing people and their interests |
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This is an overview of metadata standards and specifications for describing people and their interests, and particularily in relation to description of portal users. The overview includes various element sets that are specifically designed to describe actors in relation to events in the lifecycle of resources. The overview does not include metadata element sets that identify people in a particular role as an attribute of a resource (e.g. Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, the Encoded Archival Context), name authorities (e.g. Library of Congress Name Authority File (LCNAF), International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families (ISAAR(CPF)), etc.) or entries from national biographies. So element sets that describe people as part of a larger more generic schema are not covered in this overview. Neither is the Semantic Web work on ontologies for describing people nor standards and specifications that are existing within software and user management systems (for instance, LDAP-based object classes, such as sambaAccount and posixAccount). Many of these initiatives and standards bodies tend to collaborate and draw upon each others work, and as will be shown in the overview they have many connections with each other. One example of connections between different efforts is the Internet2/Educause creation of an LDAP-based object class for eduPerson. |
Standards and specificationsGeneralEducational
e-CommerceGovernmental |
The FOAF namespace provides a set of properties and classes, focusing initially on people, documents, organisations, images etc. FOAF is a simple vocabulary for describing social networks, people, organisations etc. The FOAFCorp experiment extends the scope to describe the interconnections and structure of corporate entities. The schema is still under development.
vCard is a set of metadata elements defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a standard for representing information about people and organisations, such as that which is profiled in a common business card.
vCards carry directory information such as name, addresses (business, home, mailing, parcel), telephone numbers (home, business, fax, pager, cellular, ISDN, voice, data, video), email addresses and URLs. vCards can also contain graphics and multimedia (photographs, company logos, audio clips). vCards hold geographic and time zone information (e.g. to let others know when to contact). vCards support multiple languages.
According to the overview the vCard specification "is transport and operating system independent so you can have vCard-ready software on any computer. vCards are Internet friendly, standards based, and have wide industry support". vCard is used in applications such as Internet mail, voice mail, Web browsers, telephony applications, call centers, video conferencing, PIMs (Personal Information Managers), PDAs (Personal Data Assistants), pagers, fax, office equipment, and smart cards.
vCard v.3 is defined in two parts, RFC 2425 and RFC 2426.
In February 2001 the joint Internet2 and Educause released the EduPerson Specification. Several U.S. universities are involved in this effort, such as University of Wisconsin and MIT.
The EduPerson Specification provides a set of higher-education attributes for an enterprise directory. It consists of a set data elements, or attributes, about individuals within higher education, along with recommendations on the syntax and semantics of the data that may be assigned to those attributes. Information contained in the directory is organised in object classes and attributes. Each named attribute holds a specific data element such as phone number, address and so on. An object class is a defined set of attributes relating to a particular type of directory entry.
According to the IMS Enterprise Best Practice and Implementation Guide "many of the eduPerson attributes are intended to support inter-realm applications such as controlled access to web pages or licensed resources. [...] Most are related to instructional and research use rather than to internal institutional operations at this point."
The attributes within eduPerson are of two types:
PAPI specify the syntax and semantics of a 'Learner Model,' which will characterise a learner (student or knowledge worker) and his or her knowledge/abilities. This will include elements such as knowledge (from coarse to fine-grained), skills, abilities, learning styles, records, and personal information. This standard will allow these elements to be represented in multiple levels of granularity, from a coarse overview, down to the smallest conceivable sub-element. The standard will allow different views of the Learner Model (learner, teacher, parent, school, employer, etc.) and will substantially address issues of privacy and security.
A key feature of the PAPI Learner Standard is the logical division, separate security, and separate administration of several types of learner information: (1) personal information. e.g., name, address, social security number; (2) relations information, e.g., cohorts, classmates, (3) security information, e.g., public keys, private keys, credentials; (4) preference information, e.g., useful and unusable I/O devices, learning styles, physical limitations; (5) performance information, e.g., grades, interim reports, log books; (6) portfolio information, e.g., accomplishments and works. These six types of information are also known as "profile information" and "learner profiles".
The PAPI Learner standard may be integrated with other systems, protocols, formats, and technologies.
The standard allows different views of the Learner Model (learner, teacher, parent, school, employer, etc.) and substantially addresses issues of privacy and security.
The purpose of this standard is:
· To enable learners (students or knowledge workers) of any age,
background, location,
means, or school/work situation to
create and build a personal Learner Model, based
on standards,
which they can utilise throughout their education, learning
experiences,
and work life.
· To enable courseware developers to develop materials that
will provide more personalised
and effective instruction.
· To provide educational researchers with a standardised
and growing source of data.
· To provide a foundation for the development of additional
educational standards, and
to do so from a student-centered
learning focus.
· To provide architectural guidance to education system
designers.
PAPI Learner was initially developed for learning technology applications but may be easily extended to other types of human- related information such as medical and financial applications.
Instructional Management System (IMS) is a standards body focused on internet-based learning technologies. Its metadata is a subset of comaptible work by the IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee. IMS contains e.g. competency (skills and abilities), affilities etc.
In the IMS (http://www.imsproject.org) Learner Information Package (http://www.imsproject.org/profiles/lipbest01a.html) learner information is divided into eleven categories. Amongst others, there is an interest category for describing hobbies and recreational activities, and also accessibility category for describing physical (e.g. large print) and/or technical preferences (such as computer platform).
Universal Learning Format (ULF) draws its learner information on standards such as Dublin Core Metadata Element Set and vCard. Except for the content description, the ULF consists of a Competency Format for describing skills, knowledge; a Certification Format which is an interchange format for certification related information. A certification is a group of learning offerings that a learner must complete in order to gain a certification or to be qualified in a particular educational area or field; and a Profile Format that describes learner profile information, name, title roles, competencies, certifications and learning results.
The INDECS project is concerned with the same resource discovery elements as Dublin Core, but in addition embraces metadata for people (human and legal) and intellectual property agreements and the links between them. Its basic model has evolved from the copyright societies' CIS plan, initiated in 1994 and the initiator of the ISO proposals for the International Standard Work Code (ISWC) and International Standard Audiovisual Number (ISAN).
U.S Department of Health and Human services National Institute of Health (NIH) are developing a strategy for a secure, centrally coordinated NIH electronic directory that coordinates directories for e-mail, personnel, parking, etc. NIH has constructed a schema for their associated parties. The schema, Organisational Person Schema (OPS), seeks to create an inter-institutional community object class for higher education. The scope is similar to the one for eduPerson.
The UK Government is establishing the means for citizens and businesses to be able to transact business with the government electronically. The schema inclused element for passport number, national insurance number etc.