Being able to identify the parent collection(s) of each instance of GEM metadata describing a resource is growing in importance for purposes of meaningful display of metadata records and the import and export of those records to and from the GEM repository.
Document History
This version: March 27, 2004
Previous version: None
Most recent version: March 27, 2004
Proposal for New GEM Refinement to DC Identifier
To date, individual resource descriptions for document-like objects in the GEM metadata repository can be tightly coupled with a specific Consortium member by means of the «sid» (Source identifier) element. There is a growing need to also tightly couple those resource descriptions to collection-level descriptions in the respository.
Starting in 2003, GEM cataloging policy required the creation of a collection-level record for every new collection of item-level records in the Gateway repository. No document-like objects are to be added to the repository without a parent collection-level record. As a result of these policies, every new item-level description in the repository relates to one or more collection-level record(s) through use of the «isPartOf» refinement of the item's «relation» element that points to the collection record(s). Nesting of collection-level records is permissible and encouraged where logically appropriate with each sub-collection coupled to its parent collection-level record through use of the «isPartOf» refinement of the «relation» element and it's «type» value of "collection".
