Understanding and Reviewing RDA Vocabularies in RDF: A Multi-Layer Framework Approach

This paper proposes a framework to understand and review the present and possible RDA Vocabularies in RDF after the 3 R Project, and also examines RDA Vocabularies under this framework to confirm the validity and usefulness of the framework. Further, it proposes an alternate for the vocabularies at each layer of the framework. (1) The proposed framework consists of four layers: (a) layer 1 constructs RDA Vocabularies in line with the RDA conceptual model; (b) layer 2 constructs vocabularies in RDF representation that accommodate the recording methods prescribed in RDA for individual elements; (c) layer 3 constructs them by reconstructing the relationship elements; and (d) layer 4 accommodates additional ways to enforce the structural representation of RDA metadata. RDA Vocabularies are examined at each layer to demonstrate the framework’s validity and usefulness. (2) Alternate vocabularies in RDF are proposed at layers 2 and 3 of the framework. Those proposed vocabularies could be useful, but the examination of their usefulness is limited. Extensions at layer 4 would also be useful for the schema for RDA metadata creation. Therefore, the proposed framework is valuable for understanding and reviewing RDA Vocabularies, while some points need further consideration.