The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set
RFC 5013

• Status
• IESG evaluation record
• IESG writeups
• Email expansions
• History

• Versions
• 07

Network Working Group                                           J. Kunze
Request for Comments: 5013                      University of California
Obsoletes: 2413                                                 T. Baker
Category: Informational                  Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
                                                             August 2007

                  The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set

Status of This Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Abstract

   This document defines fifteen metadata elements for resource
   description in a cross-disciplinary information environment.

1.  Introduction

   The Dublin Core Metadata Workshop Series began in 1995 with an
   invitational workshop that brought together librarians, digital
   library researchers, content experts, and text-markup experts to
   promote better discovery standards for electronic resources.  The
   resulting metadata element set defines fifteen metadata elements for
   resource description in a cross-disciplinary information environment.

   This document contains the current text of Dublin Core "Version 1.1".
   Version 1.1 is the basis of ANSI/NISO Z39.85-2001 [Z39.85].  The text
   in the present RFC closely follows the text in the 2007 revision of
   ANSI/NISO Z39.85, especially Sections 2-6 and 10-12 [Z39.85-2007].
   The present RFC obsoletes RFC 2413 [RFC2413], which was the first
   published version of the Dublin Core ("Version 1.0").  The main
   differences between the present RFC and RFC 2413 are in the wording
   of definitions -- for Contributor and Date (semantically broadened),
   for Relation (clarified), and in the general removing of redundant
   references to "the content of" a resource.  In addition, the present
   RFC recommends lowercase element names (consistent with RDF property
   types), remains silent about the unrestrictedness of element ordering
   and repeatability (application profiles being the proper place to
   discuss such topics), and references the current abstract model,
   vocabularies, and namespace policies in which the Dublin Core is
   embedded.

Kunze & Baker                Informational                      [Page 1]
RFC 5013                  Dublin Core Metadata               August 2007

2.  Foreword

   The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set is a vocabulary of fifteen
   properties for use in resource description.  The name "Dublin" is due
   to its origin at a 1995 invitational workshop in Dublin, Ohio; "core"
   because its elements are broad and generic, usable for describing a
   wide range of resources.

   The fifteen element "Dublin Core" described in this document is part
   of a larger set of metadata vocabularies and technical specifications
   maintained by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI).  The full
   set of vocabularies, DCMI Metadata Terms [DCTERMS], also includes a
   set of resource classes, the DCMI Type Vocabulary [DCTYPE].  The
   terms in DCMI vocabularies are intended to be used in combination
   with terms from other compatible vocabularies in the context of
   application profiles and on the basis of the DCMI Abstract Model
   [DCAM].

   All changes made to terms of the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set
   since 2001 have been reviewed by a DCMI Usage Board in the context of
   a DCMI Namespace Policy [DCNMSPC].  The namespace policy describes
   how DCMI terms are assigned Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) and
   sets limits on the range of editorial changes that may allowably be
   made to the labels, definitions, and usage comments associated with
   existing DCMI terms.

3.  Scope and Purpose

   The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set is a standard for cross-domain
   resource description.  As in RFC 3986 [RFC3986], "Uniform Resource
   Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", this specification does not limit
   the scope of what might be a resource.

   The elements described in this document are typically used in the
   context of an application profile which constrains or specifies their
   use in accordance with local or community-based requirements and
   policies.  The specification of such implementation detail is outside
   the scope of this document.

Kunze & Baker                Informational                      [Page 2]
RFC 5013                  Dublin Core Metadata               August 2007

4.  Definitions

   DCMI -- the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, maintenance agency for
   Dublin Core Metadata Element Set.

   Resource -- anything that might be identified (the same definition as
   in RFC 3986 and in the DCMI Abstract Model).

   Lifecycle of a resource -- a sequence of events that mark the
   development and use of a resource.  Some examples of events in a
   lifecycle are: conception of an invention, creation of a draft,
   revision of an article, publication of a book, acquisition by a