EDM mappings refinements and extensions
The Task Force collected mappings to and extensions of the Europeana Data Model, documenting and summarising work from different partners and projects into an overall 'big picture'.
Many projects and partners have been working on different extensions, refinements and mappings as a way to enable data interoperability with other Europeana data.
By extending and refining EDM they minimised the loss of data from their original metadata format on conversion to EDM. Also, it provides them with a way to specify the level of granularity of the metadata descriptions. Since the creation of the EDM many of these mappings and refinements have been created without a central reference that would provide an overview of all. The task force has collected mappings to and extensions of EDM, documenting and summarising work from different partners and projects into an overall 'big picture'.
The mappings, refinements and extensions have been collected and organised in a spreadsheet. It provides further details on the various types of documentation collected by the Task Force and a direct access to the technical specifications of those mappings.
- A mapping to EDM is any kind of specification (e.g., a concordance table) of relationships and equivalences between two metadata formats or models, e.g., between EDM and another metadata schema.
- A refinement of EDM or EDM Application Profile is any kind of specialisation of EDM to meet specific needs of the data provider.
- An extension to EDM is required when existing EDM classes and properties cannot represent the semantics of providers’ data with sufficient details.
The work of the Task Force has highlighted the need to coordinate and collect the mappings, refinements and extensions produced by Europeana data providers and related projects. Based on the analysis the Task Force provides a few recommendations for data providers and projects doing similar interoperability efforts. The work of the Task Force was limited to the identification, collection and documentation of the mappings, refinements and extensions but there is definitely a need to continue these efforts.
Chaired by Valentine Charles (EuropeanaFoundation) and Marlies Olensky (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin).