Vocabulary Management Process

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Vocabulary Management Process

• Fall 2003

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Goals of Vocabulary Management

• Provide a method for vocabulary development
  within DLESE metadata frameworks
• Track vocabulary terms over time
• Track most recent vocabulary definitions
  (definitions are not tracked over time)
• Make controlled vocabularies available to other
  DLESE systems

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Functions of Vocabulary Mgmt

1. Need determination - is a vocab needed
2. Development and buy-in - get stakeholders
   involved in crafting the vocab
3. Metadata framework implementation - put the
   vocabulary in a metadata framework
4. Vocabulary Manager/GUI implementation - put the
   vocabulary, definitions and GUI labels in the
   Vocabulary Manager

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1. Need Determination

• Consistent data is required for browse/search
• There are new frameworks or new fields
• A significant number (50 or greater) of metadata
  records across DLESE collections would benefit
  from a specialized vocabulary
• A vocabulary is not meeting the original need
  intended and needs modification
• Challenge - differences on what qualifies as a
  need (individual collection vocabs????)

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2. Development and Buy-in (a)

• Craft -
• Terms, definitions, parameters of use, GUI labels
• How - (remember to give examples)
• Use an existing vocabulary and its definitions
• DPC staff decides upon terms and definitions
• DPC staff and knowledgeable community members
  work to together (geospatial)
• With who -
• Determine stakeholders

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2. Development and Buy-in (b)

• Complete other important information
• Attribution, related terms, broader/narrower
  terms
• Indicate the metadata framework and fields
• Iterate - through this process several times with
  stakeholders
• Challenge - getting buy-in and agreement on
  terms, definitions and use parameters

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3. Metadata Framework Implement.

• Uses terms only since using XML Schema and not
  RDF Schema
• Make an individual vocabulary schema (vocab.xsd)
• Connect it to the framework
• Issue a new version of the framework
• Challenge - most vocab changes cause significant
  changes in other DLESE systems

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4. Vocabulary Manager Entry

• Use the vocab.xsd file (from step 3)
• Create a vocab-mgmt.xsd file
• Use existing contrl-mgmt.xsd files
• Create vocab-terms.xml vocab-grps.xml
• Ingest terms groups files into Vocab Mgr
• CVS everything
• Challenge - terms and groups files not matched
  against original vocab.xsd file so Vocab Mgr
  could be wrong!!

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Example of NSES

1. Need determined at the Portal to the Future
   Workshop in August 1999
2. Development not required because used the
   vocabulary was adopted directly from NAS
3. Vocabulary in framework August 2001
4. Vocabulary in DCS March 2002
5. Vocabulary into the Vocab Mgr August 2003
6. Vocabulary in DDS August 2003