Home » railML newsgroups » railml.common » [railML3] Dublin Core metadata update in railML 3.3
[railML3] Dublin Core metadata update in railML 3.3 [message #3652] Tue, 17 June 2025 13:54 Go to next message
Thomas Nygreen is currently offline  Thomas Nygreen
Messages: 110
Registered: March 2008
Senior Member
Dear Community!

With railML 3.3, railML moved from the 15-element Dublin Core Metadata Element Set to the newer and more extensive Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Terms. The motivation for the upgrade was to cover metadata that the original 15-element set could not and to harness the more specific properties and types offered by the DCMI Terms.

Our current recommendations for use of the DCMI Terms in railML are summarised in [1]. These are divided into terms where we have defined a relevant usage in railML (stable), terms where there may be a relevant usage (experimental) and terms we regard as irrelevant for usage in railML (not relevant).

For technical reasons, the railML wiki has not been able to provide any documentation for the elements in the Dublin Core namespaces. This lack of documentation has led to some confusion about the correct usage of these elements. Indeed, the usage of Dublin Core elements in railML 3.x has to our knowledge never been documented. This raises a question if the documentation from railML 2.x should apply to DC elements in railML 3.1 and 3.2, or if we should align the usage of DC elements in 3.2 with the usage of the corresponding DCMI Terms in railML 3.3 (see [2]).

For further context, see [3]. We welcome all feedback on using the new DCMI Terms and also on what to do for railML 3.2.

[1] https://development.railml.org/railml/version3/uploads/205ef 2c9650202b65733bf5eb7bfb70a/2025-02-07_railML3.3_Metadata_do cumentation.xlsx
[2] https://development.railml.org/railml/version3/uploads/0c544 3f3c5643bfb57c23c490556cff3/2025-02-07_railML3.2_Metadata_do cumentation.xlsx
[3] https://development.railml.org/railml/version3/-/issues/575

Best regards,
Thomas

Thomas Nygreen – Common Schema Coordinator
railML.org (Registry of Associations: VR 5750)
Altplauen 19h; 01187 Dresden; Germany www.railML.org

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Re: [railML3] Dublin Core metadata update in railML 3.3 [message #3661 is a reply to message #3652] Mon, 23 June 2025 15:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Rémi Collet is currently offline  Rémi Collet
Messages: 13
Registered: November 2024
Junior Member
Hello Thomas,

Thank you very much for this update on the use of DCT !

1. I would suggest that super-properties like dct:coverage or dct:date that are accepted but not recommended should not but put in the "stable" part of the document, so it is clear that we recommend using more specific sub-properties. Or perhaps make it clearer that their use is not recommended, by adding a column ?

2. In a broader context, we should also decide what vocabulary set to use for specific areas. The Skos vocabulary (https://www.w3.org/TR/swbp-skos-core-spec/) is a W3C standard, is broadly used, and has some properties that somewhat double what is available in Dublin Core. For example, the dct:alternative property is used to provide an alternative title for a resource. Skos is more precise in that regard and provides more specific properties like skos:altLabel, skos:hiddenLabel, and skos:prefLabel. Do we need to be as precise as Skos, or is Dublin Core fine ?

3. Finally, concerning your main question, if correctly understood it, I am very much in favour of using the more updated version of DCTerms where possible. It is backward compatible, so no worries there.

Best regards,

Ontologist @Infrabel (Belgian Railway Infrastructure Manager)
remicollet(at)infrabelbe

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Re: [railML3] Dublin Core metadata update in railML 3.3 [message #3784 is a reply to message #3661] Tue, 04 November 2025 11:41 Go to previous message
Thomas Nygreen is currently offline  Thomas Nygreen
Messages: 110
Registered: March 2008
Senior Member
Dear all,

I updated the 3.3 document according to Rémi's suggestion number 1: https://development.railml.org/railml/version3/uploads/1da31 24b7bd6f8f0ce5b8f35ea009f87/2025-11-04_railML3.3_Metadata_do cumentation.xlsx

Looking forward to continuing the discussion of the other topics at the conference tomorrow!

Best regards

Thomas Nygreen – Common Schema Coordinator
railML.org (Registry of Associations: VR 5750)
Altplauen 19h; 01187 Dresden; Germany www.railML.org

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