OpenWEMI: a Proposal for the DCMI Usage Board

[kcoyle]

The openWEMI working group requests the DCMI Usage Board to review the proposed vocabulary [1]. If accepted, a DCMI namespace is needed so that the vocabulary can be implemented.

The "WEMI" of openWEMI refers to "Work, Expression, Manifestation, Item." These elements were first developed for the metadata of library catalogs, but have been utilized in very different data contexts. [2] In the library context the WEMI elements are defined with constraints related to that application; constraints that may not be appropriate to other data contexts. The purpose of the openWEMI vocabulary is to provide useful WEMI concepts with the most minimal of constraints. It is expected that in many cases the vocabulary elements of openWEMI would be extended with local application specific properties and classes. See examples for music,[3] landscape architecture,[4] graphic novels.[5]

The openWEMI vocabulary has been announced to a relatively wide community, and minor modifications have been made based on received comments.

We do not intend this to be an ongoing DCMI working group. If accepted (or revised) by the Usage Board, the working group considers this a completed project. The github repository will remain active, and should there be specific requests a group can be formed to address those.

• github repo: https://github.com/dcmi/openwemi
• github issues: https://github.com/dcmi/openwemi/issues/
• mailing list archive: https://lists.dublincore.org/pipermail/openwemi/

[1] https://dcmi.github.io/openwemi/
[2] Coyle, Karen. (2022) Works, Expressions, Manifestations, Items: An Ontology. Code4lib Journal, Issue 53, 2022-05-09. https://journal.code4lib.org/articles/16491
[3] https://github.com/dcmi/openwemi/wiki/Recorded-Music-examples
[4] https://github.com/dcmi/openwemi/wiki/A-garden
[5] https://github.com/dcmi/openwemi/wiki/Comic-books-and-graphic-novels

[kcoyle]

We decided on Endeavor as a superclass "umbrella" that serves as a union of the four WEMI classes and can be used as a domain or range of any property that is relevant to all four WEMI classes. It also could be useful if someone wishes to define an additional class at the WEMI level. (Possible example: Event)

[kcoyle]

There are no properties or classes in the vocabulary for an agent because they do not fit well into the model. There exist broad classes and properties in other vocabularies that could be used, for example DC's Agent class and contributor.

[kcoyle]

The properties that begin "common..." were originally defined in vocab.org but probably not used in actual metadata. These do not connect directly with other openWEMI properties but are similarly broad in their use of WEMI. These can allow statements of commonality between disparate sets of metadata, including those that do not themselves make use of WEMI concepts. (Example: to say that an entry in WorldCat and a page on Amazon represent the same Work or even the same Manifestation.)

[kcoyle]

Stuart said in email:

Hopefully, the namespace would follow the DC extension (/dcx/) pattern established with the inclusion of LRMI (http://purl.org/dcx/lrmi-terms/).

Yes, that does seem to be the logical pattern. Our only question is whether openwemi is overly long - however, we haven't come up with a shorter version that makes sense.

[niklasl]

Here are the minutes from the initial meeting about OpenWEMI on 8 March.

We have created two poll questions to continue the process:

• Should OpenWEMI be approved as a DCMI namespace? #124
• How should opemWEMI minimally be presented for approval? #125

[tombaker]

@kcoyle In the interest of having all links in one place (ie, this issue), I am copy-pasting your message of April 10 to DC-USAGE:

Usage folks,

The openwemi project needs to move forward and we need these answers in
particular:

• Please give a thumbs up or down for the final definitions [1]
• Primer edit that designates the .ttl file as the normative document
  [2][2a]
• The recommendation in the Usage discussion that OpenWEMI consist of
  three documents:[3]
  • The vocabulary in Turtle (normative)
  • The HTML display of the vocabulary (formal specification)
  • The primer (informative)

There were many responses to the github discussion [4] that said "yes,
with revisions" but the group does not know what revisions are needed to
turn those into a simple "yes." If anyone has revisions that are not
currently issues in the OpenWEMI github repo, please add them.
Otherwise, we will assume that the ones that are there are complete.

The due date means that the working group can finalize these at its next
meeting.

kc

[1] dcmi/openwemi#87 (comment)
[2] https://github.com/dcmi/openwemi/pull/103/files
[2a] dcmi/openwemi#90
[3] #125 (comment)
[4] #124

[tombaker]

Closing this issue, which has been superseded by #127