Documents

VMF matrix

The VMF matrix is a tool which can be used to automatically compute the "best fit" mappings between terms in controlled vocabularies in difference metadata schemes and messages of interest to the educational, bibliographic and content publishing sectors.

The current, "alpha" release of the VMF matrix is available as a single ontology in RDF triples in the TTL format. Two versions are available:

  • VMF matrix without mappings, version 1.002, 23 Dec 2009: The VMF ontology on its own, without terms mapped from external vocabularies.
    • Zipped (553KB)
    • Unzipped (8.21MB). An XML parsing error may be displayed by your browser. This can be ignored; view the page source to see the file.
  • VMF matrix complete, version 1.002, 23 Dec 2009: The complete VMF matrix of the VMF ontology and terms mapped from external vocabularies.
    • Zipped (635KB)
    • Unzipped (8.75MB). An XML parsing error may be displayed by your browser. This can be ignored; view the page source to see the file.

The Vocabulary Mapping Framework (VMF): an introduction provides an introduction to the structure and development of the VMF up to Nov 2009, the end of the first stage of the project.

The VMF ontology was reviewed during the compilation process using version 4 of the open-source Protégé ontology editor. This is available for download from the Protégé website. Please see Using the VMF matrix with Protégé for further information.

Copyright

© Copyright of this version of the VMF matrix is held by JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee), the funders of the first stage of the project. The VMF matrix is still in development, and as such is permitted for use only for the purposes of study and research. It may not be used for commercial or operational applications.

Disclaimer

The VMF Project, including its staff, funders, partners and advisors cannot guarantee the accuracy or currency of the information provided by this website. No responsibility for the consequences of using this information will be accepted by any individual or institution associated with the project or website.

Information provided from external vocabularies has not been approved by the owners of such vocabularies. Its inclusion in the complete VMF matrix is for illustrative and testing purposes only, and does not constitute approval, recommendation, or guarantee of accuracy, currency or completeness.

About the project

Further information about the VMF project can be found in these documents.

Use cases

These use cases from the project proposal show the value of the extended Framework to the JISC community.

  1. Metadata crosswalk
  2. Mapping of local, bespoke metadata schemes
  3. Complex term mapping between domains
  4. Cross-searching metadata from institutional repositories
  5. Preservation metadata

The need for a standard framework of relators to describe relationships between resources identified in different metadata and identification schemes was demonstrated in Use cases for interoperability of ISO TC46/SC9 identifiers, produced in 2005 by Mark Bide for an ISO TC46/SC9 working group. It was this work that provided the initial impetus for an earlier proposal to JISC which developed into the Vocabulary Mapping Framework.

Source standards

The project intends to include a number of source standards in the development of the framework.

Background