openWEMI: a Proposal for the DCMI Usage Board

The openWEMI working group requests the DCMI Usage Board to review the proposed vocabulary [1]. If accepted, a DCMI namespace is needed so that the vocabulary can be implemented.

The "WEMI" of openWEMI refers to "Work, Expression, Manifestation, Item." These elements were first developed for the metadata of library catalogs, but have been utilized in very different data contexts. [2] In the library context the WEMI elements are defined with constraints related to that application; constraints that may not be appropriate to other data contexts. The purpose of the openWEMI vocabulary is to provide useful WEMI concepts with the most minimal of constraints. It is expected that in many cases the vocabulary elements of openWEMI would be extended with local application specific properties and classes. See examples for music,[3] landscape architecture,[4] graphic novels.[5]

The openWEMI vocabulary has been announced to a relatively wide community, and minor modifications have been made based on received comments.

We do not intend this to be an ongoing DCMI working group. If accepted (or revised) by the Usage Board, the working group considers this a completed project. The github repository will remain active, and should there be specific requests a group can be formed to address those.

[1] https://dcmi.github.io/openwemi/
[2] Coyle, Karen. (2022) Works, Expressions, Manifestations, Items: An Ontology. Code4lib Journal, Issue 53, 2022-05-09. https://journal.code4lib.org/articles/16491
[3] https://github.com/dcmi/openwemi/wiki/Recorded-Music-examples
[4] https://github.com/dcmi/openwemi/wiki/A-garden
[5] https://github.com/dcmi/openwemi/wiki/Comic-books-and-graphic-novels

Additional information (to be added to github issue)

1. We decided on `Endeavor` as a superclass "umbrella" that serves as a union of the four WEMI classes and can be used as a domain or range of any property that is relevant to all four WEMI classes. It also could be useful if someone wishes to define an additional class at the WEMI level. (Possible example: Event)
2. There are no properties or classes in the vocabulary for an agent because they do not fit well into the model. There exist broad classes and properties in other vocabularies that could be used, for example DC's `Agent` class and `contributor`.
3. The properties that begin "common..." were originally defined in vocab.org but probably not used in actual metadata. These do not connect directly with other openWEMI properties but are similarly broad in their use of WEMI. These can allow statements of commonality between disparate sets of metadata, including those that do not themselves make use of WEMI concepts. (Example: to say that an entry in WorldCat and a page on Amazon represent the same `Work` or even the same `Manifestation`.)