Section C: Elements which use "agent" - creator, publisher,

Purpose of this Section

This section contains the rules for creating a metadata record using the Creator, Publisher and Contributor elements (numbers 1, 2 and 3).

Using the AGLS Agent Encoding Scheme

These three elements all use the AGLS Agent Scheme in this section. This is why they are grouped together. When the New Zealand Government Directory becomes available, this will be the preferred encoding scheme for government agencies. Until then, and for other agents, the AGLS scheme is to be used.

C.1. NZGLS Use of AGLS Agent Scheme

C.1.1. Introduction

The AGLS Agent Scheme is a method for describing characteristics of agents in NZGLS metadata descriptions. Agents are people, organisations or instruments associated with resources.

There are a number of characteristics of an agent that can be described in metadata. These include, but are not limited to:

• An identifier for the agent, usually consisting of name and possibly including a jurisdiction

• Contact information

The NZGLS metadata standard includes three elements for providing information about agents associated with a resource. These are Creator, Publisher, and Contributor. Here we define AGLS agent, a structuring scheme for providing information about agent characteristics in metadata records. We also describe a method for encoding AGLS Agent as a profile of the Dublin Core Structured Values Scheme (DCSV) at http://dublincore.org/documents/199904/30/labelled-values-syntax/.

C.1.2. Characterising agents - the AGLS agent scheme

Component	Definition	Notes
PersonalName	The name of a person	-
corporateName	The name of an organisation	-
Jurisdiction	The legal jurisdiction of the agent	-
Contact	Contact details for the agent. Can include an official title. Typically includes a phone number.	In NZGLS this information would be better placed in the Availability element.
Address	Street or postal address for the agent.	In NZGLS this information would be better placed in the Availability element.
Email	Email address for the agent.	In NZGLS this information would be better placed in the Availability element.
Sector	Indicates whether the creator is from the government or non-government sector: 'government' and 'non-government' are the only allowable values	Default value is 'government'

All components are optional and ordering is not significant. All of the components except sector may be repeated.

C.1.3. Encoding AGLS agent

Within NZGLS metadata descriptions, characteristics of agents are encoded using the Dublin Core Structured Values Scheme. DCSV describes how to write a structured metadata value in a simple text string. It separates components using semicolons ";". The name of a component and the value of a component are separated by an equals sign "=".

Writing AGLS Agent using DCSV notation is straightforward using the component names defined above. For example, Archives of New Zealand could be described as

corporateName=Archives New Zealand;

jurisdiction=New Zealand Central Government

C.1.4. Examples

C.1.4.. Agent who is a person

personalName=Jeremy Cauchi;

Note: since the sector component has "government" as the default value, government agents are not required to use the sector component.

C.1.4.. Non-government agent

corporateName=Wellington Free Ambulance Headquarters;

sector=non-government

C.1.4.. Corporate agent

corporateName=Office of Film and Literature Classification;

jurisdiction=New Zealand Central Government

C.2. Rules for the Creator Element

C.2.1. Name

Creator

C.2.2. Definition

The name of the organisation or person primarily responsible for the content of the resource, or the provision of the service.

C.2.3. Purpose

The Creator element allows searchers to find resources based on the creator of those resources. For example, it allows a searcher to discover all resources or services created by the Ministry of Education, or all books written by Maurice Gee.

C.2.4. Obligation

Mandatory

C.2.5. Element refinements 

None

C.2.6. Encoding Schemes

• New Zealand Government Online Directory Service (when available)

• The AGLS agent encoding scheme

C.2.7. Default Value

None

C.2.8. Scope and Interpretation

For resources created by government, this element value contains the name of the agency responsible for creating the resource or the service.

If the creator is an individual person - like the author of a book - put the surname first, followed by a comma then the first name with no spaces. For example, Smith,Mary. If unsure, then enter the personal name as it appears on the resource.

Note that it will not be usual to have an individual person or another organisation as creators of a service or resource provided by an agency. The agency mostly responsible for that service or resource gets the Creator 'credit'. The others would be contributors.

This element always refers to the primary creator. Where an agency simply distributes an item or resource as a publisher, but is not responsible for the content, it cannot be the creator.

Where there are joint authors, repeat the Creator element and put one person's name in each element.

C.2.9. How to Use this Element When Describing a Service

When describing a service, the Creator will always be the name of the agency providing the service.

C.2.10.The role of Creator in the Portal

This element is displayed on the results page. It also allows services to be listed by agency.

Displayed on metadata full record screen.

C.2.11.Examples

Department of Inland Revenue

Department of Work and Income

Roberts, John

C.3. Rules for the Publisher Element

C.3.1. Name

Publisher

C.3.2. Definition

The name of the entity responsible for making the resource available

C.3.3. Purpose

This element is often the name of the agency that controls or publishes the resource in its current form. It allows a searcher to find published resources currently under the control of a particular agency. For example, it allows someone to find all the resources published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

C.3.4. Obligation

Conditional - mandatory when referring to a published resource, but optional when describing services

C.3.5. Element refinements 

None identified

C.3.6. Encoding Schemes

New Zealand Government Online Directory Service

AGLS agent encoding scheme

C.3.7. Default value

None

C.3.8. Scope and Interpretation

This element is used to provide information about distribution of the resource. It is often the name of the agency that controls, publishes or distributes the resource.

When the name of the agency publishing or controlling the resource changes, this element can be updated to reflect the name change.

For government-produced resources, the publisher will often be the same as the creator, but not always. Resources will generally be available from the publisher, but in some cases they could come from somewhere else, which should be noted in the Availability element.

For names of persons, put the surname first, followed by comma and then the first name with no spaces in-between. If not sure what to do then enter the name as it is shown on the resource.

Where this element often contains the name of the agency that controls or publishes the resource, the use of the element refinement "jurisdiction" is recommended.

For clarification 'publisher' should be considered a corporate author element only. For the sake of clarity, and to assist those agencies, such as the scientific and academic communities especially, the Creator and Contributor elements should operate on a hierarchical basis. For example, corporate name should always be used before a personal name can be added.

C.3.9. How to use this element when describing a service

The Publisher element is optional when describing services, since there is no concept of "publisher" for physical services as there is for information resources. The closest concept is the service provider, which fits better under the Availability element.

C.3.10.The role of Publisher in the Portal

The Portal displays this element on the results page.

Displayed on metadata full record screen.

C.3.11.Examples

corporateName=Department of Work and Income

corporateName=Te Hiranga Tangata

corporateName=Department of Inland Revenue jurisdiction=New Zealand

corporateName=Archives New Zealand personalName=Roberts, John

C.4. Rules for the Contributor Element

C.4.1. Name

Contributor

C.4.2. Definition

The name of an organisation or person who has played an important role in creating the content of the resource or service but is not specified in the Creator element.

C.4.3. Purpose

The Contributor element is useful if more than one organisation or person contributes to the resource content. Often, main credit for creation is given to one or two people or organisations, and they will appear in the Creator element. All other contributors would appear in the Contributor element - and searchers might use these other contributors to look for that resource.

C.4.4. Obligation

Optional

C.4.5. Element refinements 

The role of the contributor will appear as an element qualifier, for example contributor.illustrator. Examples of role titles which could be used include:

• author

• jointAuthor

• compiler

• resourceContributor

• editor

• illustrator

• serviceProvider

• photographer

• collaborator

• projectLeader

• investigator

Note that this list is not exhaustive.

C.4.6. Encoding Schemes

New Zealand Government Online Directory Service

AGLS agent encoding scheme

C.4.7. Default value

None

C.4.8. Scope and Interpretation

A Contributor could be an illustrator, editor, modifier, etc. The contributor's role is usually included as an element qualifier. Although some element qualifiers are included, the list is not exhaustive, and people should feel free to add other roles because the qualifiers used depend on the contribution being described.

When deciding what would be useful to include in this element, think about whether that name of an organisation or a person would be useful to retrieve the resource, or to differentiate it from some other resources. Exhaustive lists of contributors are not required for completeness.

The Contributor is usually going to be either a corporate or an individual.

This element is most useful when describing contributors to a resource with intellectual property content.

C.4.9. How to use this element when describing a service

This would only be used to describe a service where other organisations took a background or invisible role in providing a service, but a searcher might look for the service through the name of those other organisations.

C.4.10.The role of Contributor in the Portal

Displayed on metadata full record screen.

C.4.11.Examples

(compiler) New Zealand Department of Statistics

(jointAuthor) personalName=Roberts, John

corporateName=Archives New Zealand

(projectLeader) personalName=Taylor, Bruce

(investigator) personalName=Gebbie, Ewan

(investigator) personalName=Botherway, Kathryn

(investigator) personalName=James, Gill

(investigator) personalName=Mormorunni, Cristina

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