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Category: “Duration”
DC-Education Working Document–February 7, 2000

This Version: <http://www.ischool.washington.edu/sasutton/dc-ed/Duration_SS_2.html>
Latest Version: <http://www.ischool.washington.edu/sasutton/dc-ed/Duration_SS_2.html>
Earlier Version: <http://www.ischool.washington.edu/sasutton/dc-ed/Duration_SS_1.htm>

Editor: Stuart A. Sutton
© 2000 Dublin Core Metadata Initiative. All Rights Reserved.

Purpose

This working document is intended to represent the Editor’s synthesis of the DC-Education listserv discussion of the “duration” category through the above date; and sets out a strawman proposal for an “auxiliary” DURATION element for discussion both online and at the face-to-face meeting in Melbourne. The document does not represent all of the various ideas expressed on the listserv; rather, it seeks to represent areas of general consensus. The Editor hopes that bringing forward a strawman proposal will assist in the identification of open issues needing resolution in Melbourne. This working document is not an official document of the DCMI.

“Duration” is one of five categories of information derived from an exploration of existing Dublin Core-based education/training-focused metadata projects and the IEEE 1484.12 Learning Object Metadata (LOM) proposed standard. It is the Editor’s intention that this document be “refined” periodically as the online discussions progress. For information on the remaining four categories, see the minutes of the DC7 DC-Education Working Group Meeting: <http://www.ischool.washington.edu/sasutton/DC7_DCEd.html>

Discussion Summary

It is generally agreed among members of the Working Group that the capacity to designate the “use time” for the resource being described is an important attribute in networked information discovery and retrieval. The concept of “duration” in this element is distinct from the physical size of the resource or its potential technical “run time” (where such exists). DURATION values represent the approximate or typical time it takes to work with the resource. The table below summarizes areas of general consensus and notes areas of debate.

ELEMENT ELEMENT
QUALIFIER 		VALUE QUALIFIER
(CONTROLLED VOCABULARIES) 		DESCRIPTION
DURATION     Designation of the “use time” for optimal educational utility for the resource.

Proposal

  1. ELEMENT:

    • Name:  DURATION
    • Definition:  Designation of the “use time” for optimal educational utility for the resource.

  2. ELEMENT QUALIFIERS†

    • Name:  
    • Definition:  

  3. VALUE QUALIFIERS††

    • Name:  
    • Definition:  

†While the Working Group currently does not propose element qualifiers for the proposed DURATION element, demands for varying levels of interoperability may result in the need for Dublin Core-endorsed element qualifiers.

††While the Working Group currently does not propose value qualifiers for the proposed DURATION element, it recognizes the need for their immediate development. Current practices range from free-text statements (e.g., “Two class sessions”) to formatted timeframes (e.g., the IEEE 1484.12 use of ISO 8601).

Revision History
DC-Education Working Group Participants