Thoughts on Supporting UK Impact Levels
Introduction
This document’s intent is to present a proposal for:
- The use of the current SIF_MetaData common element as defined in the SIF 2.3 specification to hold Impact Level information as needed for the object it is defined with.
- The extension of the SIF_MetaData common element for the next SIF release to include an element defined specifically for Impact Level information.
The SIF_MetaData Common Element
The SIF_MetaData common element is a member of every SIF object. It is a place where information that describes the object may be stored, including its author, lifetime, or keywords that relate to learning content. The overall structure of the common element is as follows:
The TimeElements element is typically used when the common element is used to describe the time period attached to the object.
The LifeCycle element is typically used to describe the history of an object.
The EducationFilter element is typically used to "provide the ability to tag objects with metadata that allows for categorization, sorting, and filtering, to empower teaching and learning SIF usage"
The RightsUsage element is typically used for a number of reasons, from providing copyright information, costs, fees for use and one called “TermsOfUse”
Proposal 1 – TermsOfUse
In the specification, although the RightsElement is defined as:
“A common metadata element designed to carry any intellectual property or copyright information, based on the IEEE LOM Rights element”
…the TermsofUse has no specific definition. Given this, and given that its value is only a string (it is not validated by the ZIS), we could use this to hold our Impact Level information.
Proposal 2- Add a New Element
This new element would be at the same level as RightsElement and would contain information to be defined by the UK Infrastructure group. This would need to go through the normal process for object changes, etc.