A Metadata Application Profile for KOS Vocabulary Registries

This paper reports on the end-products of a Dublin Core Application Profile for KOS Resources (KOS-AP) developed by a DCMI Task Group, which builds on work done by the NKOS group during the last decade. Included are user scenarios, a FRBR-based domain model, the attributes of KOS work, expression, and manifestation and the associated metadata elements defined in the context of user tasks. With the testing of real KOS systems that involve multiple editions, languages, delivery formats, and derivations, (such as the Dewey Decimal Classification 22nd edition and of the ASIS Thesaurus 3rd edition), the authors identified some unique issues related to KOS descriptions, for example the designation of a 'work' in theory and practice, and the shift of management level from the whole KOS expression to concept- and label-based electronic systems.  This KOS-AP effort is becoming more meaningful with the fast development of Linked Data, the success of which depends heavily on the sharing of standardized value vocabularies. The theoretical exploration, the conceptual model, and the core elements to be used for describing and accessing KOS products can be implemented by KOS registries and used in microdata of KOS Websites, as well as be adopted for use by other types of specifications that share common characteristics of KOS, such as frequently updated, translated, and derived handbooks, technical manuals, and schemas.