Overview
ISO 24622-1:2015 specifies the Component Metadata Model for the Component Metadata Infrastructure (CMDI). It defines an abstract, flexible model to build interoperable metadata schemas for Language Resources (LRs). The model supports descriptions at multiple levels of granularity (individual resources, resource parts, collections and virtual collections) and underpins registries and tools that enable metadata reuse and semantic interoperability.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Component-based modelling: metadata is organised as reusable metadata components (groups of elements) and metadata profiles (sets of components) that can be transformed into concrete schemas.
- Schema availability and reuse: guidance on publishing, sharing and reusing metadata components and profiles via component registries.
- Semantics and registries: support for concept registries and relation registries to attach explicit semantics and stable identifiers to vocabulary terms and relations.
- Cardinality and vocabularies: specification of component/element cardinality, and handling of closed vs open vocabularies for element value domains.
- Compatibility and versioning: principles for component/profile compatibility, versioning and schema evolution to maintain interoperability.
- Expressiveness & format: the model is described abstractly (UML is used in the standard) and is intended to be embodied in machine-readable formats (e.g., XML schema languages) so instantiations (metadata records) are syntactically verifiable.
- Persistent identifiers (PIDs): recommends using PIDs (e.g., ISO 24619:2011 PISA-compatible) for stable references to resources and parts.
Practical applications and users
Who benefits from ISO 24622-1:
- Metadata modelers and editors designing domain-specific metadata schemas for corpora, lexica, speech data, multimodal resources.
- Repository managers and digital archives (e.g., CLARIN, META-SHARE) that need interoperable metadata to aggregate and expose language resources.
- Researchers and data curators creating virtual collections or documenting complex resources across institutions.
- Tool and registry developers building metadata editors, validators and component registries to enable sharing and reuse.
Practical uses include enabling metadata interoperability across projects, reducing duplication by sharing components, and supporting long-term discoverability via PIDs and semantic registries.
Related standards and references
- ISO 24622 series - CMDI (this part: Part 1 - Component Metadata Model)
- ISO 24619:2011 - PISA-compatible Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) (referenced for stable resource identification)
- Existing metadata traditions and initiatives referenced in the standard: DCMI/OLAC, IMDI, CLARIN, META-SHARE, LDC, ELRA
Keywords: ISO 24622-1, CMDI, component metadata, language resource management, metadata schema, metadata component, metadata registry, persistent identifier, interoperable metadata.
