Knowledge Organization Systems and Processes pursue the description and definition of elements and their features inside the cultural heritage domain through the use of different metadata standards. There is a close relationship between the standards and the institutions. Each institution, indeed, has some typical materials and objects to reserve and to describe. On the other hand, each object has also its own standard to follow, although not all the objects have a standard for the description. With the creation of The Semantic Web the attempt has been to define some descriptive standards depending on the object rather than on the institution, so that the standard can be shared between libraries, archives and museums.
We started our project by analysing which standards were more appropriate for our items, and we organized them in the following table. Given the heterogeneity of the items’ typology, you can notice the wide range of different metadata standards that came to our minds. This brainstorming was the starting point for the more accurate organization of descriptive information of different types of entities. You can find the alignment for concept, data, person and place here.
| Standard | Concept | Date | Person | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin Core | Subject | Date | Creator | Coverage |
| MARC | 600 Subject added entry | 260 - Publication, Distribution, etc. | 1XX - Main Entries-General Information | 260 - Publication, Distribution, etc. |
| ISBD | 7.10.2 Note providing a summary | 4.3 Date of publication, production and/or distribution | 1.4 Statement of responsability | 4.1 Place of publication, production and/or distribution |
| EAD | <abstract> | <unitdate>, date <date> | <author> (in <eadheader>), <persname> origination <origination> | <controlaccess> <geogname role="subject"> <geogname> (in <archdesc>), Geographical Name |
| CDWA | 1.1. Catalog Level, 1.2. Object/Work Type | 4.2. Creation Date, 26.2.6. Image Date | 4.1.3. Creator Identity | 4.3. Creation Place/Original Location, 29.2. Place Name |
| VRA Core | <vra: subject><term> in <vra: work> | <vra: date type="creation"> in <vra: work> | <vra: agent><display> in <vra: work> | <vra: date type="creation"> in <vra: work> |
| ISAD | 3.1. Scope and content | 1.3. Dates | 2.1. Name of Creator | 5.4. Publication note |
| FRBR | has summarization of content |
has date of publication or distribution | has statement of responsibility | has place of publication or distribution |