# Dublin Core Elements and their EML Equivalent

EML was designed with the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative in mind. By and large, the EML equivalents of these elements can be found in the resource module. The element name was changed for a few elements to reflect the terminology commonly used by the scientific community. Also, while the Dublin Core was designed primarily to describe digital media, EML is designed to accommodate the full range of ecological information, which is quite heterogeneous. To achieve this flexibility, it was necessary to slightly alter the concept of some of the descriptors. For these elements then, the EML equivalent is only an approximate match. The Dublin Core elements, and their corresponding representation in EML, are shown in the table below.

## Dublin Core Elements in EML

Dublin Core Element | EML Equivalent
Title | title
Creator | creator - While the Dublin Core Creator element is a single field used to document the creator's name, the EML creator element and its sub-elements allow the name, address, and other contact information of the creator to be stored in discrete fields.
Subject | keywordSet - Dublin Core states that the Subject should be "expressed as keywords, key phrases or classification codes that describe a topic of the resource." It also suggests that the keywords be selected from "a controlled vocabulary or formal classification scheme." This concept is best expressed by the keywordSet element in EML, which allows the source of the controlled vocabulary to be documented, as well as the individual keywords.
Description | abstract - The Dublin Core suggests that the Description can take the form of an abstract, as well as several other forms. As abstracts are the most commonly used method of describing data and research, the abstract element of EML is best suited to fill this role.
Publisher | publisher - Because not all types of information documented in EML, such as protocols, will be published, the publisher element is not included in the resource module. Instead, it can be found as part of the modules that describe information that is likely to be published. The most commonly used location for this element is /eml/dataset/publisher.
Contributor | associatedParty - The Contributor element of Dublin Core defines "An entity responsible for making contributions to the content of the resource." While this is one means by which an entity can be affiliated with a resource, it is not the only on. EML thus created the associatedParty element, in which both the entity and it's specific relationship to the resource can be documented. As with the creator element, much more than the entity's name can be recorded within the subdivisions of this element.
Date | pubDate
Type | [dataset | citation | protocol | software] - Dublin Core's Type element describes "the nature or genre of the content of the resource" in a single field. EML tries to document a good deal of the structure of the resource as well, and the types of metadata needed will vary by the genre of the resource. Because of this, the resource type is shown by the choice of element in EML, rather than by a specific field value. Thus, this is only an approximate match to the Dublin Core.
Format | physical - This is an approximate mapping. Dublin Core describes the information to be contained in the Format element as follows: "Typically, Format may include the media-type or dimensions of the resource. Format may be used to identify the software, hardware, or other equipment needed to display or operate the resource. Examples of dimensions include size and duration." EML attempts to capture these different pieces of information in separate elements, so that they can be isolated as needed. Also, as with publisher, not all types of resources, such as protocols, with have a format. The physical element of EML, which captures many aspects of the structure of the resource, is the closest match to this Dublin Core element. The most commonly used location for the EML physical element is /eml/dataset/dataTable/physical.
Identifier | packageId - EML's packageId is technically an attribute of the eml element, rather than an element of its own.
Source | dataSource - This is an approximate mapping. The Source element of Dublin Core is used to describe a "[r]eference to a resource from which the present resource is derived." If a resource is derived from another resource, however, thus should be some description of how the new resource was derived from the old one. EML allows sources to be described in the methods module via the dataSource element, accompanied by descriptions of the process by which the present resource was derived. The dataSource element is located at /eml/dataset/methods/methodStep/dataSource .
Language | xml:lang - The Dublin Core Language element is used to state the langauge of the content of the resource. Since XML defines a language attribute to document this information in its specification, EML uses this structure rather than defining its own field.
Relation | citation - The Relation element of Dublin Core is used to list a "A reference to a related resource." Such references are handled by the citation element of EML, which can hold a great deal of information beyond the name. EML citation elements can be located in various places in the scehma, depending on how the reference is related to teh resource. For example, a reference to an external protocol would go in /eml/dataset/methods/methodstep/citation, while a reference to a taxonomic classification system would go in /eml/dataset/coverage/taxonomicCoverage/taxonomicSystem/classificationSystemCitation.
Coverage | coverage
Rights | intellectualRights