DC-2014 Conference Highlights and Reading

Good programs at the International Conference on Dublin Core & Metadata Applications–my thanks to all of the folks who organized, sponsored, presented, and attended. My notes are a mess but I pulled together some take-aways, with a few news items summarized eloquently by other DC-2014 attendees. For my own future reference, I’ve included a list of papers that I look forward to reading.

Conference Highlights in Brief

The most urgent work ahead for DCMI and the library metadata community at large: defining BIBFRAME Profiles. Early implementers are testing prototype profiles but more work is needed.

RDF validation is another high priority. I’m certain now that I should have braved one of the special sessions on RDF Application Profiles, even if the finer details would have been lost on me. Also, because this:

Arrived at RDF validation session just in time to see a Star Wars example validating that Darth Sideous is an instance of Sith… #dcmi14

— Corey Harper (@chrpr) October 8, 2014

OCLC & Friends continue to forge ahead with Schema.org. The Schema Bib Extend W3C Community Group has made considerable headway, proposing numerous changes to Schema. It has also released an extension for Schema.org, BiblioGraph.net. The implications of libraries devoting scarce resources to a commercially-supported standard were discussed in realistic terms; doubts and reservations were readily acknowledged.

Zepheira is offering linked data/BIBFRAME training for practitioners. Stanford announced its BIBFRAME plans:

OMG Stanford has committed to going to production of #bibframe 2015. #dcmi14 #metadata #cataloger #cataloguer

— Suzanne Pilsk (@pilsks) October 10, 2014

Succession planning is making way for re-envisioned positions and new opportunities at Princeton, where initial BIBFRAME testing has been performed and BIBFRAME pilot projects will begin in the next calendar year.

Princeton speaker: Job postings of the future will not be catalogers, but metadata specialists. Not just rebranding, change in tech #dcmi14

— Mary Aycock (@maryacat) October 10, 2014

And we discovered that we all harbor a love-hate relationship with FRBR:

an "expression" is just that squinchy thing your face does when someone mentions FRBR, right? #dcmi14

— Keri Thompson (@DigiKeri_SIL) October 10, 2014

DC-2014 Conference Paper Reading List

I didn’t attend these sessions; however, they inspired intriguing back channel chatter. My post-conference to-read list, in no particular order:

• Richard J. Urban. The 1:1 Principle in the Age of Linked Data.
  Abstract: http://dcevents.dublincore.org/IntConf/index/pages/view/abstracts-2014#Urban
  Paper: http://dcevents.dublincore.org/IntConf/dc-2014/paper/view/263/236
• Thomas Bosch and Kai Eckert. Requirements on RDF Constraint Formulation and Validation.
  Abstract: http://dcevents.dublincore.org/IntConf/index/pages/view/abstracts-2014#Eckert
  Paper: http://dcevents.dublincore.org/IntConf/dc-2014/paper/view/270/237
• Jeff Keith Mixter, Patrick OBrien & Kenning Arlitsch. Describing Theses and Dissertations Using Schema.org.
  Abstract: http://dcevents.dublincore.org/IntConf/index/pages/view/abstracts-2014#Mixter
  Paper: http://dcevents.dublincore.org/IntConf/dc-2014/paper/view/269/238
• Andrew Weidner, Annie Wu & Santi Thompson. Automated Enhancement of Controlled Vocabularies: Upgrading Legacy Metadata in CONTENTdm.
  Abstract: http://dcevents.dublincore.org/IntConf/index/pages/view/abstracts-2014#Weidner
  Paper: http://dcevents.dublincore.org/IntConf/dc-2014/paper/view/218/241

The full proceedings are already available. Presentations will be posted soon.