Re: ADMS spec document update

Hi Phil,

On 18 Oct 2012, at 18:33, Phil Archer wrote:
> "ADMS, the Asset Description Metadata Schema, is a vocabulary for describing so-called Semantic Assets, that is, things like standards, code lists and taxonomies. Although it has a lot in common with the Data Catalog vocabulary [DCAT], notably the extensive use of Dublin Core [DC11], someone searching for a Semantic Asset is likely to have different needs, priorities and expectations than someone searching for a data set and these differences are reflected in ADMS. In particular, users seeking a Semantic Asset are likely to be searching for 'a document' — something they can open and read using familiar desktop software, as opposed to something that needs to be processed. Of course this is a very broad generalization. If a code list is published as a SKOS Concept scheme then it is both a Semantic Asset and a dataset and it can be argued that all Semantic Assets are datasets. Therefore the difference in /user expectation/ is at the heart of what distinguishes ADMS from DCAT."

I have a number of issues with this.

1. You describe the purpose of ADMS as: “It's for describing things like standards, code lists and taxonomies.” This is too fuzzy. You can't have weasel words such as “like” in the sentence that states the purpose of a technology. Law texts are a bit like standards, right? So ADMS is for describing them too?

2. The text implies that the kinds of things described in DCAT cannot be “open and read using familiar desktop software”. This is not the case. In most data catalogs, the most common formats are CSV and Excel.

3. It is not particularly likely that code lists and taxonomies -- things that ADMS is intended to describe -- can be opened and read in familiar desktop software.

4. If the main difference is indeed one of user expectation and not one of vocabulary semantics, then a catalog-level flag in DCAT might be sufficient to eliminate the need for ADMS. Surely it is not that easy. So I don't feel that the text above gets to the heart of the difference between DCAT and ADMS.

5. It is somewhat open whether the “distributions” in DCAT are all machine-readable. There is an open DCAT issue about renaming “distribution” to “resource” and allowing pretty much arbitrary related online artefacts, including documentation and the like.

Best,
Richard

Received on Saturday, 20 October 2012 17:05:04 UTC