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ISBDM Application Profiles

This directory contains Dublin Core Tabular Application Profiles (DCTAP) for the ISBDM project.

About DCTAP​

DCTAP is a simple model for application profiles that can be developed in a spreadsheet program. These profiles provide:

  • Human-readable documentation for metadata requirements
  • Machine-actionable validation rules
  • Source for generating JSON-LD contexts
  • Standards-compliant metadata modeling

Available Profiles​

The DCTAP profiles are now available for download at /data/DCTAP/:

1. isbdm-elements-profile.csv​

This profile defines the structure and constraints for ISBDM element metadata that appears in MDX front matter.

Key components:

  • Element shape - Core metadata for elements (properties, domains, ranges, etc.)
  • ElementSubType shape - References to more specific element types
  • ElementSuperType shape - References to more general element types

2. isbdm-values-profile.csv​

This profile defines the structure and constraints for ISBDM value vocabulary metadata that appears in MDX front matter.

Key components:

  • Vocabulary shape - Core metadata for vocabularies
  • VocabularyRDF shape - RDF-specific metadata with SKOS properties
  • VocabularyTerm shape - Structure for individual terms in the vocabulary

Based on the SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization System) model, this profile supports:

  • Essential vocabulary metadata (ID, URI, title, description)
  • Vocabulary display configuration (numeric or slug URIs, styling options)
  • Rich term descriptions with definitions, scope notes, and examples
  • Full SKOS concept scheme capabilities including notes and documentation properties
  • Language-tagged data for multilingual support

Usage​

For Content Creators​

Use the examples in the /examples directory as templates when creating new elements or value vocabularies. These examples follow the structure defined in the profiles.

For Validation​

The profiles can be used with DCTAP validation tools to verify that content conforms to the expected structure before being published.

For JSON-LD Context Generation​

The profiles serve as the source for generating JSON-LD contexts, which are available for download at /data/contexts/.

Profile Constraints​

The profiles define the following types of constraints:

  1. Required Fields - Fields marked as mandatory: TRUE
  2. Repeatable Fields - Fields marked as repeatable: TRUE
  3. Data Types - Fields with valueDataType defined
  4. Controlled Vocabularies - Fields with valueConstraintType: picklist
  5. URI Patterns - Fields with valueConstraintType: IRIstem
  6. Value Shapes - Fields that reference other shapes

Version Information​

This is version 1.0 of the ISBDM application profiles, created in May 2025.