Alvin vocabulary

Alvin's data model is specifically designed for descriptions of materials in cultural heritage collections in libraries, museums and archives.

URI:http://cora.alvin-portal.org/vocabulary/

The vocabulary in RDF: alvin.rdf.

License: Creative Commons CC0.

Core vocabulary

In order to be able to handle different types of resources in one and the same system, it is based on a combination of concepts from different international standards for libraries and archives including

BIBFRAME (Bibliographic Framework Initiative)

Basic vocabulary for general properties such as title, language and publication information.

MODS (Metadata Object Description Schema)

MARC (MAchine-Readable Cataloging) 21 Format for Bibliographic Data

For more specific bibliographic properties that are missing from BIBFRAME.

EAD (Encoded Archival Description)

For archive descriptions.

TEI (Text Encoding Initiative, Manuscript Description)

For more specific properties for manuscripts.

NUDS (Numismatic Description Schema)

For specific properties in numismatics.

MADS (Metadata Authority Description Schema)

For authority records for person, organisation and place

METS (Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard)

PREMIS ( Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata)

For descriptions of a record's related digital files.

WGS 84 (World Geodetic System 1984)

To enter geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude).

ISO 8601

To set the date and time.

Core classes

The model is built around five basic core classes:

• Record - a bibliographic record that describes a single item or a collection of items.
• Person - an authority record for a person.
• Organisation - an authority record for an organisation.
• Place - an authority record for a place.
• Work - an authority record for a work.

And, in addition:

• Location - a special organisational record that describes the archival institution that holds the object or from which it is available.

Classes and properties

The vocabulary is an open linked data version of the Alvin storage format. It consists of RDF classes and properties.

The classes include the core classes listed above as well as additional supplementary classes.

Properties describe characteristics of the resource being described and relationships between resources. For example, the resource for a location might be the manufacturing location of an object. Other properties describe attributes of an object, such as the extent property (such as the number of pages). This type of property is always a text string.

Linked data

The model is based on linked data and the description of relationships between different records. The linking can be hierarchical (host/part), parallel (different version or format) or to another related record.

Bibliographic records and authority records are linked through a type of relationship (role) for so-called agents (persons or organisations). A book can be linked to a person through the role "author". An archive can be linked to a person through the role "collector".

A bibliographic record in Alvin describes either a single resource (book, image, map, etc.) or a collection of resources (e.g. an archive).

Object

The most common case is that a physical object is described. For example, it may be a painting, a map, a manuscript or a printed book. The record in Alvin is based on the physical copy that is being described. For printed or other material that is reproduced in editions, the physical copy is still described in Alvin unlike, for example, library catalogs. If you have different copies of a book from the same edition, there is one record per copy. Provenance, acquisition, signatures, etc. apply to this particular copy in Alvin.

Collection

In Alvin, in addition to concrete objects, abstract resources can be described. Examples of this are primarily collections or other comprehensive descriptions. These are often, but not always, only abstract constructions that in turn contain concrete objects that are sometimes described separately as above and sometimes not. However, a collection record can also be considered a comprehensive description of the concrete content. Alvin allows digital material to be linked to abstract records as well. You can choose to upload all images in an image collection to the main/collection record without describing the different parts individually.

Digital reproductions

The normal case in Alvin is also to make a digital reproduction of the physical object, e.g. digitising a manuscript or book. In these cases, the metadata record still describes the physical object (not the digital reproduction). The digital files are copies of this particular copy that is described in the record.