Use case 2: Mapping of local, bespoke metadata schemes
The Scottish Collections Network (SCONE) uses a bespoke metadata scheme for collection-level description, based on the entity-relationship analysis of Michael Heaney. The JISC-funded cc-interop: : COPAC/Clumps Continuing Technical Cooperation project delivered Extending the SCONE collection descriptions database for cc-interop, a comparison of the SCONE schema with other local and national/international schemas in use at the time, with recommendations for augmenting national/international schemas such as the IESR. The SCONE schema is richer than any national or international schema; this is required for specific operational purposes in the SCONE, Scottish Library and Information Resources online, and Research Collections Online services. The same project also delivered Output formats for collection-level descriptions from the SCONE database, mappings from the SCONE schema to various output formats, including IESR, Dublin Core Collections Application Profile (DCCAP), RDF/XML, and MARC21.
All of these schemas, including SCONE, have undergone significant development since this work was carried out. The mappings therefore require updating to remain effective. This currently requires an analysis and comparison of changes in each of the output schemas against the local SCONE schema. The issue is similar to that illustrated in Use case 1, except here the scheme being mapped is not a published standard but a local scheme. A more sustainable and effective approach would be to map the SCONE vocabularies to a single cross-walk "spine" such as the extended RDA/ONIX Framework. Interoperability between vocabularies from SCONE, IESR, DCCAP, MARC21, etc. sources would then be assured if the relevant national/international vocabularies were also mapped to the spine, with mappings maintained by the schemas themselves.
This use case is applicable to any local collection- or item-level metadata schema which includes attributes for content, carrier or entity relators.