This document describes a design science research project that developed a method (Me4DCAP) for creating Dublin Core Application Profiles. The method defines the stages, deliverables, techniques, workflow, and team roles for developing an application profile. The method was evaluated through its use in developing a profile for a social and solidarity organization. Future work includes further evaluating the method through focus groups and field testing, extracting knowledge from the design process to develop new theories, and addressing challenges such as defining metrics for evaluation.

1. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application
Profiles
Mariana Curado Malta
Algoritmi Center, University of Minho
mariana.malta@algoritmi.uminho.pt
DC, DESRIST 2013
This project is financed with FEDER funds by the Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade – COMPETE
and by Portuguese National Funds through FCT – Funda¸c˜ao para a Ciˆencia e Tecnologia for the project:
FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-022674
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

2. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Research Background
Research Problem
DSR Methodological Approach
Description of the artifact
Concluding
The end
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

3. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Semantic Web, Metadata, RDF
Semantic Web related project
the Semantic Web is about common formats for the
integration and combination of data from different sources
Its architecture has several layers
One layer, the “Data interchange: RDF“ has to do with
metadata
Metadata: data that describes resources with information,
and that follows well defined rules of metadata-schemes
Metadata-scheme: a set of elements designed for a specific
purpose - to describe a particular resource
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

4. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
DCAM, DCAP
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI1), created new
instruments with a goal: to speak a common language
Dublin Core Abstract Model (DCAM): a model developed for
DCMI syntax specifications
presents the components and constructs used in DCMI
databases
one of them is the Dublin Core Application Profiles (DCAP)
A DCAP is a generic construct for designing metadata
records
1
http://dublincore.org/
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

5. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
DCAM, DCAP
The DCAP is defined in the Singapore Framework for Dublin
Core Application Profiles2 as composed by:
Functional Requirements (Mandatory)
Domain Model (Mandatory)
Description Set Profile (Mandatory)
Usage guidelines (optional)
Encoding Syntax guidelines (optional)
It is a very important construct to implement
interoperability
2
c.f. Baker et al. (2008)
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

6. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
A DCAP development is a complex task
it needs an adequate support
A study we have performed3 shows
to the best of our knowledge
there is no formal method for the development of DCAP
It is imperative to have such a method
3
c.f. Curado Malta and Baptista, 2012
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

7. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Introduction
According to Hevner (2007) and March and Smith (1995),
DSR produces Artifacts that can be either constructs, models,
methods or instantiations of the 3
Purao (2002) and Rossi and Sein (2003) add a 5 th type of
DSR result: better theories
My artifact is a METHOD: A method for the development of
DCAP (Me4DCAP)
Me4DCAP ”provides a first solution to a problem“ [Hevner
and Chatterjee, 2010, p.6]
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

8. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Definitions
Takeda et al. (1990), cited by Vaishnavi and Kuechler (2012)
present a theory on the reasoning for the knowledge building
process in design science:
They define a design cycle that “generates understanding that
could only be gained from the specific act of consctruction“
Vaishnavi and Kuechler (2012).
According to March and Smith (1995) DSR should live in the
interaction of design and natural sciences:
The 2 basic activities of natural sciences are: to theorize and
to justify
The 2 basic activities of design science are: to build an artifact
and to evaluate it
Hevner (2007) proposes a framework with 3 cycles
These 3 cycles incorporate March and Smith’s (1995) view and
the cyclic perspective of Takeda et al. (1990)
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

9. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Hevner’s 3 cycle view of DSR
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

10. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Hevner’s 3 cycle view of DSR
Relevance Cyle
Works in the ”Environment”
supplies the research project with the needed requisites and the
application context
”defines acceptance criteria for the ultimate evaluation for the
research results“ [Hevner, 2007, p. 89]
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

11. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Hevner’s 3 cycle view of DSR
Relevance Cyle - Application
My ”Environment” is the Metadata Community. The
requisites were obtained:
Study to find out the techniques and methods that the
metadata community used to build Application Profiles
Semi-structured interviews to 3 DCAP developers
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

12. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Hevner’s 3 cycle view of DSR
Relevance Cyle - Application
The evaluation:
the artifact is a method
such an intangible artifact can not provide objective metrics for
a quantitative evaluation, so we need to:
find evaluation techniques used in the methods engineering
community, and adapt the chosen technique(s) to our needs
and develop particular metrics for the particular environment
(the semantic web) of the artifact.
PhD time constraints ¸ focus groups
further work within the framework of a future project
¹ Field Testing, with several instantiations of the method in
diferent domains of application - to address the issue of
generality.
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

13. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Hevner’s 3 cycle view of DSR
Design Cyle
where the core activities of the artifact building are performed
Iteration cycles of construction and evaluation
These cycles generate understanding [Takeda et al, 1990]
The “evaluation moments are performed in laboratory and
experimental situations“ [Hevner, 2007, p. 91]
non-formal evaluation called by Vaishnavi (2012)
micro-evaluation at every design decision
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

14. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Hevner’s 3 cycle view of DSR
Design Cyle - Application - Construction moments
the artifact is based on 3 types of knowledge
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

15. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Hevner’s 3 cycle view of DSR
Design Cyle - Application - Evaluation moments
Experimental Situation - RIPESS a Social and Solidarity
Economy community with Web Based Information Systems
We are building together with this community a DCAP-SSE
We feed back the construction moments with the outputs of
this experiment
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

16. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Hevner’s 3 cycle view of DSR
Rigor Cycle - Theorise - Justify
This cycle incorporates the activities of ”Theorise“ and ”Justify“
(natural siences)
Theorise:
New knowledge is incorporated in the artifact that is produced
and in the process of design
This new knowledge has to be indentified
Justify:
the DS Researcher theorises to elaborate new theories
the DS Researcher Justifies the theories produced
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

17. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Hevner’s 3 cycle view of DSR
Rigor Cycle - Application
The input for the Rigor Cycle of my DSR process:
The artifact
The design Process with its experience and expertise
the output of the Rigor Cylce are the Methods and
Techniques as already mentioned
Concerning the Rigor cycle activities (CHALLENGES):
how do I identify the new knowledge contained in Me4DCAP
and in the DSR process?
How do I elaborate the perspective theories that come out of
my DSR process?
How do I justify these theories?
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

18. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Me4DCAP
The development of a DCAP is a process by stages
Me4DCAP defines:
The composition of the work-team
The deliverables at every stage
The techniques used to develop those deliverables
The process workflow
What type of work each work-team-member should do
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

19. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Me4DCAP
Me4DCAP V0.1 deriverables sequence
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

20. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
The expected Contribution
The Knowledge Base, in its Foundations will have a new
Method: Me4DCAP
New theories that will come out of the DSR process
The Social and Solidarity World Community will have a
DCAP (DCAP-SSE) to be used in its Web Based Information
Systems
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

21. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Next Steps
Our Design Cycle is still in place:
Some moments of construction and evaluation in the Design
Cycle are still in progress
In the Relevance Cycle the Focus Groups for Me4DCAP V0.1
evaluation will be developed
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

22. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
Challenges
To plan the Focus Groups and to extract information from it
for the ”first” evaluation moment
To define the particular metrics for the evaluation of the field
testing instantiations
To extract knowledge from the Design Process and from
Me4DCAP and theorise
To justify
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles

23. TOC Research Background Research Problem DSR Methodological Approach Description of the artifact Concluding The end
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application
Profiles
Algoritmi Center, University of Minho
mariana.malta@algoritmi.uminho.pt
Look for references in the paper
Mariana Malta
A method for the development of Dublin Core Application Profiles